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| Retaining Walls |
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A retaining wall is a structure which is designed to hold in place a vertical or near-vertical mass of soil and earth. Retaining walls are used in hilly areas where buildings or sidewalks are to be built in the vicinity of low-lying cliffs, slopes or embankments. With a retaining wall system in place, soil and rocks are prevented from spilling over time under the effects of pressure and weather. Concrete walls, block retaining walls, rock retaining walls and timber retaining walls / wood retaining walls are all different materials variants on retaining wall construction. There are also a wide variety of different shapes for building a retaining wall.
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For example, the simplest concrete retaining walls are just a basic wall which is built along the ground underneath a sharp drop-off of soil. This is known as a “gravity wall”, because it relies solely on the force of gravity to resist the lateral pressure from the nearby soil. In a gravity block retaining wall, the retaining wall blocks must be wide enough along the bottom to have a high force of friction preventing them from being slid sideways. They must also be massive enough that the sideways force on the upper parts of the wall doesn't push it over.
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A “piling wall” is another, somewhat more secure type of concrete retaining wall; in this wall the retaining wall concrete block extends below the surface of the ground, even at the lower elevation. This means that pressure is exerted on the wall from both sides at once. As a result, these types of building retaining walls are impossible to push over. The only way in which they can fail is if enough pressure is exerted to snap the wall, which would take an unlikely amount of force if the retaining wall blocks are made from reinforced concrete.
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Finally, some types of retaining walls are designed with extensions which lead into the side of the bank of earth that they are holding off. A “cantilever wall” design has a horizontal segment which extends under the mass of soil, so pressure exerted downwards by the soil counteracts the pressure exerted sideways. Again, in such a situation, the only way in which an anchored retaining wall can break is if it is made out of the wrong type of material (so a wood retaining wall generally wouldn't be the best choice for a cantilever system).
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To find out more about retaining walls from the pros, visit ServiceGem.com. Here you can get in touch with local professionals who can provide you with any planning or construction assistance you need for building retaining walls. Get the highest quality concrete walls and the best service in your area by streamlining your search on the world wide web.
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