How would you fix this stone wall in water? pics included - LawnSite.com™

Andy31 · #1 06-19-2012, 12:09 AM

Howdy Yall,
Just looking for some input on correcting these retaining walls that are at the waters edge and often in the water. Any advice is appreciated.

tadpole · #2 06-19-2012, 12:31 PM

More info would help. Is this a pond? What is the maximum depth of the water at the location of the wall?
What type of substrate is this wall built on? What is the maximum height of the wall? Is there any water movement, wave action, evidence of bank erosion?

Andy31 · #3 06-20-2012, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tadpole

More info would help. Is this a pond? What is the maximum depth of the water at the location of the wall?
What type of substrate is this wall built on? What is the maximum height of the wall? Is there any water movement, wave action, evidence of bank erosion?

tadpole,
This is a pond at a private residence.
The depth of the water at the deepest point is 2'.
The wall is just stacked on sandy dirt from what I can tell, the area where the wall collapsed had only sand underneath so I am assuming that is true for the whole wall.
The wall is 2-3' tall.
There is no water movement, no waves, the area as some erosion due to the wall being down.

One more this spring we had excellent rain fall, but it filled the pond to the point where the rock walls were completely submerged. That was very rare though.

tadpole · #4 06-20-2012, 01:18 PM

Here is a photo of a job we did about 3 years ago. This is dry-stacked with 6 oz non-woven geotextile backing.
The first thing that I noticed in your photos was that the stone was vertically stacked. This is very unstable, especially on a sandy substrate. Notice the slope that we used. This allows for a portion of the weight of the wall to be borne by the soil and results in a very stable wall. You seem to have a good variety of rock sizes. Utilize the largest (widest) rock for your base. This will help distribute the weight over a larger area. Gradually move to smaller rock as you build up in height.
Use of the geotextile is very important. In the area of the wall that is underwater, it will prevent the unavoidable loss (erosion) of soil through the voids and gaps between the submerged rock.