Heavy Gravity Walls

Double skin walls, often with concrete reinforced backfill, for exra mass. A double skin of blocks effectively doubles the gravity mass of the wall and increases the lever arm for overturning moments. The wall mass can be further increased by spacing the front and back skins using a stabilized fill and a geotextile or grid to hold the two faces in juxtaposition. It is not always necessary to take the second skin to the full height of the wall.

Introduction | Light gravity | Heavy gravity | Composite walls | Vertical/RC filled

Often the designer is faced with a situation where the incline is steep & the mass of a wall system is insufficient to achieve a stable situation without resorting to additional measures. In most cases it will be found that the provision of a double skin wall for added mass is by far the cheapest solution especially when it is not feasible to carry out additional excavation required to accommodate the installation of earth reinforcing techniques.

To view an example of a heavyduty, composite installation, go to the case studies page where some examples of such installations are reviewed.