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Retaining Wall

A wall built to support or prevent the advance of a mass of earth or water.

There are several types of retaining walls. A gravity wall is typically made of concrete and relies on its weight for stability.

The mass of the structure must be sufficient to develop enough frictional resistance to sliding, and the base or footing of the structure must be wide enough to develop sufficient moment to resist overturning earth forces.

A cantilever retaining wall gains a larger effective mass by virtue of the soil placed on the horizontal cantilevered section of the wall. Reinforced counterforts are spaced along the wall to increase its strength.

A variation of the gravity retaining wall is the crib wall is usually constructed of prefabricated interlocking concrete units. The crib is then filled with soil before the backfill adjacent to the crib is placed.

Bulkhead retaining walls consist of vertical sheet piling that extends down into the soil and is stabilized by one or more tiebacks and anchors periodically spaced along the structure.

The sheet piling may be made of reinforced concrete, steel, or aluminum.

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