Retaining Walls for Your Landscaping Project

Aside from irrigation, retaining walls are also used in landscaping projects. Those who live in steep or mountainous areas are probably familiar with the use of retaining walls. It allows designers to create space, level areas, and support landscape designs for a much longer time.

Retaining walls have been in use since the ancient times. Romans used retaining walls to aid in the construction of their famous roads, while Europeans incorporated retaining walls in their castles. Hillside rice terraces in Asia are also famous for their structure which has been dependent on retaining walls for hundreds of years.

Past construction methods and advancements in engineering have proven that four basic types of retaining walls seem to perform quite well. Each design has its advantages and disadvantages depending on the type of construction where it will be used. The four basic types of retaining walls include gravity wall, cantilever wall, counter fort wall, and buttressed wall.

A gravity retaining wall is usually a low rise wall which depends on its own weight or mass to hold back the ground. Such is achieved through the construction of a wall with a volume of material that when stacked together, the weight and friction of the interlocking material exceed the gravitational force behind. A gravity landscaping retaining wall is usually thicker at the base than at the top. Also, as the facade of the wall gets taller, it tends to tilt backwards.

Cantilever retaining wall is like the wall used in a typical basement of a house, which has a uniform thickness tied to a footing. The footing is designed by a professional engineer to resist tipping or siding forces exerted by the ground. As part of reinforcement for the wall and footing, steel is used. This requires the expertise of an engineer, especially when it comes to measurements. In order to address this issue, some Minneapolis landscape companies employ experienced engineers to work with their landscapers for efficiency.

Counter fort retaining walls are quite similar to cantilever walls, only with a triangular shaped wall connecting the top of the wall to the back of the footer. In buttressed retaining wall, the support wall is on the outside of the retaining wall. Take note that these types of retaining walls can be used not only in landscaping, but also in minneapolis irrigation and other public works.