Avoid having downspouts pointed at the retaining wall and if it s against the house keep soil and mulch well below the siding.
Engineering brick retaining wall design.
Soil bearing and stability 8.
This is not meant to be a final authority as each project has its own set of unique situations.
Recommended stem designs for reinforced cantilever retaining walls with no surcharge are contained in tables 1 and 2 for allowable stress design and strength design respectively.
To mark a free form layout use a rope or hose to outline the shape.
Soil mechanics simplified 4.
The wall portion of the design is similar to the cantilever retaining wall the wall is fixed at the bottom to the grade beam but in addition to that the engineer has to make sure that the grade beam is sufficiently designed to take the moments and shears from the wall and pass it onto the piers.
Sketches of the retaining wall forces should be considered to properly distinguish the different forces acting on our retaining wall as tackled in the previous article retaining wall.
Design and build your retaining wall to slope at a minimum rate of one inch for every one foot of rise height.
Building codes and retaining walls 5.
This design is composed of two standard brick walls just inches apart that share the same foundation.
Based on our example in figure a 1 we have the forces due to soil pressure due to water and surcharge load to consider.
Most municipalities require a building permit and a design from a licensed engineer if your wall is taller than 4 feet high measured from the bottom of the first block to the top of the last block.
Between them is a gap for steel that runs up from the foundation to the top of the wall.
Follow the block manufacturer s instructions for wall height limits.
To determine if an engineering plan is needed for your retaining wall project take the time to evaluate the following.
The intent of this material is to communicate the best practices for design of segmental retaining walls srw as determined by allan block corporation based on 25 plus years of research design and field experience.
Forces on retaining walls 6.
If you have your retaining wall built figure about 15 per square face foot for a timber wall 20 for an interlocking block system or poured concrete and 25 for a natural stone wall.
These design methods are discussed in detail in allowable stress design of concrete masonry tek 14 7a and strength design of concrete masonry tek 14 4a refs.
Design procedure overview 3.
Your retaining wall design will determine how you mark the area.
Retaining wall design 10 editionth a design guide for earth retaining structures contents at a glance.
Fortunately working with retaining wall blocks makes it incredibly easy to achieve.
A retaining wall made entirely out of brick is known as a cavity wall.