Articles

Building Retaining Walls on Steep Slopes

A steep lakeside lot overlooking Okanagan Lake was transformed with five tiered retaining walls, creating usable backyard space for a pool, patio, and outdoor living area.

What is a Retaining Wall?

How to Build A Raised Patio

Learn the Simple Steps of How to Build a Raised Patio with Retaining Wall Blocks

SRW Abut Existing Structures

How do you design a modular retaining wall that adjoins an existing structure?

Building a Straight Wall up a Slope

Building a Straight Wall up a Slope

When Fences are Needed Above a Retaining Wall

When Fences are Needed Above a Retaining Wall

Bio-Retention Solution using Allan Block

Water storage solutions for flood prevention

Water Management

Water management is a must for all retaining wall projects and a key to long-term success.

Best Practices for SRW

Guidelines for designing safe, durable segmental retaining walls in residential and commercial projects.

SRW Water Applications

Edison Towne Square uses Allan Block walls to combine functional stormwater management with attractive, durable design for a complex 100-acre watershed.

Working with Clay Soils

Townelake development overcomes challenging clay soils with engineered retaining walls, allowing 225 homes to be built successfully.

Seismic Challenges

Addressing Design Challenges in a Seismic Zone

Wall Penetrations for Retaining Walls

Guide to designing and constructing wall openings in Allan Block retaining walls, including culverts, pipes, and structural penetrations.

Proper Embedment Guidelines for Retaining Wall Construction

This article covers proper embedment for segmental retaining walls, factors that affect depth, and best practices for preparing a stable foundation to ensure long-term wall performance.

Terraced Retaining Walls

Tiered retaining walls at the Plum Creek project provide stability, maximize buildable space, and enhance aesthetics through engineered design and global stability analysis.

Segmental Retaining Walls vs Cast In Place

Discover how a project originally designed with cast-in-place concrete was redesigned using an Allan Block segmental retaining wall system to lower costs and expand design options.

Allan Block Retaining Walls and No-Fines Concrete

Learn how No-Fines concrete backfill allowed the Woodland Heights retaining wall to be built successfully where space limited traditional geogrid reinforcement.

Taller Retaining Walls

Skyline Ridge’s 17 tall Allan Block walls were expertly designed and constructed, highlighting the importance of stability, communication, and quality control in large retaining wall projects.

Full Scale Seismic Testing of Allan Block Segmental Retaining Walls

Columbia University, Allan Block Corporation, Huesker Geosynthetics and the National Science Foundation teamed up to conduct full scale seismic testing on a group of geogrid reinforced soil structures