Retaining wall
First Claim
1. A modular retaining wall of preselected height and mass per unit length for retaining loose material of equal or lesser height, comprisingconcrete backer blocks placed against the loose material to be retained;
- concrete facing blocks exposed on a front face of the retaining wall; and
connectors connecting each concrete facing block with at least one concrete backer block in a back to back arrangement, the concrete backer blocks being stacked into a continuous rear wall portion of the preselected height and a first mass per unit length and the concrete facing blocks being stacked into a continuous front wall portion of the preselected height and a second mass per unit length, a sum of the first and second mass being less than the total mass; and
the connectors maintaining the front and rear wall portions in a spaced apart position in which the front and rear wall portions define an intermediate space, the intermediate space being filled with a loose filler material of a third mass per unit length constituting at least the remainder of the preselected total mass per unit length, the loose filler material being separate from the material to be retained and the hollow space being separated by the backer blocks from the material to be retained, wherein each connector has a pair of connecting ends and a connector body extending between the connecting ends, the connecting ends being shaped for supporting the connector in and interlocking engagement with a retaining structure in one of the concrete facing blocks and a retaining structure in one of the concrete backer blocks, respectively, the connector body being rod or web shaped for minimizing a volume taken up by the connectors in the intermediate space and maximizing a volume of the filler material in the intermediate space and wherein none of the backer blocks, facing blocks and connectors are embedded in the material to be retained.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed is an economical and effective way of producing a modular retaining wall, 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 connectors in a back to back, spaced apart arrangement, thereby forming a hollow retaining wall. The hollow wall can be filled with loose filler material to increase the mass and retaining capacity of the wall. 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.
102 Citations
14 Claims
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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; -
concrete facing blocks exposed on a front face of the retaining wall; and connectors connecting each concrete facing block with at least one concrete backer block in a back to back arrangement, the concrete backer blocks being stacked into a continuous rear wall portion of the preselected height and a first mass per unit length and the concrete facing blocks being stacked into a continuous front wall portion of the preselected height and a second mass per unit length, a sum of the first and second mass being less than the total mass; and
the connectors maintaining the front and rear wall portions in a spaced apart position in which the front and rear wall portions define an intermediate space, the intermediate space being filled with a loose filler material of a third mass per unit length constituting at least the remainder of the preselected total mass per unit length, the loose filler material being separate from the material to be retained and the hollow space being separated by the backer blocks from the material to be retained, wherein each connector has a pair of connecting ends and a connector body extending between the connecting ends, the connecting ends being shaped for supporting the connector in and interlocking engagement with a retaining structure in one of the concrete facing blocks and a retaining structure in one of the concrete backer blocks, respectively, the connector body being rod or web shaped for minimizing a volume taken up by the connectors in the intermediate space and maximizing a volume of the filler material in the intermediate space and wherein none of the backer blocks, facing blocks and connectors are embedded in the material to be retained. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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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 to separate the intermediate space from the material to be retained; and filling the intermediate space with the loose filler material to form the retaining wall of the minimum total mass. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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Specification