How to Build a Berm

[bigtiller]

I would like to build a berm for loading & unloading pickup trucks. I would put it on one edge of my parking area. Anywhere from 4 to 6 feet wide and about 30 inches tall.

Any ideas out there about materials to use, easy to build and maintain? It will be seen from the road so it has to be more than just a pile of dirt.

 

[bcp]

You might be able to make it less obvious if you split the rise. Fifteen inches down and 15 inches up.

Bruce

 

[Nick359]

When I worked landscaping years ago, we built retaining walls with bricks designed to hold back weight. If you used those it would be astatically appealing, as well as, have a function. I remembered that they weighed about 75 pounds and I put 375 on one wall I built. I picked every one of those things up 3 or 4 times. When I went back to college the next year everyone was amazed at how much time I spent in the gym. I told them, I just work in the summer so I have money when I'm at school. If you dig lower so the wall isn't so high, you might have water retention problems and it will be easier to unload the pickups if the beds are level.

 

[aczlan]

I would set 1-2 "mafia blocks" (2'x2'x4' or 2'x2'x6' concrete block that the cement places make from what's left in the truck when it comes back), then get a couple of the caps that they make to go on top (otherwise, the top has a ridge to help when stacking them) and fill behind it with gravel.

Aaron Z

 

[aczlan]

Mafia Blocks:


Aaron Z

 

[bigtiller]

I would set 1-2 "mafia blocks" (2'x2'x4' or 2'x2'x6' concrete block that the cement places make from what's left in the truck when it comes back), then get a couple of the caps that they make to go on top (otherwise, the top has a ridge to help when stacking them) and fill behind it with gravel.

Aaron Z

That is one of my ideas also. So I called the 2 closest ready mix plants and neither of them deliver or set them and one of them kinda chuckled at the idea of setting them. So I thought I would build my own, which lead to the idea of making it out of lumber or timbers or blocks. And all that brought me here with the question thinking maybe someone has built one and has some tips or tricks for building & maintenance success without spending all my pocket money.

I think I'll call some ready-mix plants further away in the big town.

 

[aczlan]

That is one of my ideas also. So I called the 2 closest ready mix plants and neither of them deliver or set them and one of them kinda chuckled at the idea of setting them. So I thought I would build my own, which lead to the idea of making it out of lumber or timbers or blocks. And all that brought me here with the question thinking maybe someone has built one and has some tips or tricks for building & maintenance success without spending all my pocket money.

I think I'll call some ready-mix plants further away in the big town.

You might try a place that sells cement septic tanks as they are usually equipped to do that. If not, I would find a local excavation contractor and have them deliver/set them. At 3000# for a 6' one, they aren't light, but they shouldn't be a huge deal.


Aaron Z

 

[Stimw]

Sometimes you can find used RR ties for sale.
Stack them and stake them with re-bar and back fill.

 

[bigtiller]

Sometimes you can find used RR ties for sale.
Stack them and stake them with re-bar and back fill.

would you offset them any (how much) or stack them straight up?

 

[davrow]

At 3000# for a 6' one, they aren't light, but they shouldn't be a huge deal. Aaron Z

They advertise them around here... delivery with a minimum purchase. But I wanted to move them myself and the lightest they have are 2,000 lbs. My poor CK27 can't lift that much.

I'm amazed the OP found resistance at the supplier. What else are they going to do with them except make retaining walls?

 

[WVBill]

would you offset them any (how much) or stack them straight up?

Straight up and use Deadman Anchors

 

[kthompson]

Have a friend with tractor garage. They have a dirt with timber sides that have used for years for flat bed trucks. Don't use it that often now but has held up well.

If you are trying to make it easy and to look good, get suitable treated pine lumber (ground contract grade) to hold the dirt in place for the slope and hide the slope. Plant shrubs on the side of it or put a flower box on the side depending on your landscaping and it will look good. To me much better than stacked concrete blocks

You need to have a top material that will hold up to rain washing it, and wheel climbing the grade.

 

[GLyford]

If the railroad ties are used, skip them...they are removed from service when they show signs of rot, and never last very long when used in landscaping and usually manage to look like heck.

New ones are probably OK.

 

[rd_macgregor]

The diagram that WVBill showed is the way to do it. The deadman anchors and drainage gravel together dramatically reduce the likelihood that the vertical face will start to shift outward due to frost or ground compression pressure on the ramp side. Ground contact treated wood will last a long time and IMO looks pretty good, too. Even if you built a rock or concrete wall/berm, it would be a good idea to back it with both drainage gravel and the deadmans.
I saw some interesting wall blocks being installed at a road project near my home. The blocks were sort of L-shaped with one leg of the L being the deadman and the other the face, and they interlocked with tongue and groove mating surfaces. These were concrete, of course, but the face side was a textured concrete that actually looked a lot like rock...all in all very esthically pleasing. Budget quickly becomes an issue when you start to deal with commercially-available retaining wall materials. Not only are these new-price expensive, but many are beyond the ability of a homeowner to install...so contractor costs come into play.
Wood is a lot more amenable to DIY and give considerable flexibility in design, too.

 

[GLyford]

Don't rule out straight up poured concrete.

Forming up an 8" wall with integral 16" footer wouldn't take that long, rebar is still cheap, and a "short" load of concrete with weekend delivery premium still isn't that expensive in the grand scheme of things. There is a lot of material on the web on how to make forms and place rebar. A simple screed-and-trowel finish across the top is pretty easy.

Doing it before the slope exists so you can easily access both sides would make it even easier.

 

[bigtiller]

That has possibilities. I have another 3.5 yard project planned for later this summer. Maybe we can work it in.