Designing and constructing tie, stone and paver walls in Philadelphia, Montgomery County,  Delaware County and the Main Line PA.  Small to medium sized walls are constructed with the proper batter and engineering for the material used. E. P. Henry Segmental Retaining Walls can be used for a long-lasting and nicely textured wall.  Shown here is construction of a wall 3½ -ft. high above grade.  Wall Construction 2 shows construction of a lower wall.  This page is here to illustrate how we construct our wall and should not be used as a how to guide for wall construction.  Many variables can affect how a wall performs such as slope at the top and bottom of the wall, surcharge or weight at the top of the wall (a parking lot at the top of a wall will add a lot of pressure), type of soil, water drainage behind the wall and construction in a flood plain are all variables that may need an engineer to resolve.  Walls over 4-ft. in height should also have engineering plans.  Wall shown was constructed by Robert J. Kleinberg Landscape Design & Construction.  He is an ICPI Certified Concrete Paver Installer and a NCMA Certified Segmental Retaining Wall Installer. He is also an EP Henry Authorized Hardscaping Contractor.

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NCMA Certified Segmental Retaining Wall Installer

Wall Construction

Before Construction:

Elevations are taken and the height of the wall is determined.  Walls over 4-ft. require an engineer to insure proper construction.  Tiered walls require a distance at least twice the height of the lower wall between the wall to be considered as separate walls.  Planning for the fence at the top of the wall should be considered at this time.

Excavation & Base:

Trench for wall is excavated at least 2-ft. wide and deep enough to install a 6-in. modified stone base and to bury one entire layer of wall stones.   After excavation subsoil is compacted and modified stone is installed and compacted in two layers.  Wall stones are installed level and filled with clean crushed stone.

Setup lines and excavate:

Perforated pipe is installed behind the wall for drainage, and should have an outlet at least every 40-ft.  Soil from excavation can be set aside if suitable. As the crushed stone is installed behind the wall; the backfill is installed beyond that and compacted.

Install Stone Base and Tamp:

Upper layers are installed according to manufacturers instructions to insure proper batter (or slope back into the hill).  Some wall stones require pins and others are manufactured with a lip on the back to give the proper setback.

Continue Upper Layers:

Length of geogrid, number of layers needed and placement of layers will be specified by an engineer for wall over 4-ft. high.  Continue upper layers; pins for this type of wall are shown here.  Fill crushed stone inside and 1-ft. behind wall.

Finished Wall Lower View:

Finished wall shown with drainage outlet through the wall.  Two layers of wall stone were buried for this wall because of the toe slope away at the bottom of the wall.  Wall here is capped with stone wall select caps.

Finished Wall Upper View:

Backfill is installed; soil is install for the entire top one foot behind the wall.  Planning for the fence at the top of the wall should be thought out before construction to prevent damage to the wall and simplify installation of the fence.

Shown here is construction of a wall 3½ -ft. high above grade.  Wall Construction 2 shows construction of a lower wall.