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Building the Wall the First Time
After the road was at finish grade, it became obvious that we would need a retaining wall of some kind. There are two
springs in the sand seam that were exposed once the road was cut in.
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| Spring #1 |
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| Spring #2 |
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| Sand Seam |
Hargraves excavation, a company that Dad had a long history with, was hired to build the retention wall for ~$9000. They
ran over budget by ~$4000 and produced this wall in the late fall of 2008.
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| Top Edge |
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| Full View |
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| Bottom Edge |
Spring of 2009
The spring thaw of 2009 caused a few issues. Mainly, the wall collapsed. It looks like there was no run to daylight provision
for the water behind the wall and there was no fabric separating the silt from the base stone so silt quickly filled
the gaps in the previous fall. In the winter, this all froze and created an ice dam that prevented the springs from draining.
In the spring, when it thawed, the dirt behind the wall became a slurry and blew out the lower stones of the stack wall. (The
original plan called for a riprap wall.)
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| Complete Wall Collapse |
Painful Side Effects
When the wall collapsed, it clogged the drainage ditch and sent a wall of silt across the access road, into the county
storm water system and plugged my sluice pipe and the sluice that passes under the roadway.
This in turn got a complaint filed with the NYSDEC by some county supervisor. Why the county couldn't talk to me first,
I don't know. I guess there are people who work, then there are bureaucrats.
After a two sleepless nights and forced learning, a new engineered wall was designed, approved by the state, and ready
for construction. This is the wall that I paid to be built the first time. The excuse of "I can't control nature" handed out
by the contractor put them on my "never hire again" list.
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| Drawing Side View |
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| Drawing Front View |
The new engineered wall has a footer of block stones in the 2500 lb. range, about 6' horizontal depth of #6 light stone
fill separated from the dirt with landscape fabric. Under the light stone fill will be a cloth wrapped drain to channel water
to daylight. The top surface layer will be proper riprap using 1500 lb. base stones and fill stones as small as #6 light fill
stone.
Rebuilding the Retaining Wall
Before the wall can be properly rebuild, it needs to be deconstructed. All of stones have been pulled out of the wall
and stacked on the side of the access road. Tremendous thunderstorms have pounded the area for weeks. We will need to have
a few dry weeks before we can start major reconstruction.
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| Stones On the High Side |
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| Stones on the Low Side |
Rebuilding the wall has to be complete by 12/15/2009 as per the SWPPP and my agreement with the NYSDEC. Demolition was
only the first step.
Building the Wall, Version 2.0
Construction on the second incarnation of the retaining wall started on 7/31/2009. Two solid days with our small backhoe,
a rented Bobcat, and a generous logging truck got the base, drainage pipe, and the first course of stone set in place.
First Weekend Progress:
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| Base Profile |
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| First Course |
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| Bottom Edge |
Over Labor Day weekend (2009), we placed another set of large stones. Prior to placing the stones, 60 tons of #6 light
stone fill was placed behind the first row. This makes 140 tons of #6 light stone fill. I anticipate another 40 tons
going into place before we are done.
To get the #6 into place, drivealbe access was constructed on the high side of the wall. It's hard to get proper perspective
on how massive this retaining wall actually is.
Labor Day 2009 Progress:
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| Drivable Access |
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| Size Perspective |
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| #6 Light Stone Fill |
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| Wall Far Left |
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| Wall Center Left |
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| Wall Center Right |
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| Wall Right |
Over Columbus Day weekend (2009), we placed the final set of large stones. Prior to placing the stones, and
additional 60 tons of #6 light stone fill was placed behind the top row. This makes 200 tones of #6 light stone
fill. We are done with #6 light stone fill.
Columbus Day 2009 Progress:
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| Vegetative Cover |
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| Big Stones All Done |
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| Fabric Cap |
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| Wall Far Left |
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| Wall Center Left |
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| Wall Center Right |
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| Wall Right |
By Thanksgiving weekend (2009), the wall was complete. The dirt cap is in place, and all of the locking stones have
been placed into the gaps. In the spring, we'll seed the top cap with grass. As long as it survives the winter freeze thaw
cycle, we'll be good.
Complete, Thanksgiving 2009:
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| Final Profile |
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| From the Top |
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| From the Bottom |
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| Wall Far Left |
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| Wall Center Left |
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| Wall Center Right |
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| Wall Right |
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