A retaining wall is a wall where the ground level is higher on one side of the wall than the other. The ground on the high side of the wall imposes lateral forces on the wall which try to push it over. If vehicles can drive close to the wall on the high side, then their wheel loads will also surcharge the wall and increase the forces trying to push the it over. Similarly, if the are buildings, or if materials are stored next to the high side of the wall, these will all increase the lateral forces on the wall. All these forces are taken into account in our retaining wall design.

Retaining walls are not normally covered under the Building Regulations, unless the failure of the wall would result in damage to a building. Therefore their construction is pretty much unregulated, and they suffer from a relatively high number of failures.

Nevertheless these walls are expensive to construct and therefore we believe that they should be constructed properly in the first place.

For retaining walls up to around 1.2m high, a brickwork solution is normally the most economic one. Much above that and a reinforced masonry wall is going to be cheaper to construct.

We need the following information to design a retaining wall.

the difference in height between the higher and lower ground levels

the use of the land on the higher side of the wall (eg whether vehicles can drive close to the wall)

details of any buildings or storage areas close to the high side of the wall

details of any trees close to the wall

The length of the wall. Please note that retaining walls are designed as free standing walls and therefore the length of the wall does not affect the design of the wall. However if the wall is longer than 12m then expansion joints need to be provided in the wall to prevent thermal cracking

Design information

All design work is carried out in accordance with BS5268 (The structural use of masonry).

The calculations provided will be suitable for Building Regulation approval.

Excavations may fall under the Party Wall Act Please seek specialist advice. click for party wall act information