Who knows about stacked-block retaining walls?

[newbury]

Any project worth doing - is worth overdoing when DIY.
especially if you have extra time
and the tools
and the inclination....

Well you certainly have the inclination, darn near vertical

 

[EddieWalker]

Thanks for the update. It's been a fun project to watch. I have to admit that it's been a bit overwhelming seeing all that you did, and it got me to rethinking plans for my place.

I've been planning on building a short retaining wall for my drainage ditch that goes through my yard but haven't found any blocks that I really like the look of. Now I'm going to just remove all the dirt and plant grass so I can mow it. More work on the tractor, less money buying materials, and a totally different look.

 

[LouNY]

Thanks for the update. It's been a fun project to watch. I have to admit that it's been a bit overwhelming seeing all that you did, and it got me to rethinking plans for my place.

I've been planning on building a short retaining wall for my drainage ditch that goes through my yard but haven't found any blocks that I really like the look of. Now I'm going to just remove all the dirt and plant grass so I can mow it. More work on the tractor, less money buying materials, and a totally different look.

Sod waterways are the best way to go when possible.

 

[lilranch2001]

I have a 300 foot sod waterway in my yard that drains the neighboring Farmfield. in 2010 I had to redo it because of all the silt had filled in it, it had become marshy.
I redid where the water runs onto my property so that it doesn’t run quite so fast and now it has held up for 15 years pretty well without silting

 

[Sodo]

Anything you would do differently or could have saved some work looking back?

I would have liked to have a real "compactor". But you can't have every piece of eqpt that you wish for just hanging around. DIY can take months.
Finding a trucker to bring me SAND for fill, that concern reduced somewhat. (Free sand !, a little bit moist. and LOTS of it !)

Wish I had a 3rd pic (of the geotex folded over ontop.)

Tracked vehicle doesn't compact much, but it's moist sand, and its heavy.
I suppose it's weight compacts all the lift layers below.
Those form boards are 4x12 held vertical with #5 rebar stakes into the geotex lift below.

I have laser elevations "before", and will be able to measure settling of the top surface as time passes.

What I most needed, and wasn't able to get, was confirmation that a stacked block wall leaning against a Geotex retaining wall was..... "no worries of soil pressure against the block wall".
(re: Civil Engineer member Sam Wise, see post Who knows about stacked-block retaining walls?) who wrote that the stacked block wall was a decorative facing for the (geotextile) retaining wall.
If that's the case.....
and I tend to believe it
then there's almost no pressure on my stacked blocks.

Anyway, I had to press on, with advice from just one TBN engineer who told me what I wanted to hear and of course it was a sweet sound...

Any more civil engineers willing to opine......?
Is the block wall subject to soil pressure from the geotextile reinforced embankment?

The 5/8clean gravel and the topsoil heap doesn't look like 'much'.
The block mfr approves 42" max (without reinforcement).