Gabion Wall/Existing Building Interface 1

[EngWade]

Quick question.

I'm designing a retaining wall that will be retaining approximately 7' of fill at its maximum height. Also, at this same location, the retaining wall must abut to an existing Building. The existing building is already designed as a retaining structure so there is no problem with this. However, I'm most concerned with the interface between the retaining wall and this building face.

At the moment, the idea is to design this wall using gabion baskets. The fill material is a clayey, slightly loamy material, with traces of gravel and shale. The fill material uphill of the wall will also be supporting an access road to this building. The building is very old (built in the 1850's) and has a brick exterior.

So my question, how would some of you (my fellow experts) go about designing the interface between the gabion wall and the building? I was thinking of waterproofing the exterior bricks that the fill will rest against, and wrapping geotextile around the back of the gabion wall and continuously for 6' or so across the building wall as well. I don't want soil to escape between the gabion wall and the building wall. Thoughts? Concerns? As always, many thanks to everyone.

 

[GabionGuy]

butt the gabion directly against the structure. There should be no reason to connect the structures. At the top, the gabion wall should be 1m wide; the base course will be around 2.5m wide, all of this depending upon the soil properties of the backfill and foundation soils.

A geotextile is typically used behind the gabions as a separator between the fill and gabion. Make sure that the FOS/AOS of the geotextile is suitable to prevent migration of backfill and that the fabric won't clog over time, especially if there is groundwater flow.