Providing toe in this retaining wall increases both the resistance to overturning and sliding. This is achieved in different ways and gives rise to various types of retaining wall:įree-standing gravity retaining walls Free-standing gravity retaining walls rely on the self weight of the mass concrete for stability. Stability against sliding is achieved when Stability against overturning is achieved when Free-standing retaining walls must provide their own stability against overturning and sliding. Common use of free-standing retaining walls is at highway underpasses. In buildings, free-standing walls are usually temporarily cantilevers, which are later propped by the adjoining floors. Isolated free-standing walls, as shown in figure, are used to retain soil at changes in level in landscaped sites and for cuttings and embankments. Generally free-standing walls are only economically viable on sites where there is sufficient space to compact the sides of the excavation to stable slope. "It's the wrong lid."ĪDAM ARMOUR is the news editor for the Daily Journal and former general manager of The Itawamba County Times.□ Reading time: 1 minuteFree-standing retaining walls are constructed in an open excavation and the retained soil is backfilled after construction. "Oh no," I whispered, my voice quivering. Once the cabinet was full and the door, bulging on its hinges, was shut, I filled the plastic container I'd extracted with our leftovers and placed the lid on top.īut as I attempted to snap the lid into place, I found it wouldn't close.ĭread, pure and all-encompassing, fell upon me like a mountain of poorly stored Tupperware. "I've really got to clean that thing out at some point," I said again, then began casually tossing the plastic containers back into the cabinet. I'd made a mess, but I was both alive and still gripping the container and its lid. I planted my feet against the sides of the cabinet and pushed, sliding far enough back across the kitchen to avoid the mass of hundreds - maybe thousands - of containers that spilled out. With little warning other than the groan of plastic grinding plastic, the wall lurched forward. I slipped a pair of fingers inside the cabinet and removed one of the rectangular lids that fit my container. We kept a stack of those tucked against the side of the cabinet wall, mostly independent from the main structure. But dumb luck was on my side, and as they fell, they did so in such a way as to wedge against each other, filling in the hole left by the piece I'd removed and stabilizing the wall again. Suddenly, the structure shook, and I knew that would be the end of me. The wall trembled as one of hundreds of crucial pieces came loose. With the precision of a clockmaker, I took hold of my chosen piece. After a few moments, I decided upon a clear container that began its life carrying a 16-ounce supply of Great Value Seasoned Chicken Breast Lunchmeat, deeming both its size acceptable for my purposes and the likelihood of locating a lid that would fit it pretty good. Nervously tonguing the metal retaining wire running along the backside of my bottom teeth, I considered which container would both fit my needs and also not lead to my suffocation beneath a mountain of knock-off Tupperware. One of those constant truths is that I will repeat this ritual until the end of days. Although I believe in few things as much as I do life's ever-changing nature there are some constant truths in this world. "I've really got to clean this thing out at some point," I told myself, same as I did every time I opened that cabinet. Which meant, in order to preserve the sparse scraps of food we didn't eat - hardly enough to keep, but far too much to toss away - I had to undergo the perilous task of extracting a single plastic container from the wall. Although Mandy and I had occasionally had the foresight to stack some of the similarly sized containers, most had been casually tossed into the cabinet once their contents had been emptied and their surfaces washed and dried, the only thing preventing the structure's immediate disintegration being the speed with which we slammed the cabinet door shut.
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