3/2014 – Hillside Earth Retaining Wall: Terraforce in India
Lonavala is a beautiful town and hill station in the Pune district of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Close to Bombay, many wealthy locals from there build their holiday homes in the lush green hills of the area. The terrain is rocky and steep, ideal for the application of Terraforce retaining walls, made in Mumbai by official Terraforce suppliers in India. The owner of a new holiday home in the region liked the rustic look of the Terraforce L15 IT blocks and gave the go-ahead to the landscape architects, Retiwala & Associates to use the system to stabilise cut slopes behind the house.
The site before the retaining wall was installed
The site after the wall was installed
Says Deepak Gadhia, Director at PraYoSa, official Terraforce supplier in Mumbai: “Terraforce wall designs can take any shape and have more aesthetic appeal than a conventional concrete earth retaining wall. The landscape Architect, A Y Retiwala, who is always looking for innovative products to try, was so impressed with the rock face finish of the Terraforce L15 IT blocks that he added additional walls to the original design.”
The rustic nature of the blocks blend in with the surroundings
A close-up of the wall, showing the rock-face finish
“The new design specified the addition of an outdoor backyard, using L15 IT blocks, behind the main bathroom featuring a Jacuzzi. This necessitated the construction of two free standing walls perpendicular to the existing retaining wall that was installed at an inclination of 75⁰. The application of L15 IT retaining facia blocks as free standing walls instead of their intended use as earth-filled retaining walls turned out to be a challenge, and was selected for this purpose because of the rustic charm of the rock face Terraforce blocks.
The wall running along the cut slope
The concrete and rebar foundation before blocks are packed
Because of the angle, and request by the architects for these walls to feature staggered joints, the two additional walls increased in length as their height increased, and blocks needed to be cut with a grinder to connect smoothly with the cut slope wall.”
A birds-eye view of the backyard behind the bathroom
Walls meet at an perpendicular angle, necessitating block cutting
Gadhia adds that maximum stability of the new section was ensured by the addition of a concrete foundation and two steel rebar’s per block down the entire depth of the walls:
“This extra open space, that allows users of the Jacuzzi views of the surrounding hills and sky, was our favourite, yet challenging part of the project. The result is great though and satisfies the client request for a rustic, natural look.”
Design Architects: Talati & Panthaky Associates
Landscape Architects: Retiwala & Assosiates
Main Contractor and Terraforce Supplier: PraYoSa Build mat Pvt Ltd