Things To Know About The Different Types Of Retaining Walls

A retaining wall is a great solution for a garden that is unevenly elevated. It is the only way to prevent soil runoff and not mess the lower level. Depending on the landscape of your garden, you can choose gravity, counterfort, cantilever and anchored walls.
These walls can be made of concrete, metal, brick and stone. This means that you have a lot of choice on what will match and enhance the look of your garden. So you need to know what type of partition will suit your needs.
Gravity
Although they are not as weight-resistant as the other types, this type of partition doesn’t cost as much and it is less complicated to build. If the elevation in your yard is not steep, this will work perfectly.
This wall resembles a cantilever but it doesn’t have a second lever arm. The absence of the buttresses and the second lever arm is the reason of the decreased efficiency but not to a great extent for smaller walls. To add stability, construct a concrete footing with the aid of professional excavators.
Cantilever
These are capable to support large amount of earth. That’s why these are ideal for garden with tall slopes. They have irregular thickness; the bottom being a lot thicker than the top. There is a slab at the base that absorbs the heavy weight.
Even if you’re a skilled DIYer, you need to hire a professional if you want to construct this type of partition. Construction and calculation of the dimensions is not a very easy task and requires an expertise of a professional.
Cantilevers are cast in concrete and reinforced with rebars. You may use buttresses to counter the heavier weights. One advantage of this type of wall is that they don’t use much material because of its design.
Counterfort
This also resembles the cantilever but with the concrete webbings on the rear side as an added feature that connect the lever arm and the wall. This addition helps it to counter shear forces made by the earth. This is why they are the best solution for walls that are 25 feet or more. They are also more economical compared to the other type of partitions.
Anchored
This type uses anchors in the forms of cables that are driven into rock and soil. This requires complicated construction skills which make them more expensive but highly effective for high loads. Cantilever types can be an alternative but they are too thick whereas gravity types are not effective for high loads.
The materials used in the construction dictates on how strong they are. Concrete is the most common choice because they set fast and they are easy to build. Wood walls are not so popular nowadays because the material is weak. However, they are good for gentler slopes and used to complement landscapes. Stones are a great choice if you want to go for a natural look.