Page 346 - Masonry and Concrete

Source: Masonry and Concrete

10
CHAPTER

Retaining Walls

etaining walls can be used to stabilize an earth embankment and
Rprotect it from erosion, create terraces in a sloping yard, build a tree
well, or build raised planting beds. Retaining walls may be built of
brick, concrete, concrete block, or stone. Some designs incorporate
reinforcing steel and others rely soley on gravity to resist soil pressures.
Newer systems of special concrete masonry retaining wall blocks have
greatly simplified the design and installation of retaining walls, and
there are a number of proprietary products available.

10.1 Retaining Wall Types

Traditional retaining walls are built with steel reinforcing bars embed-
ded in concrete, grouted between two wythes of solid brick, or grouted
in the hollow cores of concrete block. A concrete footing anchors the
wall and resists overturning and sliding forces. This type of wall is
called a reinforced cantilever retaining wall because the stem of the
wall is essentially cantilevered from the footing in much the same way
that a beam might be cantilevered from a column (Figure 10-1). Can-
tilever retaining walls are rigid structures of solid construction.
Allowances must be made for expansion and contraction of the materi-
als and for drainage of soil moisture, which may build up behind the
wall. The strength of these walls derives from the combination of steel

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