What Should Be the Thickness of Concrete Retaining Wall?
The Experts You Call to Finding the Right Retaining Wall Company in Denver
Concrete retaining walls need to be built with exacting construction methods because of their strength and versatility. This level of complexity provides a lot of versatility. Poured concrete retaining walls can be personalized in different ways, including with embedded objects, color, and texture. Concrete has the highest degree of flexibility of any retaining wall material when built properly.
The proportioning of a retaining wall is just as crucial to construction as the structural design. Concrete application is made simpler by construction-friendly proportions that still leave space for structural reinforcement.
What is the correct thickness for a concrete retaining wall?
The minimal reinforcement cover requirement affects wall dimensions in addition to the fundamental structural requirements (usually member thickness). Depending on the intensity of the exposure, the type and sensitivity of the soil, and other considerations, this can increase the wall’s thickness by a number of inches.
For optimum concrete placement, the top stem of any cast concrete retaining wall should be at least 12 inches high.
Joints in concrete retaining walls
1. Contraction Joints
Vertical joints or grooves are carved or cut into the wall to allow for shrinkage of the concrete without causing harm. Generally, the distance between contraction joints is no more than 30 feet, and they are 0.25 inches wide and 1/2 to 3/4 inches deep.
2. Expansion Joints
Vertical expansion joints are built into the wall to adjust for temperature changes. These joints could be treated using flexible joint fillers. Greased steel dowels are commonly cast horizontally into the wall to connect nearby portions of the wall. Expansion joints can be separated by up to 90 feet.
3. Construction Joints
Vertical and horizontal joints are used to link two concrete pours. Keys are utilized to increase a joint’s shear resistance. If no keys are used, the initial pour’s surface is cleaned and roughened before the second concrete pour. Keys are typically produced in the foundation to increase the stem’s sliding resistance. The stem is constructed after the foundation has been placed.
Size of concrete retaining wall footing
The base slab’s width should be kept to a minimum of two feet from top to bottom. But it must always be below the seasonal frost line, which may be significantly lower in northern latitudes.
Typically, the base slab’s length is between 50% and 70% of the wall’s overall height (bottom of base to top of the stem).
The stem thickness at the base of cantilever and counterfort walls is roughly 10% of the overall wall height. Retaining walls with counterforts have counterforts spaced between 30 and 70 percent of the total wall height.
In rare circumstances, a footing key may be utilized to increase slide resistance. The stem’s footing key is an extension that hangs below the base’s surface.
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Concrete retaining walls need to be built with exacting construction methods because of their strength and versatility. This level of complexity provides a lot of versatility. Poured concrete retaining walls can be personalized in different ways, including with embedded objects, color, and texture. Concrete has the highest degree of flexibility of any retaining wall material when built properly.
