Concrete Block Retaining Wall

Concrete block retaining walls got popular in the last twenty years when rock and stone were expensive and labour intensive to install and timber often got rotted within fifteen years of installation. In contrast to this, concrete block retaining walls are easy to install and easily available. Plus they are well priced and can be bought in numerous colours and patterns.

A concrete block retaining wall is a construction that takes hold of the soil or rock from the area of the structure. A concrete block retaining wall is made from concrete and helps in erosion, levelling of land as well as support vertical grade changes. To build a concrete block retaining wall, many types of concrete mixtures are available. All these mixtures carry similar ingredients but in different proportions dependent on the design mix of the structure that needs to be built. The main ingredients that are needed to build a concrete retaining wall are cement, water, aggregates, chemical admixtures like accelerators, retarders, air entrainments, plasticizers, corrosion inhibitors, bonding admixtures, pumping aids, fly ash and silica fume.

The science and engineering of concrete block retaining walls is very multifaceted, so it is a good idea to know the basics and then plan your concrete block retaining wall. The different types of retaining walls are concrete block retaining walls, gravity retaining walls, cantilever retaining wall, counterfort retaining wall and buttressed retaining wall.

Constructing a concrete block retaining wall is an art in itself. When building a concrete block retaining wall, it is important to know that the wall could get affected by gravity and the frost in the soil. Thus the concrete block retaining wall has to be strong enough to counterbalance the approaching strength of the soil. Tall concrete block retaining walls are at the greatest risk of failure. As the concrete block retaining wall height rises, the force trying to collapse the wall would also rise.

It is a good idea to keep the concrete block retaining wall under three feet high. These little concrete block retaining walls are comparatively simple to build, and the force of gravity against them is not too harsh. A good idea is to build the concrete block retaining wall in a way that it leans back slightly and is not plumb. This method makes up for the centre of gravity of the concrete block retaining wall making it harder to lean over.

Damage that frost can cause to concrete block retaining walls can be threatening. As soil freezes and solidifies, it inflates or expands. On a flat area, this expansion is normally in the up and down direction. However the frost can thrust to one side which is closest to a concrete block retaining wall. Frost will mitigate its growth pressure through least resistance. One way to minimize frost damage to concrete block retaining walls is to fill the back of the wall with a well drained material like rounded gravel.

Lots on top of a concrete block retaining wall should also be considered. If there is a flat area adjacent to the top of the concrete block retaining wall you are constructing, the weight of a heavy vehicle parked close by on the surface would push against the concrete block retaining wall. Also make sure that the base of the concrete retaining wall is set down in solid soil. The organic material in the soil does not work as a good foundation for the concrete block retaining wall. Thus, the soil should be pulled down slope each year by frost and gravity. Also check with local utility companies to spot the location of underground wires and pipes or telephones and television connections.