What is Site Walls?
Site walls, commonly known as retaining walls, are structural systems designed to hold back soil and resist lateral earth pressure where there is a difference in ground levels.
Definition
Purpose
Site walls provide structural support and help manage changes in elevation, soil movement, drainage, and erosion. They can also create usable spaces and improve the functionality of residential, commercial and civil sites.
- Soil Retention: Holds back earth to prevent landslips, slumping, and soil movement on sloped properties.
- Erosion Control: Helps prevent rainfall and runoff from washing away soil and degrading the surrounding landscape.
- Foundation Protection: Protects nearby buildings, foundations, roads, and other structures from shifting soil and water-related damage.
- Load Support: Resists lateral earth pressure and helps support additional loads from structures, vehicles, or other elements at higher elevations.
- Creating Usable Space: Creates level terraces for lawns, patios, driveways, parking areas, and other usable spaces on sloped sites.
- Water Management: Helps control stormwater runoff when combined with appropriate drainage systems.
- Property Boundaries: Low site walls can define property lines while also providing privacy, security, or landscaping benefits.
- Accessibility and Seating: Low-profile walls can provide built-in seating or help frame ramps, walkways, and accessible areas.
Examples of Use
- Terraced Gardens: Multiple low walls can be installed along a hillside to create level planting areas and reduce soil movement.
- Patio Enclosures: Site walls can frame patios and outdoor living spaces while providing seating or landscaping features.
- Driveway Carve-Outs: Retaining walls can hold back soil when a driveway or parking area is created on a sloped property.
- Sunken Courtyards: Walls can support the surrounding soil when creating lower-level courtyards or below-grade outdoor spaces.
- Highway Cuts: Used along roads and highways to stabilize steep slopes and help prevent soil from moving onto transportation routes.
- Bridge Abutments: Support soil and approach areas where roads transition onto bridges.
- Underpass Walls: Used to retain soil around sunken roadways, pedestrian paths, and other below-grade infrastructure.
- Riverbank Protection: Helps stabilize riverbanks and reduce erosion caused by flowing water, tides, and flooding.
- Culvert Entries: Walls can frame drainage pipe entrances and exits while preventing surrounding soil from obstructing water flow.
- Retention Pond Borders: Used around stormwater basins to help retain soil and create stable pond boundaries.
Related Terms
Notes
- Site walls can be constructed from concrete, reinforced concrete, masonry, segmental retaining wall blocks, stone, timber, steel, or other suitable materials, depending on project requirements.
- Wall height, thickness, footing requirements, reinforcement, and drainage provisions should be determined based on soil conditions, loads, site conditions, and applicable design requirements.
- Proper drainage is essential to help manage water pressure behind the wall and protect the wall from excessive hydrostatic pressure.
- Site walls may require footings, reinforcement, drainage pipes, gravel backfill, geotextiles, weep holes, anchors, or other supporting components.
- Site walls are commonly coordinated with civil, structural, architectural, landscape, and drainage plans to ensure proper grading, access, and site integration.
- Site wall takeoffs may include wall length, height, thickness, footing dimensions, concrete or masonry quantities, reinforcement, drainage materials, backfill, coping, and other associated components required for estimating and installation.
SHARE TO
Get a Step-by-Step Beam AI Walkthrough
Fill out this form and see how easy it is to set up takeoffs, export reports, and get ready-to-use quantities.
.webp)
