Right up until not long ago i was not sure exactly what a retaining wall really was. I understand now that I have seen them all over the location, I simply didn't know what I had been looking at. Therefore for all those other people who do not have any concept what a retaining wall is actually read on.
For those who have a bit of garden built-in a step design or something like that you will likely have a retaining wall there. A retaining wall is a wall which is constructed with the objective of keeping what ever is actually behind the wall from sliding onto the region in front of it. They are usually utilized by landscapers who would like to create a stepped backyard. They're also found where construction has determined that a portion of ground needs to be dug away leaving a steep slope that has to be held back.
They are generally made of concrete blocks however this is not necessarily the only material that can be used. They can also be constructed of bricks or stones they can even be strengthened with wire mesh. I have actually seen them made of wire containers filled with rock. These are generally located on the sides of freeways where the road has been built within an area that was originally hilly and has been dug down to make the road flatter than the surrounding terrain.
The retaining wall is actually a very helpful item. This allows a lot more construction to be done on a much more level chunk of property than would otherwise be possible. If there were no retaining walls all the roads would need to stick to the lie of the land religiously to make certain that the ground on either side didn't wash away as well as cover the road. Buildings would have to be built-in steps to take the natural incline of the terrain into account.
It is very important that the retaining wall is sufficiently strong and tall enough to hold back the dirt or rocks behind it. If the wall is simply too thin or not made of materials strong enough it will not hold. If the retaining wall does not hold then the soil or rocks that it's keeping back will eventually come through the wall and you will end up with wall as well as dirt as well as rocks all over the road, building or backyard.
As you can see, a retaining wall is an extremely helpful as well as essential portion of construction. It's mainly utilized in landscape designs of some kind. It might not be a cosmetic kind of landscape designs, it could very well be for the purpose of keeping a hill from falling onto a road or for keeping a portion of land from sliding onto a building. If there were absolutely no retaining walls in Cape Town, South Africa then Chapman's Peak would not be a traversable street any longer because the mountain would have covered the street with boulders by now. You would also not have the actual stepped gardens that are so popular in areas which are very hilly.
