Retaining wall

[BX Tex]

Gizmo2, don't kid yourself ....that looks really nice !
I had hope for using a similar block, but I'm cheap and went with a lower cost system.

The corners and steps 'bout ate my lunch, yours look clean ....Good job !

 

[woodlandfarms]

So the whole thing with the BX? I think I remember a backhoe?

So what was your dirt cutting techniques, especially with the slope.

It is really impressive work, especially considering you did it yourself. I am not sure I am capable of such a project, although I dream of it. I would be too impatient to take all summer.... Product of the instant gratification generation I guess....

 

[Gizmo2]

I would be too impatient to take all summer.

I'm thinking it took longer!

 

[Gizmo2]

Gizmo2, don't kid yourself ....that looks really nice !
I had hope for using a similar block, but I'm cheap and went with a lower cost system.

The corners and steps 'bout ate my lunch, yours look clean ....Good job !

Thanks BX, Took us about 3 days to do the one corner cut block, put up, take down, cut more block, put up, take down I guess you already know. I sent a picture of the wall and steps before it was finished to Anchor Block (manufacture of the block) and asked for two hats, one for me and one for my wife. They sent me all kinds of stuff, including two hats. A year later the picture showed up in one of their brochures. I know what it took for me and my wife to complete our wall and I cannot imagine the work that went into yours. Doing a wall like ours at 53 years old really kicked our butts. The block weigh in at about 75 lbs per. One thing that touches me is the fact that you refer to your project as "The Wall" as we did. People would ask what I have been up to and I would say, working on The Wall.

Before

 

[BX Tex]

So the whole thing with the BX? I think I remember a backhoe?

So what was your dirt cutting techniques, especially with the slope.

It is really impressive work, especially considering you did it yourself. I am not sure I am capable of such a project, although I dream of it. I would be too impatient to take all summer.... Product of the instant gratification generation I guess....

Yep, just me and little 'ol BX spent from mid May to end of November. Let me tell ya, after getting the upper wall done, I wasn't feeling that ambitious anymore , but there weren't no stopping now, I was committed. I think another 3 or 4 of weekends and I'll be able to say "Mission Accomplished"

I had an narrow area on one end that was somewhat level, at least level enough that I could get the BX turned across the slope without fear of tipping over.
Once I got the BX positioned I used the box blade (moving in reverse) to cut off a little at a time and piled the spoils on the downhill side building up a larger area where I could safely maneuver the BX ... kept working across the slope till I reach the other end. After that, I could work in either direction and benefit from the box blades scarifiers to break the hard ground loose. The level area I created with the spoils ended up extending out about 15', which gave ample room to maneuver as I continued to scrape dirt until I had it to the grade I needed. The backhoe's role was mostly for straightening up the area that established the walls' boundary. On the lower tier it looks like I really dug into the existing ground a good depth with the backhoe, but in reality that is mostly the excess dirt from my scraping technique.


Gizmo, I can related to the age factor kickin' yore butt
I'm always wanting something free .... maybe I can get me a hat too

 

[patrick_g]

I used a little over 900 blocks @ $4.62 ea. and 200 caps @ $3.82 ea.

I can't say that I got any discount for volume but the price is about what I expected if not a bit less.

The blocks Anchor Brighton Stone came from Pavestone Company and I had my local lumberyard order them for me.

They weren't the block I really wanted to use, but they were more than a dollar cheaper.... plus my guy let me store them at his yard and would load me 2 pallets on my trailer every weekend (while I was at work). Beside the price difference, the blocks I first wanted covered less area, which meant more blocks, higher price.

I thinks these look just fine

Were these blocks about 74 lbs each and the caps a bit heavier? They look like the same blocks I used for a retaining all. It nearly makes my back sore to look at the wall I built.

Good job, hope it lasts forever.

Pat

 

[CTW]

Very nice wall BX, what part of Texas is this? Kinda looks like the Frio River behind you where I learned to swim. Hope those blocks don't swim down stream when that river rises.

 

[BX Tex]

Very nice wall BX, what part of Texas is this? Kinda looks like the Frio River behind you where I learned to swim. Hope those blocks don't swim down stream when that river rises.

Quite a ways from your 'ol swimming hole ..... Lake Nocona in Montague County, just below the Texas/Oklahoma border (Red River).


patrick_g, these blocks are 52 lbs .... caps are less.

 

[SuperDuty335]

Great job. I've done some retaining walls, but never out of blocks. My greatest concern in construction of the wall is hydraulic pressure, and its ability to deconstruct the wall. That is accomplished with proper drainage lines for water diversion, and a deadman installed at the appropriate spacing. Your wall looks very solid.

Segmented block walls have a tendency to shed or let water weep through the joints mitigating hydraulic pressure. Generally speaking, a wall under 4' tall will hold without extra drainage. However, BX Tex did a great job and added the drainage pipe, stone and filter fabric.
With block walls the most effective "deadman" is adding a layer of geo-grid between a course of block and compacting that into the fill behind the wall. Some blocks have a hollow core which is filled with washed stone and compacted, thereby locking each course together ("rock lock") and any grid that was added. Rock lock is very effective and incredibly strong.

Good job BX Tex.

 

[workmytractor]

Wow, what a transformation.