The stable angle that a pile of soil or a slope wishes to remain at. As soil falls off a conveyor to make a pile, the angle it creates represents the natural angle of repose.
The basic measure of the nature of a fine-grained soil. Depending on the water content of the soil, it may appear in four states: solid, semi-solid, plastic and liquid. In each state, the consistency and behavior of a soil is different and consequently so are its engineering properties. They can be used to distinguish between silt and clay, and it can distinguish between different types of silts and clays
Soil that is composed of very fine or small particles that stick together. Clay soils are very moisture sensitive and will exert more pressure on a wall.
A concrete vibrator is a construction tool used on concrete pouring sites. A vibrator is used to ensure that a pour is even and free of air bubbles so that the concrete will remain strong.
refers to the activities of handling the soil on a job site. Cut applications require removing soil to allow construction activities where fill applications requires adding soil to behind the wall.
Used to direct incidental water that makes its way in behind the reinforced mass, and vents it to daylight by creating a channel for the water to flow out from.
A retaining wall that does not use soil reinforcement. A gravity wall has limited height because it relies on the weight and setback of the block alone to resist the soil pressures behind the wall.
The soil used to backfill behind the wall rock in the reinforced zone. These soils need to be identified and approved by a qualified engineer before they can be used. A granular type of material is best.
Tested strengths of the geogrid that includes reductions for durability, creep, degradation and installation damage. Most grids have 100% of this strength only in one direction.
The area reinforced with geogrid the includes the block, wall rock and soil to create a mass/weight to resist the soil pressure behind the reinforced zone.
Refers to a wall that uses geogrid reinforcement to provide additional stability to resist the pressures exerted behind the structure. Typically, geogrid is used to build taller retaining walls.
Typically this refers to the geogrid behind the wall that is used to provide additional stability for taller wall heights. However, this may include no-fines concrete and tie-back systems like earth anchors and soil nails.
Soil that is composed of larger particles that you can see and generally don't stick together. Sandy soils drain water easily and will exert less pressure on a wall.
Shotcrete is a concrete sprayed at high velocity over steel cages or wire mesh that creates a concrete structure that can incorporate multiple types of reinforcement such as soil nails, steel mesh, or fiber reinforcement.
Soil nailing is a construction technique that can be used to treat unstable natural soil slopes or as a construction technique that allows the safe over-steepening of new or existing soil slopes.
Any added weight above a wall is called a surcharge. Patios, swimming pools and driveways are common surcharges. Your wall may need additional support if a surcharge is present.
Compactible aggregate ranging in size from 0.25 in to 1.5 in. (6 mm to 38 mm) with no more than 10% fines. Used for base material, within block cores and behind the block.
