As we can guess from the name, retaining walls are rigid walls that are used to support soil laterally. You may have come across different walls on your way to home or office. If you stay in the suburbs or valley, you will get more to see. We have also thought sometimes that can they be a piece of décor to our landscapes? Can we decorate it to beautify our surroundings?
Well, this may not be a hard discussion because these walls have a basic purpose. And the purpose is to retain the soil to prevent landslides or soil erosion. Soil erosion has been a major challenge for the new age. This leads to the displacement of soil. Thus, hampering the commute on a well-built road or depletion of trees and shrubs. There are several types of that you may find on the internet. So, let us have a look at the types and the applications of the retaining walls.
Types and applications of retaining walls
Although there are more than 8 types of designs, we will primarily focus on the four common types. These are gravity walls, cantilevered walls, piling walls, and anchored walls.
- The gravity walls:- are simple in design and have been a standard practice to retain soil. The concept works on vectors. The earth’s gravity vector along with the pressure vector balances the lateral shift of the soil. So, the wall has no support but only its weight. The base is built wide and thick as compared to the top side. This ensures that the center of mass is towards the earth. However, these walls are only put into practice in a dry area with little to no slope. If used in a tropical region that experiences a lot of rain, gravity walls may topple and fall.
- The cantilevered walls:- It is the enhancement of the gravity wall. The cantilevered walls are designed with the same concept of gravity walls but with an addition. This further moves the center of mass towards the earth and makes it sturdy. However, this can be used in hilly areas which are not prone to earthquakes.
- The Piling walls:- It is one of the most popular methods of retaining soil. An extension of the wall is dug into the earth. The reactive forces of the soil are compensated by the vector forces of the soil underneath the earth. This keeps the retaining walls in place and resists any kind of bending. The application for such walls can be the region with a high slope of soil.
- The Anchored Wall:- Here the support is given by a tie beam. The tie-beam is anchored to the rock beneath the lateral soil. This method is quite popular in mountainous regions and landslide-prone zones.
- Decorating the walls:- When decorating these retaining walls, most types are generally piling walls or cantilever walls. However, the beautification is not limited to the types.
few techniques to enhance the décor of the walls:
- Wall rock design:- This design imparts a caveman look to the walls. Instead of making a concrete wall, rocks look edgy and antique. Rocks are also superb materials to hold soil in their position.
- Step bricks design:- Bricks of amazing shapes give an impressive appearance. You can arrange the bricks in a step fashion and use cement to glue them together.
- Hanging garden:- If your wall is in the backyard or near your home, you can decorate by hanging a few barrettes using plants and shrubs.
There are several other ways to beautify your retaining walls and at the same time, hold the soil in place. You can also contact the contractors who have expertise in these walls designing. They will understand your requirement and propose an efficient design upon land evaluation.
