Heavyweight wall
A heavyweight wall or gravity wall is a retaining wall for a terrain jump or a slope . It only pushes itself against the earth pressure with its mass . It can consist of natural stone or artificial materials such as masonry or unreinforced concrete . Used railway sleepers are suitable for walls of low height , provided they have been impregnated with harmless wood preservatives .
For a heavyweight wall, a static proof of the internal forces and stability is usually to be proven. When verifying the internal forces, the resulting force from earth pressure and wall weight should be in the middle third in all levels. In exceptional cases, eccentric loading and the occurrence of tensile stress can be permitted to a small extent (which result in a gaping joint), but only up to the center of gravity. In the static verification of the external forces, the resistance to ground fracture in the support joint must be verified depending on the subsurface ( soil pressure ). Furthermore, the stability against tipping and the sliding safety of the overall construction must be proven.
Bevelling the exposed side increases stability and saves material.
If the construction of the wall does not allow the seepage water that occurs behind it to pass through and the wall is not thick enough to prevent frost from occurring on the side facing the soil, a drainage system for dehumidifying the soil must be provided to prevent the displacement to avoid the wall from freezing backwater.
See also
literature
- Gottfried CO Lohmeyer: Structural Analysis 1: Basics and Effects . 9th edition. Springer-Verlag, 2015, ISBN 978-3-322-96808-1 , pp. 92 ( heavyweight wall in the google book search).
- Achim Hettler , Karl-Eugen Kurrer : Earth pressure . Ernst & Sohn , Berlin 2019, ISBN 978-3-433-03274-9 .