Most people refer the retaining walls as concrete sleepers or sleeper walls. There are many types of these walls. In this article we will go through various types of these walls along with the factors that make these types different from others and what advantages and disadvantages these hold over one and another.
One of the types is sheet piling wall. These walls are made from the materials of timber, vinyl or steel. These are constructed by driving deep into the ground to the desired depth and stabled. These have soil on both of the sides. These walls are usually built in the areas where the soil is soft and which has relatively less space. The measure of length of the pile is important in the construction of these walls. The pile must be 2/3 in the ground and 1/3 above it. Both temporary and permanent type of retaining walls can be made with the same concrete piles. These piles are arranged in a contiguous manner, adjacent to each other and are closely spaced. These are inserted in the ground to provide support. Firm or soft retaining wall depends on the material of these piles that either a soft or hard pile is used.
Second type is reinforced retaining wall. These are much more stable and durable and their stability can further be increased by the use of reinforcement bars. These use steel reinforced or cast in place concrete in their construction. These are connected to each other in the shape of T or L. This type of arrangements allow the horizontal pressure coming from behind to be transformed into the vertical pressure and let it allow to flow through these arrangements and reach the ground. This type of reliable retaining walls is usually designed for the walls that are 8 to 12m high.
Mechanical stabilization earth walls are another type of walls that are used for retainment purposes. These walls can also bear some differential movements. The reason of popularity behind these walls is that these are easy to build and their procedure of construction does not involve formwork or curing of any kind.
After the MSE walls there comes the anchored earth walls. These include cables or rods which are anchored in the soil or rocks located behind the wall. In order to bind the rod to the soil, concrete is injected in to it at the end. These are used in those areas where load is very high.