1.WHAT IS A RETAINING WALL?

A retaining wall is a wall that retains any material and prevents it from sliding or eroding away. It is designed so . that to resist the material pressure of the material that it is holding back. A retaining wall is a structure designed and constructed to resist the lateral pressure of soil when there is a desired change in ground elevation that exceeds the angle of repose of the soil. A basement wall is thus one kind of retaining wall. But the term usually refers to a cantilever retaining wall, which is a freestanding structure without lateral support at its top.

2. STATE TYPES OF RETAINING WALL AND MATERIALS USED.

1. Gravity Walls
Gravity walls use their mass or weight to resist the pressure exerted by the earth behind them. These walls usually have an average height of three to four feet. They are made from mortar less stone or masonry units. These materials are stacked together in the making of the walls. The weight or force of friction that is created by these materials is greater than the force exerted by the soil. The thickness of the wall at the base exceeds that at the top. A process known as 'battering' helps the walls to improve stability by leaning back into the retained soil. In this process, as the walls get taller they slant backwards.

2. Cantilever Retaining Walls:

Cantilever walls are among the taller retaining walls. Here, the walls have uniform thickness and are tied to a footing. Properly engineered cantilever walls hold back sufficient amount of soil. Typical basements in a house are an example of these types of retaining walls. Cantilever walls are manufactured in the form of an inverted 'T'. The footer of cantilever walls should be wide enough to prevent the wall from tipping. The thickness of not only the footer but also that of the wall is important. The walls are built with steel-reinforcement in both the footing and wall structures.

3. Sheet pilling walls:

Sheet pile retaining walls are usually used in soft soils and tight spaces. Sheet pile walls are made out of steel, vinyl or wood planks which are driven into the ground. For a quick estimate the material is usually driven 1/3 above ground, 2/3 below ground, but this may be altered depending on the environment. Taller sheet pile walls will need a tie-back anchor, or "deadman" placed in the soil a distance behind the face of the wall, that is tied to the wall, usually by a cable or a rod. Anchors are them placed behind the potential failure plane in the soil.

4. Anchored Walls :
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An anchored retaining wall can be constructed in any of the aforementioned styles but also includes additional strength using cables or other stays anchored in the rock or soil behind it. Usually driven into the material with boring, anchors are then expanded at the end of the cable, either by mechanical means or often by injecting pressurized concrete, which expands to form a bulb in the soil. Technically complex, this method is very useful where high loads are expected, or where the wall itself has to be slender and would otherwise be too weak.

Most commonly used materials :

a) Wood sheets, b) Steel and plastic interlocking sheets, c) Reinforced concrete sheets, d) Precast concrete elements (crib walls and block e) Closely spaced in-situ soil-cement piles. f) Wire-mesh boxes(gabions). g) Anchors into the soil or rock mass (soil nailing)

walls)

3. SKETCHES OF RETAINING WALLS

4. WRITE THE TYPES OF BACK FILLS.

A) Dry soil back fill. B) Wet soil backfill C) Water backfill. D) Rock backfill.