December 26, 2019

Determining the Radius of a Curved Wall


You’re building a wall that has a curve in it, but you aren’t sure what the radius of the base row should be. What do you do? Luckily, here at Allan Block we have a few useful tools to help you figure out exactly what your curved wall’s radius should be.
One of the most useful tools for finding your radius is the AB Radius Chart. This handy guide gives you a quick way to estimate the minimum radius that the bottom of wall can be, depending on what block you use and the height of the curve.
AB Radius Chart for Base Course of Curved Retaining Wall
Setback
Wall Height
3 ft
(0.9 m)
4 ft
(1.2 m)
5 ft
(1.5 m)
6 ft
(1.8 m)

AB Stones 12° (Ref)

5 ft 3 in
(1.6 m)
5 ft 6 in
(1.7 m)
5 ft 9 in
(1.75 m)
6 ft
(1.8 m)

AB Classic, AB Lite Stone 6° (Ref)
AB Aztec Classic, AB Aztec Lite Stone 6° (Ref)
AB Dover, AB Barcelona 6° (Ref)

4 ft 11 in
(1.5 m)
5 ft 1 in
(1.55 m)
5 ft 4 in
(1.62 m)
5 ft 6 in
(1.7 m)

AB Fieldstone 6° (Ref)
with Short Anchoring Unit (SAU)

6 ft 5 in
(1.95 m)
6 ft 7 in
(2 m)
6 ft 10 in
(2.1 m)
7 ft
(2.13 m)

AB Jumbo Junior, AB Junior Lite 6° (Ref)
AB Aztec Junior, AB Aztec Junior Lite 6° (Ref)
AB Palermo, AB Bordeaux 6° (Ref)

3 ft 5 in
(1.0 m)
3 ft 10 in
(1.16 m)
4 ft 3 in
(1.28 m)
4 ft 7 in
(1.4 m)

Another valuable resource would be the “Curves & Serpentines” page on the Allan Block website. This page will not only give you more information about what factors of the wall will affect its radius, but will also provide useful tips and diagrams showing how to construct your curved walls correctly.

If you look through the two options listed above and still can’t determine what the radius of your wall should be, we suggest that you use our third, and most valuable, resource – your local rep or the the Allan Block Staff. If you call or email in with any questions regarding curves in retaining walls, we will always be here to share our knowledge with you and provide a straight-forward answer for your not-so-straight wall.

December 19, 2019

Is Compaction Needed When Building a Wall?


This seems like a straightforward question, right?  But you would not believe how many walls we get called on that are having problems.  Many of these problems are directly related to lack of compaction.  When starting your wall, the first thing you do is dig out a trench to build your leveling base.  If you dig the trench, and level all the loose material at the bottom without compacting the base of the trench, chances are your wall will see some amount of settlement.  Next, you pour the base rock into the trench to form your base.  If you do not compact the base rock to make it nice, consolidated, and tight, your wall will most likely see some settlement.  Compacting the bottom of the trench and the base material is a key factor in building a quality wall that will not settle.

Now that you have a well compacted base that is level, you start the wall by placing the first course of Allan Block. Fill the cores of the block and behind the block with wall rock, a compactable aggregate. Then, place your 8 inches (2.5 cm) of infill material to be basically level with the top of the block. If you continue to build the wall like this, course by course without compacting the wall rock and infill material, it creates another possibility of settlement.



Notice a theme?

Without compaction your wall will settle.  There is no question about it. 

Settlement can cause lots of complications, some esthetic and some structural.  Esthetic issues are an uneven and out-of-level block course, or even courses of wall that roll forward or backwards, among other things.  Structural issues from settlement behind the wall will put additional “down drag” force on the geogrid layers and could cause significant damage to its life span.

 So, if you have not figured out the answer yet…YES…COMPACTION IS NEEDED WHEN BUILDING ANY SEGMENTAL RETAINING WALL. See our Installation Guides for proper construction methods.

December 12, 2019

What is the AB Dogbone and What is it Used For?

The AB Dogbone is used to connect the facing units of the AB Fieldstone Collection together.  We call them dog bones because they have the shape of a bone.


Typically, we use them for building parapet walls. There are 2 options for building parapet
walls.

Standard

Where the AB Dogbones connect the facing units together. Easily build corners and parapets
with posts. Offers the smallest width, for straight walls only.


Wider

Where the AB Dogbones act as anchors in the wall rock allowing any size width to be created.
Works well for straight and curved walls.


December 5, 2019

Will Allan Block Retaining Walls Perform Well in High Seismic Zones?

Allan Block Segmental Retaining Walls (SRW) are the only SRW products to be tested in full-scale seismic testing on one of the world’s largest shake tables located in Tsukuba, Japan.  The tests were conducted in the fall of 2002, and were tested at loads that exceeded the 7.2 magnitude of the Kobe, Japan earthquake in January of 1995.  To read more about the tests, see the test report (http://www.allanblock.com/literature/PDF/seismicreport1.pdf ) or the Executive Summary (http://www.allanblock.com/literature/PDF/seismicreport2.pdf


The results of the tests performed by researchers from Columbia University, University of Delaware and the Science Institute of Japan were so remarkable that in only 5 short years, all viable design codes in North America accepted the results and modified their seismic design calculations.


The key to the incredible performance of an Allan Block segmental wall under seismic loading, is the flexible nature of the system and the remarkable facial strength and stability of the facing.  The blocks are assembled with no need for the mortar that concrete masonry block walls require, and have a virtually continuous connection to the horizontal geogrid layers. For more information on geogrid reinforcement, see our website: http://www.allanblock.com/retaining-walls/reinforced-installation.aspx .  The reinforced soil mass faced with Allan Block easily handles the seismic events by its ability to flex and move with the seismic waves, while remaining fully intact and stable.  For more on seismic loading and design consideration, see the Best Practices for Segmental Retaining Wall Design.

                          
                                       Allan Block Retaining Wall Seismic Test Video