Why retaining walls are necessary for residences and commercial buildings?

Saturday, 6 February 2016

A retaining wall is a structure that holds or retains soil behind it. It works like a dam and stops the movement of soil. They may be helpful if your house is on a slope or hill and are a must for a safe home. Retaining walls in Santa Clara are built to support soils at unnatural angles.
Retaining walls are categorized in four categories:
1.    Gravity walls
2.    Cantilevered walls
3.    Sheet pile walls

4.    Anchored walls (Image source: Wikipedia.org)


Gravity walls: Gravity walls are dependent on their mass to apply a resisting force ro the soil behind them. They may also have a setback to improve stability. They are generally built from stone or may use prefabricated concrete blocks. These have a tendency to slide or topple.


Cantilevered wall :


Cantilevered retaining walls are steel reinforced concrete walls . These walls look like an inverted solid “T” . they convert the horizontal loads behind the wall to vertical load in the ground below.
These walls may be expensive but are topple proof .There is also a very little chance for sliding.
Sheet pile wall:  sheet pile walls are made by hammering sheets of wood, steel or vinyl into the ground. Generally 1/3 part of the wall is kept above the ground. These are used on soft soils.
Relatively easy to built in areas with soft soils. No toppling or sliding.


Anchored :an anchored wall can be a gravity wall, cantilever wall, sheet pile but with additional structure for providing additional strength using cables or anchors which are generally driven into soil. Anchored walls increase the strength of walls which would otherwise too weak to handle soil loads.
Retaining walls in Mounta in view have become an important accessory in landscaping. House owners are increasingly using retaining walls to improve the aesthetics. They may also serve as a patio seating area. Traditionally retaining walls were built with wood and stones. 

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