4ft Bank

[ms2004]

Hi,

At the rear of our house we have a large area which is overgrown and we intend to make it a garden.

The problem is, there is about 8 feet of flat fairly level ground then the earth rises almost vertically up about 4 feet. It then levels out and is quite flat. We want to build a stone wall with some steps up to the top of the bank which we will turf (the top, not the steps). The wall will be roughly 50ft long.

My question is does the wall need to be a certain thickness incase the bank moves and how would we combat any drainage issues with water running off the bank and behind the wall. I assume we would need to incorporate some pipe so the water could run out?? As far as Im aware, the bank hasnt moved for years and is stable.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[brumylad]

this would be a retaining wall.

a wall should not be over (I think) 5m long without a movement joint in it.

If the height of the retained ground is greater than 1m then the wall will have to be stronger than a simple cavity wall. It should probably be a 9 inch solid brick wall with piers every 2 or 3m.

I've seen them built with steel reinforcement mesh and a continuous damp proof membrane behind the wall with drainage holes at the base of the wall.

The book I would recomend for reference would be the building construction handbook by chudley