Concrete Retaining Walls

Table Of Content

• The Retaining Wall Calculator Can Be Used For:
• How to Use The Retaining Wall Calculator
• Design of Concrete Retaining walls [ Stability and ULS]
• Common Problems: Drainage, Weight of Soil
• Comparison of Rubble and Concrete Retaining Walls
• Cantilever Retaining Wall with Anchoring System Example By Hand Calculations

The lateral soil pressure theory can be either At-rest, Coulomb, Rankine, or Equivalent Fluid. Surcharge and Concentrated loads can be specified as dead and live. Seismic load per either Mononobe-Okabe or a uniform seismic pressure can be specified.

The Retaining Wall Calculator Can Be Used For:

Form the fabric into a large C shape, with the open mouth of the C facing downhill. The fabric should wrap around and create a border between the gravel and topsoil to keep sediment from clogging the gravel and drainpipe. Before we proceed with the design, it is important for the designer to know the geometric variable and parameters of the retaining wall. In some cases, a footing key is included to increase resistance to sliding.

How to Use The Retaining Wall Calculator

Select a suitable reinforcing bar size based on the calculated area. Access our library of support articles to get started using ClearCalcs and learn advanced tricks to manage your projects and calculations. Watch on-demand videos to learn more about ClearCalcs design & analysis software. Drainage lines are often perforated and wrapped in geotextile or buried in a granular filter bed, and serve to carry water to the weepholes from areas deeper within the backfill. The depth to the bottom of the base slab should be kept at a minimum of two feet. However, it should always be below the seasonal frost line, and that often is much deeper in northern climates.

Design of Concrete Retaining walls [ Stability and ULS]

Use mechanical vibration or strike the forms with a rubber mallet every 6 inches when concrete is wet for a smooth finished face. Sure, retaining walls look like simple stacked stone, block, or timber. But in fact, they’re carefully engineered systems that wage an ongoing battle with gravity.

When looking for a contractor to enhance your landscaping, your local masonry contractor may not immediately come to mind, but maybe it should. A sturdy and attractive retaining wall can enhance the overall appearance of the landscape, increase the usable outdoor living space, and increase property value. In the case that the factor of safety against sliding is too low, one possibility is to lengthen the base but in case there are limitations to do that, adding a shear key might help. If the factor of safety against overturning is too low, the geometry of the wall must be modified by increasing its dimensions so that the vertical load is higher. Under the advanced option section, you can further update the material properties of your soil by defining the soil cohesion, allowable bearing pressure, and soil friction coefficient. Level taped to a straight 2×4 to establish a common stake height, indicating the top of your sand leveling bed (see Fig. A).

Gravity Wall Calculator

In this article, we will focus on describing each of the steps to successfully design a Retaining Wall with examples. The Sub-Structure Zone will be below the footing over the entire length of the model. We are no longer supporting IE (Internet Explorer) as we strive to provide site experiences for browsers that support new web standards and security practices. Cut blocks to size by first scoring the top and bottom with a block chisel.

Comparison of Rubble and Concrete Retaining Walls

Reinforced concrete, with steel built-in for greater integrity, can also be used (mentioned previously in this post). Stuctural guide a website that provides structural design knoledge together with construction technical aspects. Once you are done adding loads, you can click on the analyze button to run your calculations. This will complete an analysis for your chosen design and analyze whether your design succeeded or failed. A final summary will lay out whether your design can support the load based on an analysis against overturning, sliding, as well as bearing.

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Finally, you can print a final report detailing your findings once you are done. Congratulations, you’ve successfully completed a Simple Retaining Wall Design using SkyCiv Retaining Wall module!. A forty foot grade made retaining walls necessary for this property. Victor Amador, of Soft Concrete, formed the walls himself and poured them in place. He approached the walls from the mindset of a sculptor, creating pleasing curves and even pockets that serve as planters.

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However, smart retaining wall construction starts with the proper placement of all features. A poorly-designed wall that doesn’t match the soil parameters will fail no matter how thick it is. Install the first course of blocks, using a taut string line to establish a straight row.

Additionally, it is important to check with and adhere to local building codes prior to any construction, even when walls are shorter than four feet. Retaining walls are, and should always be viewed as load-bearing members first, and aesthetic groundscapes second. Geogrid reinforcement is commonly used in segmental retaining walls. The spacing and length of the geogrid layers depend on the design requirements and soil conditions. Let's assume a geogrid spacing of 24 inches and a length equal to the wall height.

Retaining walls are structures designed to resist lateral pressure from soil and hold it in place. They are commonly used in situations where there is a significant change in elevation, such as terraced landscapes or sloping sites. Retaining walls not only prevent soil erosion but also create usable spaces, increases property value, and enhances the aesthetic appeal of a project. All retaining walls should lean into the hill 1 inch for every 12 inches of height.

They restrain tons of saturated soil that would otherwise slump and slide away from a foundation or damage the surrounding landscape. For cantilever and counterfort walls, the stem thickness at the base is often about 10% of the total wall height, as is the base slab thickness. Counterfort retaining walls have counterforts spaced at center-to-center distances of about 30% to 70% of the total wall height.