Retaining Walls
Prevent Erosion On Your Property
Prevent Erosion On Your Property
Prevent Erosion On Your Property
Retaining walls are primarily used to prevent soil from sliding off steep slopes. Many property owners also use them when installing patios, decks, and basements.
When you hire us for your retaining wall installation, you'll work directly with our structural engineer to make sure everything will work as it should.
We offer services throughout Los Angeles, CA and the surrounding area. Get in touch with us today for more information.
We are known for our hardy construction and seamless project management.
Fix Your Existing Structure
Prevent Erosion On Your Property
Prevent Erosion On Your Property
These are the steps we take when you call on us for retaining wall repair services:
- Inspection
- Proposal
- Engineer drafting and calculation
- We handle all permits
- Walk you through the repairs and provide customer service to tenants
Finally, we utilize our mastery of construction and engineering to provide the strongest structural security possible while meeting your specific needs.
Learn more about Retaining Walls
Why use Retaining Walls?
Lateral earth pressures are zero at the top of the wall and - in homogeneous ground - increase proportionally to a maximum value at the lowest depth. Earth pressures will push the wall forward or overturn it if not properly addressed. Also, any groundwater behind the wall that is not dissipated by a drainage system causes hydro static pressure on the wall. The total pressure or thrust may be assumed to act at one-third from the lowest depth for lengthwise stretches of uniform height.
The purpose of all retaining walls is to hold soil behind them. However, the specific needs will vary depending on the project. Walls can range from small landscape stone walls to surround a garden to enormous soil-retaining projects along a highway.
Other factors can help control erosion from hard rains or create a terraced yard to reduce maintenance. When you begin the initial planning, there are several considerations that will affect the material and type of wall you build. Location, Soil, Design & Drainage
Location
Retaining Walls are relatively rigid walls used for supporting soil laterally so that it can be retained at different levels on the two sides. Retaining walls are structures designed to restrain soil to a slope that it would not naturally keep to (typically a steep, near-vertical or vertical slope). They are used to bound soils between two different elevations often in areas of terrain possessing undesirable slopes or in areas where the landscape needs to be shaped severely and engineered for more specific purposes like hillside farming or roadway overpasses.
A basement wall is thus one kind of retaining wall. But the term usually refers to a cantilever retaining wall, which is a freestanding structure without lateral support at its top. These are cantilevered from a footing and rise above the grade on one side to retain a higher level grade on the opposite side. The walls must resist the lateral pressures generated by loose soils or, in some cases, water pressures.
Soil
Every retaining wall supports a "wedge" of soil. The wedge is defined as the soil which extends beyond the failure plane of the soil type present at the wall site, and can be calculated once the soil friction angle is known. As the setback of the wall increases, the size of the sliding wedge is reduced. This reduction lowers the pressure on the retaining wall.
Design
The most important consideration in proper design and installation of retaining walls is to recognize and counteract the tendency of the retained material to move down-slope due to gravity. This creates lateral earth pressure behind the wall which depends on the angle of internal friction and the cohesive strength of the retained material, as well as the direction and magnitude of movement the retaining structure undergoes.
Drainage
Lateral earth pressures are zero at the top of the wall and - in homogeneous ground - increase proportionally to a maximum value at the lowest depth. Earth pressures will push the wall forward or overturn it if not properly addressed. Also, any groundwater behind the wall that is not dissipated by a drainage system causes hydro static pressure on the wall. The total pressure or thrust may be assumed to act at one-third from the lowest depth for lengthwise stretches of uniform height.
It is important to have proper drainage behind the wall in order to limit the pressure to the wall's design value. Drainage materials will reduce or eliminate the hydro static pressure and improve the stability of the material behind the wall. Dry stone retaining walls are normally self-draining.