Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Basic Information On Retaining Wall

By Helen Russell


Retailing walls are walls designed to for restraining soil to slopes that are not natural. They help to retain soils between two places of uneven elevations. They are made in different places. They are made in places to allow for severe engineering and shaping to serve other purposes like hillside farming. A retaining wall may also be made in regions with undesirable slopes.

These walls come in many types. Common examples are gravity, cantilever, anchored, and piling walls. Their purpose is supporting a wedge of soil. The retained soil tends to shift downslope because of gravitational pull. As such, the design and construction must be done in a way as to counteract this tendency. Gravitational pull results in lateral earth pressure in the supported material. How much pressure is generated varies with the angle of friction and cohesive strength of retained material.

Gravity walls rely on their mass for resistance of pressure exerted on them by pressure behind. Construction is done using stones and concrete to make them heavy. Stability is improved by incorporating batter setback. Sometimes they are made to lean toward the load. Dry-stacked variety is constructed to be flexible and when constructed in regions where frosting occurs, their footings are made rigid.

In the earlier years of the 20th century, tall retaining walls were of the gravity type. They were made from large masses of stone or concrete. Modern-day walls get made from composite material. Some common materials they are made from include crib walls, gabions, and soil-nailed walls. Gabions are composed of stacked steel wire baskets that are filled with rocks.

The making of cantilevered retaining walls involves the use of internal stems of steel-reinforced, cast-in-place concrete, and mortared masonry. In some circumstances, buttressing is done to the front side. More strength for supporting heavier loads is achieved through the addition of counterfort. Fronts may also be buttressed. Buttresses resemble wing walls and their installation is done perpendicularly to main walls. It takes less construction material to make cantilevered walls in comparison to gravity walls.

Tight spaces and soils that are soft are suitable with sheet pile retaining walls. This variety is made from various materials including vinyl, wood planks, and steel, which are driven underground. About two thirds of the material stands above the ground while a third is driven underground. The measurement of material driven underground and the one remaining above may be varied depending on the situation.

Construction of bored pile walls involves assembling sequences of bored piles. Excess soil on the site of construction is excavated first. Many techniques are employed in the construction process including reinforcing beams, earth anchors, shotcrete reinforcement layer, and soil enhancement operations. Bored pile walls and sheet piling walls can be constructed in the same location. Bored pile walls are preferred if noise and vibration levels are not supposed to be very high.

A lot of evolution has occurred in construction styles. The methods of reinforcing the walls are also many and diversified. Some of the commonly used retention methods employed are cellular confinement, soil-strengthening, soil nailing, and gabion meshes.




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