EP0362110B1 - Retaining wall to be provided with vegetation presenting cells for use as a disposable shuttering - Google Patents

Abstract

Dry-mounted construction elements, each of the type constituted by a bottomless container comprising vertical partitions, a first vertical partition, parallel to the front wall of the container, delimiting a large front space (5), which serves as a flower pot and at least one rear space (6) which serves as a root cavity for the upper container and which is offset rearwardly from the lower container, this latter space (6) being divided in at least two smaller spaces (7, 8) by a second vertical partition (4) perpendicular to the front wall and to the first partition. The construction element has a rear portion which has a notch (10) disposed on each upper side edge of the container, and two small cavities or spaces (14, 15) behind the notches. A wall built of these elements is useful as a retaining wall, flower box, or noise barrier.

Description

The subject of the invention is a building element for retaining walls intended to be lined with vegetation comprising cells which can act as lost formwork.

The creation of increasingly large trenches for the creation or enlargement of roads requires the creation of retaining walls. These walls are expensive and unsightly. Preserving the environment involves lining the retaining walls with vegetation.

These retaining walls can be used by individuals, by professionals (Bridges and Roads, Rural Engineering, Landscapers, Public Works Companies, Cultivators, etc.).

There are already building elements. These elements act as bins, they are boxes which leave a large open space so that shrubs or covering plants can develop there. These elements are mounted dry by nesting, one inside the other.

Other elements have a cavity shape which prevents too rapid evacuation of water. The external shape has been imagined to also make sound traps. The elements or tanks are filled with soil as the construction elements are assembled. By their box shape, these elements produce, in the assembly of the retaining wall, a sequence.

The construction elements described above are made of flower pots, which are mounted dry and assembled together to form a retaining wall. This type of retaining wall is more or less fragile, depending on the slope of the slope or trench, the climate, etc. Plants have a decorative function to hide the wall, but they do not cooperate in any way with the building elements and the soil to improve the stability of the wall.

The invention tends to solve these problems. Plants have an action on the retaining wall which is anchored by the roots of the plants in the ground, the roots of the plants also intersect from one building element to another, thus improving the assembly of said elements together.

The invention is an improvement to the building element described in patent FR-A-2,561,684. The construction element for dry mounting retaining walls, intended to be lined with vegetation, consists of a bottomless tank and is characterized in that the vertical partitions are arranged so that they delimit a large downstream space which acts as a flowerpot and at least two smaller upstream spaces which act as rooting cells.

The building element for dry mounting retaining walls intended to be lined with vegetation, of the bottomless tank type whose vertical partitions delimit spaces, is characterized in that the front part of said tank has a trapezoidal shape to lighten the element on the front and weigh it down on the rear rectangular part. The vertical partitions are arranged so that they delimit a large space downstream which acts as a flowerpot and at least two smaller spaces upstream which act as rooting cells. The size of the small upstream spaces is such that when the tanks are superimposed on each other, the roots, which come out of the upper tank, can only go towards the ground and not in the lower tank, that is to say that the vertical partition of the upper tank comes to the level of the upstream wall of the lower tank, said vertical partition is parallel to the upstream wall of said tank.

These technical characteristics allow rapid vegetation, the roots will anchor in the slope at the back of the wall. A root tissue is created, considerably increasing the resistance of the elements to pushing.

The state of the art can be defined by the following patents:
FR-A-2,422,774; EP-A-0047717; DE-A-3.003.434. All these patents describe construction elements, said construction elements do not reproduce a large space downstream and at least two smaller spaces upstream.

Only document CH-A-612.238 describes a building element divided into two chambers, a downstream chamber and an upstream chamber.

The building element according to the invention is an element complementary to the building element described in patent FR-A-2,561,684. This construction element, called heavy element compared to the basic element said light, allows, while being manipulated by a single man without machine or tools, to make retaining walls over great heights (for example from 8 to 10 meters). The tipping point is modified since the width and length ratios are different.

The heavy element or the light element, according to the invention, has been studied to compensate for a thrust by another thrust, thanks to its technical characteristics. The light element, for example, can, with a weight of less than 25 kg, be considered a weight.

The heavy element has additional spaces or cells which allows additional vegetation requiring the roots to penetrate three or four lower elements.

A reservation allows, thanks to the cells thus formed, to act as lost formwork which allows the creation of reinforced retaining walls in case the extreme thrusts require it.

The heavy element according to the invention is formed on the one hand by the light element in its front part, one of the characteristics of which is its trapezoidal shape, and on the other hand by a complementary element in the rear part. The light element is made up of a bottomless tank, a first vertical partition of which delimits a large downstream space and a small upstream space. This vertical partition is parallel to the partition of the tank. The upstream space is itself subdivided into two small spaces by a second vertical partition perpendicular to the first. This element is extended into a bottomless tank which has a notch at its lateral edges thus forming a horizontal reservation.

A median vertical wall in the extension of the second vertical wall forming the two small spaces separates said tank into two spaces. This second vertical wall continues beyond the notch to further divide the upstream end portion of the building element into two other small spaces or cells.

The assembly composed of the light element and the complementary element forms the heavy element.

Realized in much larger dimensions, therefore with a heavier weight, the heavy element has a use in reinforcement of banks for rivers, lakes.

According to another embodiment, the upstream end part, or rear part, of the complementary element instead of being divided into two other small spaces or cells, can simply be full. This embodiment reinforces the lightening of the element on the downstream or the front (trapezoidal) and makes it heavier on the rear or upstream part.

According to another embodiment, the building element can allow the realization of curves. For this purpose, the side walls can form a curve. The building element, allowing the realization of curves, has a height lower than the value of the notches located in the lower part.

The retaining wall, intended to be lined with vegetation, is made up of dry-mounted construction elements, by interlocking into each other, and by superposition on each other. Each light element is of the type consisting of a bottomless tank and has two vertical walls, lateral, external, and vertical partitions. A first vertical partition, parallel to the upstream wall of the tank, delimits a large space downstream, which acts as a flowerpot and, at least one space upstream, which acts as rooting cells for the upper tray set back, offset upstream on the lower tray, the latter space being divided into at least two smaller spaces by a second vertical partition, perpendicular to the upstream wall and to the first partition. The size of the upstream spaces is such that when the tanks are superimposed on each other, the roots which come out of the upper tank, can only go towards the ground and not in the lower tank, that is to say that the vertical partition of the upper tank comes to the level of the upstream wall of the lower tank. The construction element is composed of a light element and comprises a complementary element which forms the upstream part of said construction element and which forms, beyond a notch disposed on each edge of the tank, two small spaces or cells which allow additional vegetation.

The complementary element, which forms the upstream part of said construction element, is extended by a notch on each edge of the tank forming a horizontal reservation. A median vertical wall in the extension of the second vertical wall delimits two cells or spaces which can act as lost formwork. Beyond the notch, a vertical wall, extending the vertical walls, forms two small spaces or cells.

At the lower edges, there is a front notch and another large notch in the middle part of the bottomless block.

The special cells act as lost formwork for armed or unarmed pillars.

The horizontal reservation formed by the notch allows the installation of a reinforced or unreinforced beam.

The longitudinal walls form two parallel curves.

The building element consists of two adjacent tanks called light elements, made in a single block. The two vertical lateral external walls of said element are concave.

The building element can be associated with a special part to produce a curve, said part having its convex external lateral vertical walls.

A building element may consist of a heavy element and an adjacent light element produced in a single block, the outer vertical wall of the light element is concave.

The attached drawings are given as indicative and non-limiting examples. They represent a preferred embodiment according to the invention. They will allow the invention to be easily understood.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a heavy element according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view along the axis A-A shown in FIG. 1.

Figure 3 is a side view, highlighting the association of two heavy elements.

Figure 4 is a view showing a set of light elements placed on heavy elements.

Figure 5 is a view showing a set of heavy elements assembled on top of each other, where the special cells are used as lost formwork for the establishment of a horizontal beam or a pillar reinforced or not.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of several heavy elements assembled together for, for example, a bank reinforcement. This Figure 6 highlights another embodiment where we find all the technical characteristics, except the general parallelepiped shape, but where the longitudinal walls form two parallel curves and where the upstream part of the complementary element is full.

Figure 7 is a plan view of an unclaimed heavy element, without cuts between the light element and the complementary element.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the construction element shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the heavy element shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a retaining wall constructed with the elements shown in FIG. 7.

Figure 11 is a view showing a retaining wall where the elements were tilted backwards either due to upstream thrusts and loads, or due to the natural slope of the terrain.

Figure 12 is a plan view of a retaining wall, where the elements form an angle around each other; for this purpose, there is no longer any interconnection of the elements with each other from the bottom, but from the top where there is a hooking means such as an upper notch in the truncated front part.

FIG. 13 is a side view of the unclaimed building element used for the retaining wall shown in FIG. 12.

• une vue de côté (figure 14) d'un élément léger avec son moyen d'accrochage en haut,
• une vue de dessus (figure 15) mettant en évidence les éléments décallés les uns par rapport aux autres et non plus adjacents,
• une vue latérale (figure 16) de quelques éléments assemblés.

Figures 14, 15, 16 highlight:

• a side view (FIG. 14) of a light element with its hanging means at the top,
• a top view (Figure 15) highlighting the elements offset from each other and no longer adjacent,
• a side view (Figure 16) of some assembled elements.

FIG. 17 is a view of the association of the building element (heavy or light), the external lateral vertical walls of which are concave with the special part, the external lateral vertical walls of which are convex. This association can form a gardener.

Figure 18 is a flowered fence wall with alternate flower pots on two sides.

Figure 19 is a view of the combination of elements as shown in Figure 17, but where the angle is open.

Figure 20 is a view of the combination of elements as shown in Figure 17, but where the angle is firm.

Figure 21 shows a vertical vegetable fence forming a vertical sound trap.

The heavy element 1 is an element in general of precast vibrated concrete.

It consists of a single bottomless tank, the downstream part of which has all the characteristics of the light element, ie a rectangular parallelepiped whose angles 2, 3 are truncated in the downstream part; a vertical partition 4 separates said tank into two parts, a large space 5 and a small space or cell 6 itself separated into two small spaces 7 and 8 by another vertical partition 9 perpendicular to the first vertical partition 4.

The upstream part is extended by a notch 10 on each upper edge of the tank and acts as a horizontal reservation for a reinforced or unarmed beam 23, while the interior of said tank has two cells 11, 12, separated by a vertical wall 13, and two other cells 14, 15, separated by a vertical wall 16, which extends the vertical wall 13. These two cells 11, 12 serve as lost formwork for armed pillars or no 24.

At the lower edges, there is a notch before 17 and another wide notch 18 in the middle part of the bottomless block. These notches 17, 18 allow the elements to be embedded one on the other.

In Figure 3, it is highlighted how the heavy blocks 19, 20 can be fitted one on the other.

In FIG. 4, a series of heavy blocks 21 form the base of the retaining wall while lighter blocks or elements 22 are fitted onto the heavy elements 21 at the crest of the wall, in order to lighten the assembly and thus contribute to better stability.

Finally, in FIG. 5, reinforcements which can be reinforced beams 23 or armed or unarmored pillars 24 are highlighted.

These reinforcements, or pillars or beams, armed or not 23, 24 can be used for cases where the extreme thrusts require it. These beams 23 or pillars 24 are placed in the special cells 11, 12 which act as lost formwork. The beam 23 uses the reservation formed by the notch 10.

In Figure 6, there is shown a perspective view of several elements 25, which allow for curves. The longitudinal walls 26, 27 form two parallel curves. The rear part 28 can be full. Compared to the parallelepipedic element, the curved element 25, allowing the curves to be produced, will have a height less than the value of the notches located in the lower part.

In Figures 7, 8 and 9, there is shown a heavy element 30 not claimed. This heavy element is composed of a so-called light element 31 and a complementary element 32. The essential difference with the heavy element, represented in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, lies in the fact that this element does not include the '' notch 10.

This element does indeed include a hooking means such as the notches before 17 and notch 18. The advantage of this embodiment is that the empty heavy element can weigh about twenty kilos, full it can weigh fifty kilos.

This element allows for retaining walls of at least ten meters.

• continuité au sol, répartition des charges, contraintes réduites au sol,
• système de porte-à-faux, une poussée compensant une autre poussée,
• crabotage des éléments lourds entre-eux : la rigidité de l'ensemble est assurée : tout glissement avant ou arrière est impossible,
• superposition des alvéoles garantissant une végétalisation rapide et durable,
• montage totalement à sec évitant la création de poches d'eau préjudiciables à la stabilité des ouvrages.

The advantages of this heavy element are:

• ground continuity, load distribution, reduced ground stress,
• overhang system, one thrust compensating for another thrust,
• interconnection of heavy elements with one another: the rigidity of the assembly is ensured: any sliding forward or backward is impossible,
• superimposition of the cells guaranteeing rapid and sustainable revegetation,
• completely dry mounting avoiding the creation of pockets of water detrimental to the stability of the structures.

Depending on the thrusts and any upstream loads, it is sometimes necessary to tilt the heavy elements 30 to the rear, as shown in FIG. 11. This assembly can also be carried out if one wishes to follow the natural slope of the terrain.

Figures 12 and 13 show another embodiment in which the heavy element 33 no longer has a front notch 17, or central notch 18. The only attachment means is a notch 34, upper notch in the part front truncated. This realization of a heavy element has not been claimed either.

This modification of the attachment means makes it possible to arrange the heavy elements without them being adjacent to one another, it is therefore possible to give a certain angle between the different elements and this, as shown in FIG. 12. This arrangement allows to give certain curves to the retaining wall.

In Figures 14, 15, and 16, there is shown a light element 35. This light element, like the previous heavy element, has a modification in terms of its attachment means. The attachment means is an upper notch 36 in the front part, this notch 36 makes it possible to mount the retaining wall with elements which are not necessarily adjacent to one another; as shown in the above figure 15, it allows a gap to be left between the different elements 35.

Figures 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 show construction elements 29 not claimed per se and consisting of two adjacent tanks 37, 38, called light elements, produced in a single block, the vertical side walls 39 and 40 are concaves so as to be able to assemble these different elements together. It is necessary, as shown in Figure 21, to pour concrete 45, possibly with irons 41, insofar as one wants to mount a wall, a fairly high fence (see in particular Figure 18).

FIG. 17 represents a planter in which two elements 29 have been assembled by means of a special piece 42 having its lateral vertical walls 43 and 44 convex exterior.

In figure 19, we can thus find an assembly making it possible to obtain an open angle, while in figure 20, we can obtain an assembly with a closed angle.

FIG. 21 represents a vegetable fence, the hollow cavities and the cavities filled with concrete, as well as the vegetable cavities, together form a vertical sound trap.

LIST OF REFERENCES

1.

Heavy element

2. 3.

Angles

4.

Vertical partition

5.

Big space

6.

Upstream space

7. 8.

Small space in the upstream space

9.

Vertical partition

10.

Notch

11. 12.

Alveoli

13.

Vertical wall

14. 15.

Alveoli

16.

Vertical wall

17.

Front notch

18.

Notch

19. 20.

Heavy blocks

21.

Heavy blocks

22.

Lighter elements

23.

Beams

24.

Pillars

25.

Perspective of several elements

26. 27.

Longitudinal walls

28.

Rear part

29.

Construction element

30.

Heavy element

31.

Light element

32.

Complementary element

33.

Heavy element

34.

Top notch

35.

Light element

36.

Top notch

37.

Adjacent bin

38.

Adjacent bin

39.

Concave vertical wall

40.

Concave vertical wall

41.

Irons

42.

Special piece

43.

Convex lateral vertical wall

44.

Convex lateral vertical wall

45.

Concrete.

Claims (9)

1. A retaining wall to be provided with vegetation and comprising structural elements (1, 19, 20, 21) laid dry by being nested and stacked, each light element being formed by a bottomless box comprising two vertical outer side walls (26, 27; 39, 40) and vertical partitions, a first vertial partition (4) parallel to the uphill wall of the box limiting a large space (5) in the downhill direction to be used as a flowerpot, and at least one space (6) in the uphill direction to serve as root cells for the upper recessed box shifted in the uphill direction on the lower box, the latter space (6) being divided into at least two smaller spaces (7, 8) by a second vertical partition (9) perpendicular to the uphill wall and to the first partition, the size of the uphill spaces (7, 8) being such that when the boxes are stacked the roots emerging from the upper box can go only toward the ground and not into the lower box, i. e. the vertical partition of the upper box reaches the level of the uphill wall of the lower box,
   characterized in that the structural element consists of a light element (31) and comprises a complementary element (32) which forms the uphill portion of said structural element and forms two little spaces or cells (14, 15) beyond an indent (10) disposed on each edge of the box so as to permit additional vegetation, said light element and said complementary element forming a heavy element (1, 19, 20, 21).
2. The retaining wall of claim 1,
   characterized in that the complementary element forming the uphill portion of said structural element is prolonged by an indent (10) on each edge of the box so as to form a horizontal recess, a vertical center wall (13) prolonging the second vertical wall (9) delimits two special cells or spaces (11, 12) which can serve as a dead mold, and a vertical wall (16) prolonging the vertical walls (9 and 13) forms the two small spaces or cells (14, 15) beyond the indent (10).
3. The retaining wall of claim 2,
   characterized in that the there is a front indent (17) and another wide indent (18) in the center portion of the bottomless block at the level of the lower edges.
4. The retaining wall of claim 2,
   characterized in that the special cells (11, 12) serve as a dead mold for reinforced or non-reinforced pillars (24).
5. The retaining wall of claim 2,
   characterized in that the horizontal recess formed by the indent (10) permits installation of a reinforced or non-reinforced beam (23).
6. The retaining wall for forming curves of either of claims 1 or 2,
   characterized in that the longitudinal walls (26, 27) form two parallel curves.
7. The retaining wall of claim 1,
   characterized in that the two vertical outer side walls (39, 40) of said element are concave.
8. The retaining wall of claim 1,
   characterized in that said structural element can be associated with a special piece (42) to realize a curve, said piece having convex vertical outer side walls (43, 44).
9. The retaining wall of claim 1,
   characterized in that a structural element can consist of a heavy element and an ajacent light element made in one block, the vertical outer wall of the light element being concave.

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