Wall Failure Case Study

• 
  
• Wall was built on a slight rise overlooking a marsh. Only 1 partial course was buried
  
• Wall was built +/- 5-6 feet high, retaining a patio and plantings.
  
• No drainage issues were addressed, notice no geogrid and lack of drainage stone
• The little stone that was used, was not enough to fill even the void in the wall unit, and none behind the wall
• The wall failed as a unit, pins often still in place
• The wall failed after a 2-3 day rain storm, shortly after it was built
• The downspout from the roof fed directly into the patio above.

The contractor could have avoided this failure by any number of means, the first being having an engineer design the wall to account for the:

1) Slope

2) Marsh conditions

3) Height of wall

4) Drainage concerns

5) surcharge load from patio & plantings.

The builder had to replace:

1) The wall

2) The patio

3) The plantings, plus the removal of unusable debris & stone.

The cost to the builder exceeded the original price by more than 2x's.