Queens Elms - Retaining Wall

The Contractors perspective

Main Contractors, O’Hare & McGovern, were equally positive about SRW’s Stephen Burke, Contracts Manager for the project commented: “We think it’s a fantastic system and the ability to get the walling into tight spaces with complex curves makes it a real winner” He added, “You can install an Anchor Wall 3m high and 30m long in three to four days when a reinforced concrete wall would take three to four weeks”

“This speed of installation meant that the underlying soils could be excavated and the wall installed before the ground weakened and collapsed. Some of the Vertica walls were 10m in length and 2m high and were built in a little as two hours – a fraction of the time needed to install an in-situ concrete wall.” Added Burke.

Challenges and opportunities for growth

One of the key drivers behind the growing popularity in SRW’s in the UK is the shortage of new flat land available for development. As ideal sites for new building become more scarce, existing sites are increasingly being redeveloped – along with new ones on hilly and uneven terrain that previously would have been considered unsuitable. This trend has created a whole raft of new challenges associated with the selection of cost-effective, aesthetically-pleasing and sustainable retaining wall and soil reinforcement solutions.

Where, for example, the ground slopes away steeply, reinforcement may be required to support the perimeter incline. In other circumstances, there may be limited ground for development and a retaining wall may be specified to extend the area of level ground available for building on. Alternatively, walls may simply be required to create terraces and attractive landscaping, particularly in the case of more prestigious developments.

Ultimately, the choice of retaining wall solution will depend on a number of factors including the steepness of the slope, the underlying soil conditions, the precise purpose of the wall as well as aesthetic considerations. All of these elements need to be factored into the final geotechnical solution.

Conclusion

Construction of the current phases of the development at Queens University ’s Elms Village began in 2002 and will continue until 2007. The use of Anchor, segmental retaining walls has proved to be a great success. It has allowed additional accommodation blocks to be included on the site so making maximum use of available building space yet still retaining the open, village type environment required by the client.

From a global perspective, millions of square metres of walls are being built each year using this technology around commercial, educational and housing developments, in landscaping and in civil engineering projects and it’s easy to see why. Segmental Retaining Walls are economical, flexible, straight-forward to install using relatively unskilled labour and the minimum of plant.

To read the case study on Queens Elms click onto our project profile page. You can also view our range of retaining walls on this site.

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