Recognize Critical Retaining Wall Construction Errors

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What happens here

The presenter details several critical construction errors he observed at the job site of the inexperienced contractors. These mistakes include placing the retaining wall blocks without a proper base aggregate for stability and drainage. He also notes the absence of sufficient drainage aggregate behind the wall, with the contractors intending to backfill using existing onsite soils. This would lead to rapid wall failure within one to two seasons. Furthermore, the design failed to account for the weight of the adjacent structures (surcharge) and neglected to manage excess water directed at the wall. He explains the calculation of required material, noting that 26.4 tons of 3/4 inch rock would be needed for a wall of this size to be properly drained.

Goal: Understand the essential components and considerations for building a stable and durable retaining wall, and identify common mistakes.

Tools and materials

Concrete retaining wall blocks — The primary building material for the wall
String line — To ensure straightness and levelness of the wall courses
Base aggregate — Providing a stable, level foundation and drainage for the wall
Drainage aggregate — Reducing hydrostatic pressure behind the wall
Existing onsite soils — Incorrect backfill material; should be avoided

What they say

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retaining wall there they don't have any base material in at this point so they're going to have to unfortunately remove what they've already done and start back over again so they can get uh 6 in of Base material in plus they don't have enough room for their drainage aggregate behind the retaining wall they're going to be uh bumping the wall out so they can get the right amount of drainage material in a number of very basic mistakes are occurring in this video and on this job site number one absolutely no base aggregate number two no drainage aggregate they planned on back filling with existing on-site soils number three not compensating for the weight of the structures number four or not compensating for the excess water that was going to be directed at that retaining wall it's 200 lb per square foot guys so the formula is 200 lb per square foot divide by 2,000 cuz then you got to know how many tons to bring in so that's how you Cal the wall and that includes enough for the base material so you have 264 Square ft * 200 IDE by 2,000 that's how you figure out how many tons of material you need for a retaining W guys you need 26.4 tons of 3/4 in rock to do this job right the right way they were going to core fill with this on-site soils if they did that this wall would have failed probably within one or two seasons so a couple couple little keys to keep you guys on the right track this was a for sure failure for two parties the parties that were involved in paying for the retaining wall to be replaced and the contractor himself if this contractor proceeded with this plan he would have been in big trouble if you're a contractor and you're just getting started and you don't have all the answers I don't want that to stop you but I do want you to

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