Wall about 3' (900mm) high used as a delivery truck stop

[civeng80]

Hello All

I have an express freight company that has asked for a wall about 3' (900mm) high to be built at their platform level and is to be used as a stop for delivery trucks. I imagine about a 8" thick wall reinforced from the footing with some sort of rubber strip to absorb the truck impact (which would be backing up to the stop). Any ideas as to how to design this situation or perhaps is their some sort of standard for these express freight companies as I think it would be difficult to design for a small impact force.

Thanks all in advance.

 

[asixth]

Sounds like a typical loading dock. We use 200 CMU blocks(8"), reinforced with N12-400 central horizontal and vertical (No 4. bars at 16').

A rubber or timber strip to absorb impact is a good idea. Also an angle cast into the slab, these loading docks experience some rough treatment. I am unaware of any code or requirements for these walls.

 

[civeng80]

Thanks asixth!

Yes a loading dock!

Why the angle cast in the slab? Is it used as a part stop ?

Cheers!

 

[dougantholz]

Design it to retain the soil, and don't worry about the impact. There will be backfill behind the wall that will absorb the force. You can dowel it into the slab of the loading dock. If there was a previous problem with this wall cracking and crumbling the problem is probably in the fact the truckers can't see the dock. No truck driver enjoys damaging their trailer by hitting the concrete. A little reinforcement will help too.

 

[civeng80]

Theres no soil behind the wall, its just below the platform dock height and the wall is used to stop rubbish coming into the depot as well as stopping the vehicles. I know the drivers dont like to damage their trucks but a little nudge they dont mind giving until they hit a stop,

 

[slickdeals]

The angle is cast at the edge of the slab. This prevents the corner from cracking when heavy stuff is being transferred from the truck to the loading dock. HTH

 

[civeng80]

No edge here either

Come to think of it it probably needs a tyre stop on the concrete like a kerb bolted to the concrete.

Any other ideas guys?

 

[asixth]

It is an interesting situation that you have here, I have attached a sketch that shows the cast in angle detail. Like slickdeals mentioned, the cast in angle is solely for the durability of the slab edge, if a slab were present.

If the application of the wall is non-structural, it may be worth providing bollards to absorb any accidental truck impact.

I have never detailed any timber or rubber strip, often leave it to the architect.

 

[civeng80]

Here is a detail of the situation!

 

[concretemasonry]

If you have a wall where there are trucks, you can expect it to be hit and hit much harder than a normal nudge when backing up.

Once yor dig and form, the cost of extra thickness concrete and forming cost is minimal and can be justified by just one mistake or slip of the foot.

A single bollard can be easily tilted by a truck and is a real pain to remove and replace.

Dick

 

[dougantholz]

Okay, your situation sounds more a push wall than a loading dock. I had a push wall to design once, it was on a trash transfer station where front end loaders would push trash up against a short wall to collect it in the bucket.
in that case it was designed for 10,000 lbs 30 inches above grade. Don't just assume the slab will resist the sliding, it may need to be toughened in some way.