Types of Retaining Walls – All You Need to Know

The retaining wall must have a suitable base prepared from appropriate base materials. The compact soil, sand, & gravels/stone aggregates are standard components of any structure in the construction industry.Retaining walls often around us, but we fail to notice its importance in our life. When we are going to do landscaping or outdoor construction, we need to know all about retaining walls. World of Stones USA is going to furnish required knowledge about retaining wall and design ideas you need for inspiration.

What Is a Retaining Wall?

A retaining wall, according to Wikipedia, designs to restrain soil (Also water) to a slope that it would not naturally keep to. A retaining wall binds soils between two different elevations, often in a landscape that needs to be shaped for specific purposes.

However, different types of retaining walls are serving different purposes. Before knowing the goals of retaining walls, let’s understand the fundamentals of retaining walls and its different models from the perspective of a landscape designer, and often a civil engineer/architect. 

Basics of Retaining Walls:

Let’s learn common terminology and key structural elements of retaining walls. 

The Base of Retaining Wall:

•  The retaining wall must have a suitable base prepared from appropriate base materials. The compact soil, sand, & gravels/stone aggregates are standard components of any structure in the construction industry.
• The depth of the base of the retaining wall depends on the height, weight, and the live/dead load it is bearing temporarily or permanently.
• The base must prepare according to types of ground soil. Sandy soil is stable, while clay soil is tentative. Most contractors and landscape designers know the local soil type and have solutions accordingly. 

The Face of Retaining Wall:

Most retaining walls have two different soil elevations. Lower elevation exposes the face or front part of the retaining wall, which is visually visible.

Backfill or Earth Fill of Retaining Wall:

• The higher elevation part of soil usually hides the rear portion of the retaining wall. 
• The attached soil part of the retaining wall needs to fill up with soil carefully to ensure proper rainwater or groundwater drainage.
• Twelve inches or one-foot granular materials like gravel or stone aggregates must install directly behind the wall. It assures proper drains of water.
• The next vertical column of the backfill must have compacted soil to provide stability.
• The top layer should have native soil to encourage the growth of vegetation. 

Vertical Stem of Retaining Wall:

Retaining walls with some heights always have a thicker base, which is called the stem of the retaining wall. Stem resists horizontal pressure from the backfill of the retaining wall, and simultaneously pass the vertical load of the retaining wall to the footing/base/ground.

Toe & Heel of Retaining Wall:

In concrete retaining walls, mostly gravity type or cantilever type walls, the footing slab is extending horizontally at the front as well as backsides. Just like the human leg, the frontal extension of the foundation/footing slab is referring as the toe slab of the retaining wall while the backward footing slab is called the heel slab of the retaining wall.

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