RETAINING WALL

• US 20150159339A1
• Filed: 02/18/2015
• Published: 06/11/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Les Materiaux de Construction Oldcastle Canada Inc
• Original Assignee: Les Materiaux de Construction Oldcastle Canada Inc
• Inventors: CASTONGUAY, Bertin, DAOUST, Robert, LACAS, Marc-Andre
• Granted Patent: US 9,441,342 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: E02D 29/0225 comprising retention means in the backfill
• CPC Class Codes: E02D 29/0233 the retention means being anchors details of anchors E02D5/80
• CPC Class Codes: E02D 29/025 made up of similar modular elements stacked without mortar
• CPC Class Codes: E02D 29/0266 made up of preformed elements
• CPC Class Codes: E04B 2/8635 with ties attached to the inner faces of the forms E04B2/8611 and E04B2/8623 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: E04B 2/8641 using dovetail-type connections
• CPC Class Codes: E04B 2002/0247 Strips or bars
• CPC Class Codes: E04B 2002/867 Corner details
• CPC Class Codes: E04B 2002/8676 Wall end details
• CPC Class Codes: E04C 1/395 for claustra, fences, planting walls, e.g. sound-absorbing pots for vertical horticulture A01G9/022

Abstract

Disclosed is an economical and effective way of producing a modular retaining wall for a material to be retained, using only blocks which in and of themselves are of insufficient thickness to function as retaining wall blocks. The modular wall includes backer blocks and facing blocks which are connected by separate connectors in a back to back, spaced apart arrangement, thereby forming a hollow retaining wall. The hollow wall is filled with loose filler material to increase the mass and retaining capacity of the wall. None of the wall components is embedded in the material to be retained. Further disclosed are wall components and a wall kit for a modular retaining wall. A double sided decorative wall is also disclosed. The modular wall system allows for the construction of retaining walls and freestanding, double sided, decorative walls forming both straight and curved walls.

Claims

1. A modular retaining wall of preselected height and mass per unit length for retaining loose material of equal or lesser height, comprising

concrete backer blocks placed against the loose material to be retained and stacked into a continuous rear wall portion of the preselected height and a first mass per unit length;

concrete facing blocks exposed on a front face of the retaining wall and stacked into a continuous front wall portion of the preselected height and a second mass per unit length;

connectors extending between the facing and backer blocks for connecting each concrete facing block with at least one concrete backer block in a back to back arrangement and maintaining the front and rear wall portions in a spaced apart position in which the front and rear wall portions define an intermediate space; and

a fill of loose filler material at least partially filling the intermediate space, a sum of the first and second mass being less than the total mass and the fill having a third mass per unit length constituting at least the remainder of the preselected total mass per unit length;

wherein the facing blocks, the intermediate space and the loose filler material are separated by the backer blocks from the material to be retained.

2. The modular retaining wall of claim 1, wherein the concrete facing blocks have a first width, the concrete backer blocks have a second width, and the connectors have a length exceeding the sum of the first and second width.

3. The modular retaining wall of claim 2, wherein the retaining structures are one of a retaining protrusion on a back surface of the concrete facing blocks and a back surface of the concrete backer blocks and a retaining recess in the back surface of the facing or backer blocks.

4. The modular retaining wall of claim 2, wherein the retaining recesses are oriented to extend vertical or horizontal in an installed condition of the blocks.

5. The modular retaining wall of claim 2, wherein the concrete facing blocks have a base width W and the retaining structures in the facing blocks are spaced at 1W.

6. The modular retaining wall of claim 5, wherein the retaining structures in the concrete backer blocks are spaced at 1W or less.

7. The modular retaining wall of claim 2, wherein the retaining structures are retaining recesses constructed as keyhole slots and each connector has a central portion with opposite, terminally positioned and enlarged terminal portions forming the first and second interlocking members respectively, or the retaining structures are retaining protrusions constructed as dovetail protrusions and each connector has a central portion with opposite terminal portions for respectively interlocking with one of the dovetail protrusions.

8. The modular retaining wall of claim 7, wherein the central portion is a planar central web and each interlocking member is shaped and constructed for interlocking engagement with a keyhole slot.

9. The modular retaining wall of claim 1, wherein the sum of the first and second mass is less than half of the total mass.

10. The modular retaining wall of claim 1, wherein the connectors each have at least two connecting ends for respective interlocking engagement with one facing block and one backer block and each of the concrete facing and backer blocks having multiple spaced apart retaining structures for respectively receiving one of the connecting ends.

11. A method for assembling a retaining wall for retaining a loose material of a predetermined first height, the retaining wall having a second height at least equal to the first height and a minimum total mass per unit length required for retaining the loose material of the first height, the method comprising the steps of

obtaining a plurality of concrete facing blocks respectively having a back surface and a front surface, and a known mass;

obtaining a plurality of concrete backer blocks respectively having a back surface and a front surface, and a known mass,

determining a first mass per unit length of a continuous wall of stacked facing blocks of the second height;

determining a second mass per unit length of a continuous wall of stacked backer blocks of the second height;

determining a required volume of a loose filler material of known density needed per unit length of the wall to provide a third mass of filler material per unit length, which third mass is equal to at least a difference between the total mass per unit length and the sum of the first and second mass per unit length;

stacking the concrete facing and backer blocks in a back-to-back orientation to form a continuous front wall portion of facing blocks and having the second height and a continuous rear wall portion of backer blocks having the second height;

during stacking of the facing and backer blocks, connecting the back surface of each facing block in the front wall portion with the back surface of a least one backer block in the rear wall portion with a connector for connecting the front and rear wall portions in the back-to-back orientation and forming an intermediate space for receiving the filler material, a length of the connectors being selected for the intermediate space having a volume per unit length at least equal to the required volume,

whereby the backer blocks are stacked against the material to be retained without embedding the backer blocks in the material to be retained for separating the intermediate space from the material to be retained; and

filling the intermediate space with the volume of loose filler material to form the retaining wall of the minimum total mass.

12. A method of forming a corner of first and second intersecting retaining walls each assembled in accordance with the method of claim 11, including the steps of,

placing at least one of the concrete backer blocks of the first wall at the corner within the intermediate space of the second wall and

placing at least one of the concrete backer blocks of the second wall at the corner within the intermediate space of the first wall;

and the step of filling the intermediate space is carried out for each completed horizontal row of connected backer and facing blocks.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the steps of placing the at least one backer block of the first wall and placing the at least one backer block of the second wall are carried out for each horizontal row of backer blocks.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein at the corner and in each row of backer blocks, the row of backer blocks of one of the first and second walls is continuous with the backer block placed within the intermediate space of the other of the first and second walls.

15. A modular wall system for constructing a freestanding retaining wall for retaining a loose material of a predetermined height, the retaining wall having a rear face for placement against the loose material to be retained, an exposed front face and a predetermined base width and total mass per unit length sufficient for maintaining the retaining wall upright against a pressure exerted by the loose material at the preselected height, the system comprising

backer blocks stackable against the loose material and into a continuous rear wall portion of the preselected height, for forming the rear face, the rear wall portion having a first mass;

facing blocks stackable into a continuous front wall portion of the preselected height for forming the front face, the front wall portion having a second mass, a sum of the first and second mass being less than the total mass;

connectors for connecting each facing block in the front wall portion with at least one backer block in the rear wall portion to form an intermediate hollow space of fixed volume between the front and back wall portions, the fixed volume being defined by the preselected height of the retaining wall and a length of the connectors, the intermediate space being separated from the loose material by the rear wall portion; and

an amount of loose filler material of a known density for filling the fixed volume, the length of the connectors being selected for a width of the retaining wall being at least equal to the base width and the amount of loose filler material having an overall third mass constituting at least the remainder of the total mass.

16. The modular wall system of claim 15, wherein the connectors each have at least two connecting ends for respective interlocking engagement with a facing block and backer block and each of the facing and backer blocks having multiple spaced apart retaining structures for respectively receiving one of the connecting ends.

17. The modular wall system of claim 16, wherein the facing blocks have a first width, the backer blocks have a second width, and the connectors have a length exceeding the sum of the first and second width.

18. The modular wall system of claim 17, wherein the retaining structures are one of a retaining protrusion on and retaining recesses in a back surface of the facing blocks and a back surface of the backer blocks.

19. The modular wall system of claim 18, wherein the retaining recesses are oriented to extend vertical or horizontal in an installed condition of the blocks.

20. The modular wall system of claim 18, wherein the facing blocks have a base width W and the retaining structures in the facing blocks are spaced at 1W.

22. The modular wall system of claim 18, wherein the retaining structures are retaining recesses constructed as keyhole slots and each connector has a central portion with opposite, terminally positioned and enlarged terminal portions forming the first and second interlocking members respectively, or the retaining structures are retaining protrusions constructed as dovetail protrusions and each connector has a central portion with opposite terminal portions for respectively interlocking with one of the dovetail protrusions.

23. The modular wall system of claim 22, wherein the central portion is a planar central web and each interlocking member is shaped and constructed for interlocking engagement with a keyhole slot.

21. The modular wall system of claim 21, wherein the retaining structures in the backer blocks are spaced at 1W or less.

24. A kit for constructing a freestanding retaining wall for retaining a loose material of a predetermined height, the retaining wall having a rear face for placement against the loose material to be retained, an exposed front face and a predetermined base width and total mass per unit length sufficient for maintaining the retaining wall upright against a pressure exerted by the loose material at the preselected height, comprising

X backer blocks and Y facing blocks, the facing blocks being stackable into a continuous front wall portion and the backer blocks being stackable into a continuous rear wall portion for placement against the material to be retained;

connectors for connecting the backer blocks with the facing blocks in a back to back arrangement for the front and rear wall portions to define an intermediate space for filling with loose filler material when the facing blocks and backer blocks are connected by the connectors in the back to back arrangement, the connectors each having at least two connecting ends for respective interlocking engagement with a facing block and a backer block and each of the facing and backer blocks having multiple spaced apart retaining structures for respectively receiving one of the connecting ends;

instructions for selecting a length of the connectors to adjust a volume of the intermediate space so that a mass of the filler material in the intermediate space together with a mass of the front wall portion and a mass of the rear wall portion adding up to at least the total mass; and

an amount of loose filler material of a known density, the amount of loose filler material having an overall third mass constituting at least the remainder of the total mass.

25. The kit of claim 24, wherein X and Y are the same and the retaining structures are one of retaining protrusions on and retaining recesses in a back surface of the facing blocks and a surface of the backer blocks.