Retaining Wall

[Caged Great]

I need a retaining wall to replace the one that I currently have as it is leaning.

I was wondering two things. What type of retaining wall is the strongest as that is the type I'll likely need, and is there a company that someone could recommend to do this.

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks

[surferguy]

Us army engineering corp. I think they did some recent work in New Orleans.

[bc-chris]

hey caged great

what kind of wall would be the strongest?? i would guess and engineered concrete wall. back in the day that i did construction we did a massive concrete retaining wall in kamloops. the footings were about 25' wide and the wall was thick enough that you could actually walk inside the wall before the concrete was poured!

what company - sorry. no clue - i live in kelowna

if you want to "do it yourself" you could always do a block wall - they aren't that difficult and you can save yourself a ton of $$.

this is what my dad and i did a few years back when my wife and i built our place:

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showpos...4&postcount=12

[Caged Great]

Say I were to do a cinder block wall similar to a foundation, how would I brace it while the concrete cures?

[ranchlandsselling]

[bc-chris]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

Say I were to do a cinder block wall similar to a foundation, how would I brace it while the concrete cures?

the wall that i did was just one where you stack the blocks one on top of the other and then fill them with crush

if you want a cinder block wall that's concreted together you'll have to talk to a block guy. i know when i did construction and the block guys made firewalls, they would just make the wall - usually without any bracing. if it was really tall they would sometimes throw up a few braces... like this:

[Derek Sutton]

A retaining wall for what? a fence or something more substantial

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by Derek Sutton

A retaining wall for what? a fence or something more substantial

My driveway. We live on a hill, so the entire grade of our house is slightly higher than the neighbours (about 5 inches up to about 5 feet at the highest part)

[Keselke]

Are you just planning on making the wall yourself?

Whats the height of the wall, length and do you know what soil conditions are like behind the current area where the wall is going to be. And is it going to be below grade of above grade

But a basic answer to your question is probably a engineered concrete wall, simply laying blocks can be problematic

[Caged Great]

The height of the wall ranges from about 18 inches up to about 5 feet at the highest, it's span is probably in the neighbourhood of 30-40 feet. It is above grade on the neighbour's side (below grade on my side). The fence can go up in height to basically whatever is code (more or less what's there now) I know that there is clay in the soil from when I installed a fence on the opposite side of the property.

If it's relatively simple, I can do it myself, if it's complicated then I would hire someone that's an expert.

[You Need a Thneed]

You should get an engineer and a building permit.

Personally, I would go poured concrete.

[Caged Great]

Engineered concrete walls are easy to put up. I've done them several times before. Not a big deal.

[Komskies]

I'd recommend 80 pound Allan Blocks, with geogrid reinforcement every 2 or 3 tiers.

[normtwofinger]

Personally I would go the engineered concrete way.

[Komskies]

Originally Posted by Komskies

I'd recommend 80 pound Allan Blocks, with geogrid reinforcement every 2 or 3 tiers.

My brother sent me some pictures of the Allan Block wall that we built out at our cabin. I believe it was built around 5 years ago now.

This first one is a cool shot because it shows the versatility of the block when creating curved features. Also shows how you can get nice, flush corners. The green thing off to the right is an access cover for the septic tank.

Spoiler!

This next shot shows a side profile of the wall. Because of the curvature of the wall and location of the camera, it doesn't look level from this view, but I can assure you that every single block was meticulously leveled with sand/gravel. We installed weeping tile all along the bottom tier for drainage, and you can see the exit point at the bottom, to the left of the tank.

Spoiler!

This last shot is just a close-up view of the curved section of wall.

Spoiler!

I love the finished look of the wall, and it was a really fun project to work on. Not only that, but because of the weight of the wall and the geogrid reinforcement, this thing is insanely sturdy. I bet you could crash a vehicle into it and it wouldn't even move.

[Komskies]

One more here. Lastly, here's a shot of the stairs going up to the deck. I love how the risers on the stairs match up perfectly with the tiers of the wall.

Spoiler!

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Looks great but isn't there a code requirment for handrails on stairs in your area?

Originally Posted by Komskies

One more here. Lastly, here's a shot of the stairs going up to the deck. I love how the risers on the stairs match up perfectly with the tiers of the wall.

Spoiler!

[Komskies]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Looks great but isn't there a code requirment for handrails on stairs in your area?

Looking at some Manitoba building codes, it would appear that outside stairs with greater than 3 risers require a handrail. We'll just pretend the wall is a handrail.

[moncton golden flames]

city bylaw requires a retaining wall 1 meter and taller to be engineered, thru a building permit.

[Sr. Mints]

Jeez, I want to build a wall now. It's like LEGO.