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AB Walls 2010

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Ultimate Design Tool for Segmental Retaining Walls Now Available from Allan Block® – AB Walls 10

3/11/2010 MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Allan Block has completely redesigned their segmental retaining wall design software and made it the most powerful and user-friendly retaining wall design software on the market. AB Walls 10 is a comprehensive design tool which outputs professional quality construction drawings, along with the technical support data. This program allows designers to transfer a conceptual layout from a site plan to a complete wall solution and then export to various CADD software programs.

The software continues to allow the designer to generate elevation, plan and multiple cross sectional views of their retaining wall project. Additionally, its design capabilities include static and seismic calculations for internal, external and internal compound stability. AB Walls 10 can now take a designed wall project and print a complete package in one step making it an easy submittal to your client.

With this design software and methodology comes supporting documents like the AB Engineering Manual and Tech Sheets, as well as full technical support from the Allan Block Engineering Department.

Allan Block Corporation is a leading provider of retaining wall systems for commercial, industrial, roadway and residential projects. With millions of square feet of retaining wall product installed though out the world, Allan Block has the resources to deliver performance and quality to every project.

Media Contact:
Allan Block Corporation,
Phone: 952-839-5309
Fax: 952-839-0013
Email: info@allanblock.com
http://www.allanblock.com

Posted in AB Press Releases, Commercial Retaining Walls | No Responses »
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Retaining Wall for Water? Why Not?

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

Water Applications

Retaining Walls for Water

Live near a beach, a lake, river or stream? Then you probably know a little something about erosion, flooding and potential water damage to your home. One way to help remove these potential problems from around your home is to build a retaining wall. These “water” retaining walls are built to withstand the water and will help preserve, maintain and divert water away from the areas you want to protect – your home. Allan Block works well in this type of environment but these walls may need a bit more planning and design than a “standard” retaining wall. Check out the information they have on Water Applications before you get started – then maybe an engineer.

If a “water” retaining wall is what you need, then go with Allan Block – they have all the answers.

-Danelle

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Which Block is Right for Me?

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

We just published our new AB Landscape Wall Guide and it got us to thinking, “How do you know what block is the best block for your site?” As you are planning your retaining wall project, it is easy to get overwhelmed with all the retaining wall block options. To help narrow this field of choices, the first thing I would recommend is to contact your local dealer to see what block is available in your part of the country.

If you are fortunate enough to have both the AB Collection and AB Europa Collection available in your area, it comes down to your personal preference whether you like the hand-laid look of the antiqued AB Europa Collection or the smooth, fluid finish of the AB Collection.

2 Course Pattern

2 Course Pattern

Next, you must decide if you like a wall made from a single block shape, or if you prefer a patterned wall. If your wall is less than 3 ft (1 m) your options include using the Standard Patterns or the Lite Patterns shown in the AB Landscape Wall Guide or any of the single block shapes. If your wall is over 3 ft (1 m) tall, I would recommend using the Standard Pattern or one of the full size blocks (AB Stones and AB Classic from the AB Collection or the AB Dover from the AB Europa Collection).

Why?
Well, as you wall gets taller there is more soil behind the wall pushing against it. After about 3 ft (1 m) you start to get to a point where the weight of the block isn’t enough to hold back all the soil. At this point, the full size blocks may help keep the wall a gravity wall; otherwise you will need to add geogrid to the wall for stability.

Tom

Posted in Commercial Retaining Walls, Landscape Retaining Walls, Uncategorized | 2 Responses »
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The importance of soil

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

The soil on your site is a critical aspect to your retaining wall project. Among the ways your soils can affect your overall project cost are:

  • Geogrid Requirements
  • Increased Effort to Compact
  • Cost of Importing Additional Material and Removing Existing Soils

A wall built in clay will have an increased need for geogrid when compared to the same wall build on a sandy site. This is because clay will “push” on the wall more than sand. This geogrid will be used to create a mass of soil large enough to overcome these forces.

Clays and silts resist compacting due to the shape of each grain of soil. They to trap water more and make proper compaction more labor intensive. It is important to achieve proper compaction to reduce future settlement and to increase the stability of the reinforced soil mass. To achieve the required compaction, you may need to compact more frequently with smaller lifts of soil, or use specialized compaction equipment.

When your site does not meet the minimum requirements suggested on the Working with Soils page on the Allan Block website, it may be required to remove the existing soil from the site and use select fill for the area within the geogrid. You may also find it necessary to increase the width of your base to compensate for poor soils under the wall.

If you have questionable soils on your site, please visit our website at allanblock.com for suggestions and recommendations. It will also be important that you contact a local engineer for help designing your retaining wall.

Tom

Posted in AB FAQs, Commercial Retaining Walls, Landscape Retaining Walls | 1 Response »
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What’s going on behind the wall?

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

Last time I discussed what geogrid reinforcement is and how it benefits your retaining wall, but what is really going on behind that Allan Block façade? For an overview of internal stability with pictures, take a look at the Reinforced Soil Walls Analysis page on the Allan Block website.

We recommend 2-course spacing when constructing your retaining wall. This helps to tie the reinforced soil mass together one cohesive mass to retain the soil behind. Typically, this 2-couse spacing will allow a lighter weight grid to be used because the forces are shared among more layers of grid. The closer the grid is placed together, the less each layer of grid needs to work to keep the wall standing tall.

When designing a wall using geogrid, there are three main factors that need to be reviewed:

  1. Grid Overstress: The grid will actually tear or rupture from the forces. This is corrected by adding more grid to the wall (single course spacing) or using stronger grid
  2. Pullout of Block: The grid pulling out of the block. With an Allan Block retaining wall, pullout of block is rare if built correctly due to the “rock-lock” connection which has extremely high connection strength.
  3. Pullout of Soil: The geogrid is being pulled from the soil due to the forced pushing on the wall. This can be corrected by using longer pieces of grid or placing the grid closer together.

Using geogrid reinforcement in your retaining wall design is a way to build taller walls that can support tremendous loads. When designing, keep in mind the wall’s internal stability by considering all of the forces acting on the individual layers of grid.

Tom

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