Retaining walls are designed to resist the lateral pressure of the soil while providing superior support so that it maintains stability at different levels. Many factors cause lateral stress, including liquid pressure, sand, granular sand, and earth filling. Retaining walls are beneficial in industrial settings as they efficiently bind soils between different elevations in areas featuring irregular landscapes or slopes.
The popularity of retaining walls lies in their durability and cost-efficiency. With this system, contractors can meet their daily earth retention requirement for structures such as mass transportation systems, bridge separations, and many more. In addition, builders that face challenging landscapes — including those with limited space, uneven ground, and high structures — consider retaining walls indispensable for guaranteeing superior outcomes.
Reinforcement elements
Many different elements are utilised to strengthen an earth retaining wall system. Materials such as concrete, fibreglass, rubber, steel wood, and aluminium are integrated into a retaining wall design due to their inherent durability and longevity qualities. Steel reinforcements incorporated into a retaining wall design are popular in many industrial construction settings, such as heavy-duty mining, wall railway, and bridge abutment projects. Other innovative materials used to reinforce retaining walls include polyester, polypropylene, and high-density polyethylene, to name a few.
Backfill features
Granular backfill typically functions as a reinforced volume structure. It is utilised by retaining wall manufacturers as it easily meets the electrochemical and mechanical qualities required by earth retaining walls. Furthermore, backfill contributes to the cohesionless characteristic of earth retaining wall structures, which results in added durability and long-term resilience.
Various facing components
An earth retaining wall system is typically manufactured using three facing types: precast panels, concrete masonry blocks, and wire facings. Since the facing is the only apparent feature in a retaining wall system, industrial contractors are responsible for wisely choosing the right face type for their projects. Factors such as colour, shape, size, and texture are also evaluated thoroughly before a construction job can begin.
Drainage features
Drainage is a crucial element in the design of wall retaining systems. They provide the necessary support at the back portion of reinforcement zones, which prevents the increase of hydrostatic pressure during construction projects. Typically, industrial builders use retaining walls with 600 mm width drainage bays in wall construction initiatives. In other instances, profiled blocks are used in place of granular drainage.
Levelling pads
To prevent chipping and gradual degradation of retaining walls and surrounding structures, contractors use bearing pads made from concrete, rubber, or wood.
Filter cloth
Installing wide strips of filter cloth over joints on the posterior part of the wall aids in preventing the migration of backfill into the joints. Filter cloths are usually installed in both horizontal and vertical joints located in the interior portion of the panels. This helps avoid the protrusion of interior fill out of the joints.
Conclusion
With the different components of retaining walls and their practical industrial applications and advantages, it is not surprising for contractors to perceive them as helpful reinforcement elements to industrial projects, both big and small.
