Top O'Hill Terrace retaining wall - Arlington, Texas
Posted by: 
txoilgas
N 32° 44.317 W 097° 09.468
14S E 672608 N 3623811
In the 30's, when this wall was built, they did not engineer enought strength into the retaining wall. The remainder of the walls around it have held over the same time with no sign of failure.
Waymark Code: WM7DN8
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 10/10/2009
Views: 66
This wall has partially failed due to the improper construction of the wall. This partial failure is definately due to human error. The following is a discussion on the proper construction of a retaining wall.
•A strong wall features well-compacted base material, compacted material in front of the wall to prevent kick-out, and stepped-back materials.
•A wall that has an uneven base, no compacted material in front of it and no step-back to the materials will eventually fail.
•Install a base of solidly compacted material so your wall stays flat. A level wall provides modular blocks, stone and timbers with more surface contact with the courses above and below them. They fit together more tightly. The more contact, the more friction and the stronger the wall.
Apply these three rules, and you’ll create a strong wall. But even a well built wall won’t survive unless you take care of two troublemakers: water and uncompacted soil