Hydraulic and earth engineering – Earth treatment or control – Shoring – bracing – or cave-in prevention
Patent
1998-08-10
2000-03-14
Bagnell, David
Hydraulic and earth engineering
Earth treatment or control
Shoring, bracing, or cave-in prevention
405262, 405273, 405286, 405287, E02D 302
Patent
active
06036405&
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to retaining wall systems and particularly to modular retaining wall systems.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Various methods have been used to construct walls for retaining earth, soil, sand, or other fill, which can generically be referred to as soil. Such systems are found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,711 to Benson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,646 to Babcock et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,668,129 to Babcock et al., See particularly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,030,035 to Babcock in which the retaining system is of simple construction but retains at least significant numbers of the panels it supports through openings formed through the units. In all of the foregoing structural assemblies the batter of the constructed wall is essentially limited to a predetermined selection of batter angles. It is known, however, to use, precast concrete members to form modular elements, which can be referred to as tiers, or cells, which are stackable and horizontally alignable, generally providing a progressive set back for a wall which forms a receding upward slope (i.e., batter) of the outer face of the wall. It is also desired in many forms of construction to provide not only for the retention of surfaces but to also provide plantable surfaces, for example, along the sides of freeways. The use of plantings is often a deterrent to graffiti. Notwithstanding the various modular systems that have been proposed in the past, there remains a need for a simple easily constructable modular retaining wall system in which the members can be precast or cast at the job site and which can be easily assembled and be conformable to a variety of configurations.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention meets the foregoing needs by providing a system of horizontally adjacent vertical assemblies of stacked cells in which panels are supported on anchors in such a way as to facilitate the construction of battered walls wherein a wide variety of slopes and configurations of walls can be accommodated including walls which can be planted with vegetation.
More particularly, a retaining wall system under the present invention is constructed using a plurality of horizontally adjacent vertical assemblies of stacked cells. Each cell includes at least a portion of a pair of spaced anchors, each anchor having a forward top surface and a panel supported on the top surface of each pair of anchors. The anchors of each cell are aligned with corresponding anchors of a cell on which it is stacked, each anchor being formed with at least one member rearwardly of the forward top surface projecting above the forward top surface. In order to permit and accommodate a variety of slopes or batter angles, each anchor is formed with a slot into its bottom surface for receiving the projecting member of an aligned member of an adjacent cell on which it is stacked.
In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the anchors are each formed with slots that have a longitudinal extent greater than the longitudinal extent of the projecting member so that simple relative sliding of the anchors enables a batter of desired angles to be obtained, which batter can change along the vertical rise of the wall.
Also, particularly preferred is an anchor having a notch for accommodating a panel, for example a reinforced concrete panel and the projection member extends just rearwardly of the notch. A second projection member is located on the opposite, i.e., rear side of the anchor to conserve weight and materials. The anchor can be formed with a reduced thickness between the projecting members. A notch in the forward surface is substantially coterminous with the shape of the anchors and panels can be readily assembled into cells which can be arranged and stacked to form any desired assembly. Soil is then disposed between the anchors to provide a terraced surface, terraces being plantable with vegetation.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a retaining wall assembly in accordance with the present invention showing
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Nove Fred J.
Nove Gerald F.
Bagnell David
Lee Jong-Suk
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