Constructing a Retaining Wall on Sliding Soils

The old retaining wall (which failed) was constructed on soils that were sliding downhill!  The rock was too deep to put the new retaining wall on the bedrock, so we drilled piers down to the bedrock to stop the hill from sliding and to support the new retaining wall.

This video shows you how to prevent a retaining wall failure when there are sliding soils!


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Link to Photos of this project
Joseph Kowalski, P.E.
www.RetainingWallVideos.com
Current State PE Registrations

Retaining Wall Block Tolerance

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This short article discusses retaining wall block tolerance: what it is, what are the limits, and what happens when blocks are manufactured "out of tolerance".

Segmental retaining wall blocks do not use mortar.  They are simply stacked one upon another.  Sometimes there are grooves, or lips, or pins or clips that align the blocks.  However, the blocks always rest one upon another.

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Our past videos (like this one) and articles discuss the critical importance of getting your first row of blocks perfectly level.  The blocks must be level front-to-rear and side-to-side.  A perfectly level first-row of blocks will help make wall construction fast!   Unless .... the blocks are out of tolerance!

When blocks are "out of tolerance" it means that one side of the block is higher or lower than the other side.  You can see that this can cause big problems for these reasons ... Read More...

Stone Strong Retaining Wall Installation




Allan Block 90-Degree Corner

  Have you ever tried to construct a 90-degree bend using Allan Blocks and wondered where to make the saw cut?

 

 THIS VIDEO SHOWS YOU HOW!  Take a minute and learn how to make PERFECT 90-degree outside corners with Allan Block.    READ MORE ....

Rock Anchors and Moving Mountains

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PDF showing rock anchors for Costco, St. John's, NB, Canada
 What began as simply "moving a mountain" quickly became an engineering challenge.  The task: find a safe way to quickly and safely anchor the bottom of a 7-meter high retaining wall from falling off a 10-meter high cliff onto the heavily-travelled roadway below!  Canada, here we come!

Because excavating solid bedrock in New Brunswick, Canada, was prohibitively expensive, we assisted the design engineer in developing rock anchors for the lowest region of the MSE retaining wall on the top of a rock outcrop.                 READ MORE ...