US3247673A

US3247673A - Laminated retaining wall and method of constructing same

Info

Publication number: US3247673A
Application number: US115229A
Authority: US
Inventors: Joseph W Schneller
Original assignee: National Gypsum Co
Current assignee: International Business Machines Corp
Priority date: 1961-06-06
Filing date: 1961-06-06
Publication date: 1966-04-26
Anticipated expiration: 1983-04-26

Description

' April 1966 J. w. SCHNELLER 3,247,673

LAMINATED RETAINING WALL AND METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING SAME Filed June 6, 1961 INV EN TOR.

JZsep M Skim??? United States Patent 3,247,673 LAMiNATEl) RETAHNING WALL AND METHOD 0F CUNSTRUCTING SAME Joseph W. Schneller, Eggertsville, N.Y., assignor to National Gypsum Company, Buifalo, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed June 6, 1961, Ser. No. 115,229 3 Claims. (Cl. 61-49) This invention relates to wall construction, and more particularly to a new and improved laminated retaining wall constructed along the berm line of a body of water such as a canal, and a new and improved method of constructing such wall. 1

The present invention is especially useful in constructing canal bulkheads in the southern portions of the United States, specifically in States like Florida wherein swampy or low land is being reclaimed for both residential and business building purposes. In such areas it is common practice to form bodies of water such as canals by digging out the swampy or low land and using the dug out earth to build up dry land areas between such canals. Once this initial operation is completed, it is then necessary to prevent erosion of the soil adjoining the canals by building retaining walis or bulkheads, and a primary consideration in constructing such retaining walls is cost, from both the material and labor standpoints.

While this problem has been elfectively solved by constructing such retaining walls with corrugated sheets of economical, light weight and rigid material such as asbestos cement, as described in my related copending applications Serial No. 105,635, filed April 26, 1961, and entitled Method of Constructing Retaining Wall; and Serial No. 116,241, filed June 8, 1961, and entitled Retaining Wall and Method of Constructing Same, the thickness of such walls was preferably limited to the thickness of a single corrugated sheet, which inherently limited their strength. Under conditions of exceptionally heavy horizontal loads against the wall, such as when the backfill behind the wall is soft flowing mud, it has been found to be both necessary and desirable to provide a wall of greater inherent strength.

Accordingly, it is a primary objectof the present invention to produce such increased strength by providing a new and improved laminated retaining wall, as well as a new and improved method of constructing the same.

Another object is to provide such laminated retaining wall and method while still keeping material and labor costs low through the use of corrugated sheets formed of economical, light weight and rigid material such as asbestos cement.

Still another object is to provide a new and improved laminated wall section composed of such corrugated sheets, such section being primarily adapted for use in constructing such laminated retaining wall, but not necessarily restricted to such use, as it can also be used to construct a load bearing foundation wall for structures, as well as piling for reinforcing walls.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description and accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a laminated wall section constituting an embodiment of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view thereof with a portion broken away to decrease the overall height of the section;

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of a partially completed laminated retaining wall constructed along the berm line of a body of water in accordance with the teachings of the invention and incorporating a plurality of sections shown in FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIG. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3 and illustrating the joint between adjacent sections of the wall.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly FIGS. 1

' and 2, the inventive laminated section generally indicated at 10 will now be described in detail. This section includes a pair of commercially available

corrugated sheets

11 and 12 which are formed of economical, light weight per square foot, with the depth of a corrugation varying from approximately 1 /2 inches to about 1.6 inches, and the pitch of a corrugation, measured from center to center, being about 4.2 inches.

As for their pertinent strength characteristics, when saturated with'water and measured on a per foot width basis, each sheet has a modulus of elasticity varying from about 3.4 10 psi. for the thinnest sheet to about 5.4 10 psi. for the thickest sheet. moment of inertia varies from about 0.764 infi to about 1.26 in.; the section modulus from about 1.01 in. to about 1.58 in. the modulus of rupture or breaking stress from about 3380 p.s.i. to about 6000 psi. and a shear load perfoot width from about 2795 lbs. to about 5880 lbs. Since these saturated strength values are approximately of those for a completely dry product, and since these sheets have a high strength to weight ratio, their suitability for wall construction including the construction of retaining walls, is evident.

Continuing with FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be noted that both sheet 11 and sheet 12 are illustrated as being of the same width, thickness and length. However, these relative dimensions can be varied as desired. For example, one sheet could be thinner and shorter than the other.

Sheets

11 and 12 are arranged with their

corrugations

13 and 14 respectively extending parallel with each other and are laminated crest to crest. The crests of the corrugations are indicated at CR while the Vales are indicated at V, and the width of a corrugation, whether it be measured from the center of one vale or crest to the center of the adjacent vale or crest respectively, is indicated at w. The term laminated as used herein, preferably means that the sheets are rigidly secured together in any suitable manner, such as by an epoxy type resin adhesive indicated at 15, or by bolts (not shown) passing through the sheets. However, in some instances it may not be absolutely necessary to rigidly secure such sheets together, and therefore the term laminated is also intended to include an arrangement of the sheets without means rigidly securing the same together, and wherein the crests are either in abutting relationship or close juxtaposition. Nevertheless, by so laminating a pair of such sheets to form a section 10 to the pertinent strength characteristics of the section are significantly increased over those specified above for a single sheet. For example, when two corrugated sheets, each about 0.4 inch thick, are rigidly laminated together in accordance with the invention, such as by the adhesive noted above, these sheets produce a Similarly, the

laminated section having a moment of inertia of about 7.55 in. and a section modulus of about 5.07 inf. These Values are respectively about ten and five times as great as the corresponding values previously specified for a single sheet of such thickness. Thus, these sections are particularly adapted for use in forming retaining wall which are subjected to exceptionally heavy horizontal loads.

It will also be noted that

sheets

11 and 12 are offset laterally with respect to one another. Thus, at the left end of FIGS. 1 and 2, the end corrugation 13a of sheet 11 is offset laterally beyond the adjacent end corrugation 14a of sheet 12 by the full width of a corrugation measured from the center of a crest-to-crest lamination, while the opposite end corrugation 14b of sheet 12 is offset laterally beyond the adjacent end corrugation 13b of sheet 11 the same distance. This offset relationship facilitates joining adjacent sections together during construction of a wall by forming combined lap-butt joints between adjacent sections.

As will be apparent from the foregoing, the laminated sections 10 provide .a much stronger structure than a single corrugated sheet. Further, while such sections are especially adapted for use in constructing retaining walls along the berm line of a body of water, as will be described in detail below, their use is not necessarily restricted thereto. For example, such sections 10 can be used as a load bearing foundation wall for various structures. In addition, such sections can be also used as piling for reinforcing a wall, in a manner similar to that described in my copending application Serial No. 116,241. Moreover, these laminated sections 10 could replace the single sheets employed in constructing a retaining wall on a footing, as disclosed in said application.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, a preferred construction of a retaining wall W will now be described. As shown in FIG. 3, a body of water such as a canal is generally indicated at C, the berm or upper portion of the canal bed being indicated at B and the ground adjacent the canal at G. The juncture of the berm B with the surface of the. ground G constitutes the berm line which is indicated at BL.

In constructing a retaining wall along berm line BL, each section 10 is first stood on edge along the berm line with the

corrugations

13 and 14 extending upwardly. Next, the section 10 is partially sunk into the ground to the desired level by the well known jetting operation. In performing this operation, which is not illustrated, water pressure from the nozzle of a hose connected t a pump drawing water from the canal C is used to part the earth along the berm line BL and permit sinking of sections 10 one by one.

Once the first section 10 is sunk to the desired level, the next section is arranged and sunk in the same manner, but, as clearly shown in FIG. 4, the olfset end corrugations such as 13a and 14b of adjacent sections are arranged to overlap each other vale to vale, and to abut edgewise the adjacent end corrugations such as 13b and 14a respectively. When the second section 10 is sunk to the same level as the first section, these sections are locked together in any suitable manner in order to prevent the second section from sinking further than the first, and thereby obtain a level wall. This locking operation is performed by fastening the overlapping corrugations such as 13a and 14b, and a preferred way of doing this is to loop a tie 4 material (not shown) such as tar, tar paper or mortar to further insure water tight combined lap-butt joints between adjacent sections 10.

Once the desired number of contiguous upstanding sections 10 have been erected, the wall is completed in the usual manner .and provided with a concrete cap 20, such as described in my aforesaid copending applications.

It will now be seen how the present invention accomplishes its various objects. For example, the light weight and rigid corrugated sheets of asbestos cement are easy to handle and erect, as well as being economical to manufacture, thereby keeping both material and labor costs low. Likewise, the sections 10 formed from the laminated sheets provide a muchstronger wall than one limited to the thickness of a single sheet, without impairing ease of handling such sections in erecting the wall. Furthermore, such sections have a wide range of applications including use as load bearing walls for structures, and use as piling, as well as use in forming retaining walls, for which they are particularly adapted.

While the invention has been described and illustrated herein with reference to certain preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made in the invention by those skilled in the art without departing therefrom, and that the scope of the invention is to be determined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A wall section for a laminated retaining wall constructed on ground along the berm line of a body of water and subjected to exceptionally heavy horizontal loads by the backfill, said wall section comprising a pair of corrugated sheets of light weight and rigid, miner-a1 fiber-cement material, said sheets being arranged with their corrugations extending substantially parallel and rigidly laminated together crest to crest, and with an end corrugation of each sheet offset laterally beyond an adjacent end corrugation of the other sheet by the full width of a corrugation measured from the center of a crest to crest lamination, in order to form combined lapbutt joints with adjacent sections of the same construction.

2. In a laminated retaining wall constructed on ground along the berm line of a body of water and subjected to exceptionally heavy horizontal loads by the backfill, the combination comprising: a pair of upstanding contiguous sections, each section including a pair of corrugated sheets of light weight and rigid, mineral fiber-cement material, said sheets being arranged with their corrugations extending upwardly, substantially parallel and rigidly laminated together crest to crest, and with an end corrugation of each sheet ofiset laterally beyond an adjacent end corrugation of the other sheet by the full width of a corrugation measured from the center of a crest to crest lamination, and said sections being arranged with adjacent offset end corrugations overlapping each other vale to vale and with an offset end corrugation of each section abutting edgewise an adjacent end corrugation of the other section, to form a combined lap-butt joint between said sections.

3. In a laminated retaining wall constructed on ground along the berm line of a body of water and subjected to exceptionally heavy horizontal loads by the backfill, the combination comprising: a plurality of upstanding contiguous sections partially sunk into the ground along said berrn line to the same level, each section including a pair of corrugated sheets of light weight and rigid, mineral fiber-cement material, said sheets being arranged with their corrugations extending upwardly, substantially parallel and rigidly laminated together crest to crest, and with an end corrugation each sheet offset laterally beyond an adjacent end corrugation of the other sheet by-the full width of a corrugation measured from the center of a crest to crest lamination, said sections being arranged with adjacent offset end corrugations overlapping each other vale to vale and with an offset end corrugation of each section abutting edgewise an adjacent end corrugation of each adjacent section, to form a combined lap-butt joint between adjacent sections, and fastening means extending through said overlapping corrugations adjacent their upper ends and locking said sections together at said level.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS 524,731 12/1955 Belgium. 780,436 1/ 1935- France.

12,356 1848 Great Britain.

OTHER REFERENCES American Builder, February 1960, pages 164-165.

CHARLES E. OCONNELL, Prlmary Examiner. Keelor 61-35 X 10 JACOB L. NACKENOFF, JACOB SHAPIRO,

Klein et a1. 50100 Examiners.

Claims

2. IN A LAMINATED RETAINING WALL CONSTRUCTED ON GROUND ALONG THE BERM LINE OF A BODY OF WATER AND SUBJECTED TO EXCEPTIONALLY HEAVY HORIZONTAL LOADS BY THE BACKFILL, THE COMBINATION COMPRISING; A PAIR OF UPSTANDING CONTIGUOUS SECTIONS, EACH SECTION INCLUDING A PAIR OF CORRUGATED MATERIAL, OF LIGHT WEIGHT AND RIGID, MINERAL FIBER-CEMENT MATERIAL, SAID SHEETS BEING ARRANGED PARALLEL AND RIGIDLY LAMINATED INWARDLY, SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL AND RIGIDLY LAMINATED TOGETHER CREST TO CREST, AND WITH AN END CORRUGATION OF EACH SHEET OFFSET LATERALLY BEYOND AND ADJACENT END CORRUGATION OF THE OTHER SHEET BY THE FULL WIDTH OF A CORRUGATION MEASURED FROM THE CENTER OF A CREST TO CREST LAMINATION, AND SAID SECTIONS BEING ARRANGED WITH ADJACENT OFFSET END