The blocks need to be laid on firm ground on 100mm of concrete to give the wall a level and flat foundation.
Concrete block concrete retaining wall footing design.
Retaining walls must be stronger than freestanding walls.
Determine the planned wall s height and width.
Aug 17 2019 explore donald cawood pope s board concrete block retaining wall on pinterest.
The footing dimensions will largely be determined by the size of the wall.
The concrete design mix is normally 35 to 50kn mm2 in strength and there is no steel reinforcement in the blocks.
Concrete blocks are a common building material for a variety of outdoor projects such as retaining walls and out buildings like garages and tool sheds.
Before you begin you ll need to design the layout and pour the footing.
Foundation all concrete block walls must rest on a sturdy foundation of poured concrete.
The last home i built for my family had a giant poured concrete foundation but in the backyard i used concrete block to build a magical serpentine retaining wall that looks as good today as the.
The depth and size of the foundation will vary depending on the size of the concrete block wall and the weight it must support but a typical freestanding wall requires a foundation that is about twice as wide as the wall itself and which extends about 1 foot down below the frost line.
Numerous textbooks and technical papers on soil mechanics foundation engineering concrete design masonry design and in all sorts of related topics.
The footing should be at least as thick vertically as the wall s planned width.
However for even the most modest block structure to have enough rigidity to bear pressure and weight it needs proper footing.
Concrete strength al ൯ne for an 10 thick wall with 5 10 and 2 5 clear to strength steel will only reduce the nominal moment capacity of the secti對on from 136 68 to 135 66 inch kips 尩 if the concrete strength decreased from 3 5 to 3 0 ksi.
Concrete strengths less than this will reduce the design life of the blocks.
Despite the many references a single volume on retaining wall design for the professional practitioner and civil engineering student could not be found.
Reference guide for designing retaining walls using interlocking concrete blocks epcl 2017 rwrg 01 p01 june 2017 3 2.
A poured concrete footing for concrete block or brick walls should be at least twice as wide as the planned wall.
Expect to spend 20 36 hours building a 3x10 foot concrete block retaining wall.
There is no need for a heavy foundation.