Brick Retaining Wall Design Guide

Please note that the gravity wall chart provided has specific heights for specific site and soil conditions.

Brick retaining wall design guide.

This is not meant to be a final authority as each project has its own set of unique situations. Mass retaining walls are not generally considered to be economic over a height of 1800mm when constructed of brick or concrete and 1000mm high in the case of natural stonework. Walling guide no 4. A wall any higher than this needs to be thicker and there are several ways of achieving this.

Building codes and retaining walls 5. To mark a free form layout use a rope or hose to outline the shape. A garden retaining wall of up to 400mm high can be built out of a single skin wall of facing bricks or concrete block. Earthquake seismic design 7.

A retaining wall made entirely out of brick is known as a cavity wall. The structural capacity of the srw system will vary with the srw unit size shape batter etc. Between them is a gap for steel that runs up from the foundation to the top of the wall. The intent of this material is to communicate the best practices for design of segmental retaining walls srw as determined by allan block corporation based on 25 plus years of research design and field experience.

Structural design design of free standing clay brick walls 5 figure 1. Learn more about gravity wall construction. Design procedure overview 3. Bricks can be laid in two skins which can be held together by mesh or built as a 225mm thick wall as shown in the laying bricks project.

Brick retaining walls typical mass retaining wall details these walls rely mainly on their own mass to overcome the tendency to slide forwards. Your retaining wall design will determine how you mark the area. Segmental retaining walls can be designed as either conventional or as reinforced soil as illustrated in figure 1. N ultimate load design with material factors based on characteristic soil properties partial load factors consistent with as 1170 1 and structure designs to as 3700 and as 3600.

Gravity walls rely on their own weight and setback to hold up the soil behind them. Soil bearing and stability 8. Follow the block manufacturer s instructions for wall height limits. Design for earth loads retaining walls which set out a design methodology and safe load tables for these structures.

This design is composed of two standard brick walls just inches apart that share the same foundation. Avoid having downspouts pointed at the retaining wall and if it s against the house keep soil and mulch well below the siding. Forces on retaining walls 6. If you are not sure of your site conditions we recommend being conservative with your retaining wall heights or use geogrid in your retaining wall.

Manufacturer s recommendations should be followed regarding the capacity of their particular system for the soil loads under consideration.