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Poured Concrete Retaining Walls in Pittsburgh, PA
When there is no room behind the wall for reinforced soil, the wall has to do the work itself. Free on-site estimate.
When does a poured concrete wall beat a block one?
Usually when there is nowhere to put the reinforcement. Segmental walls need room behind them for grid to extend into the slope, and on tight city lots, against a property line, or where rock sits close behind, that room does not exist. Then the wall itself has to resist the load.
How a Poured Wall Resists the Slope
A gravity wall works on mass alone. It is thick enough at the base that its own weight resists the soil pushing on it, which suits shorter walls where the section stays reasonable.
A cantilever wall is the more common answer at height. It has a footing extending back under the retained soil, so the weight of that soil sitting on the heel helps hold the wall in place, and steel reinforcement carries the bending load through the stem.
Either way the footing has to be below frost depth on bearing that will actually hold. A retaining wall footing that heaves is worse than a settled one, because the wall tips forward and the soil behind it immediately takes up the space.
What Decides a Poured Wall Design
Poured walls are engineered work at any real height, and these are the inputs that drive the design.
- Exposed height and the total height including the footing depth
- Available space behind the wall, which is often why poured was chosen
- Any surcharge above the wall, from a driveway to a building foundation
- Soil bearing capacity at the footing elevation
- Where wall drainage can discharge to daylight
- Whether the wall face will be exposed, faced with veneer, or hidden
Poured walls at height come with an engineer’s design and a permit in most municipalities here. Our job is building precisely what was designed and raising anything on site that does not match the assumptions in it.
How a Poured Retaining Wall Is Built
The visible part is the stem. The parts that decide whether it stands are the footing beneath it and the drainage behind it.
1. Excavate and verify bearing
The footing excavation goes below frost depth to the elevation shown, and the soil found is checked against what the design assumed. Where they do not match, that gets raised before concrete is ordered.
2. Pour the footing with dowels set
The footing is formed, reinforced and poured with vertical dowels positioned for the stem. Those dowels are what tie the wall to its footing, and their placement is checked before the concrete takes its set.
3. Form and reinforce the stem
Forms are set to the specified thickness and batter, reinforcement is placed and tied to the drawings, and any weep holes or drainage penetrations are formed in rather than drilled afterward.
4. Pour, strip and treat the back face
The stem is placed in a continuous pour where the height allows, and once forms are stripped the retained face is damp-proofed or waterproofed and, where specified, given a drainage board.
5. Build the drainage and backfill in lifts
Perforated pipe at the footing in clean stone, pitched to a daylight outlet, with filter fabric keeping soil out. Backfill goes in and gets compacted in lifts, and the top is graded to shed water away.
Poured Concrete or Segmental Block
Space behind the wall usually settles it. Segmental systems need room for geogrid to extend into the slope, and where a property line, a building or rock sits too close, poured concrete is the workable answer.
Poured also suits walls doing structural duty, walls that have to be very straight over a long run, and situations where the finished face is going to carry veneer or needs to align precisely with something built.
Block wins on curves, steps, changing heights and on soils that move seasonally, because a reinforced soil mass tolerates minor movement while a rigid wall resists it. On most Pittsburgh properties the site decides rather than preference.
Poured Concrete Retaining Wall Work Across the Pittsburgh Area
We build poured concrete retaining walls throughout the region, including Squirrel Hill, Mount Washington, Brookline, Beechview, Troy Hill, South Side Slopes, Greenfield, Mt. Lebanon, Dormont, Bethel Park, Ross Township, Shaler, Bellevue, Millvale, Monroeville and Penn Hills.
City and inner-suburb properties account for most of our poured wall work, because those lots are narrow and there is rarely space behind a wall for a reinforced soil system. Hillside streets in particular leave very little room between a house and the grade it sits against.
Poured Concrete Retaining Wall FAQs
Is a poured concrete wall stronger than a block wall?
They resist load differently rather than one simply being stronger. A poured wall resists rigidly through its own structure; a segmental wall works as a reinforced soil mass. Which is appropriate depends on height, space behind the wall and soil conditions.
How deep does a retaining wall footing go?
Below the local frost depth and onto soil that meets the design bearing requirement. A heaved retaining wall footing is worse than a settled one, because the wall tips forward and the soil behind it immediately fills the gap.
What are weep holes for?
They let water that reaches the back of the wall pass through the face instead of building pressure behind it. They work alongside the drain pipe and stone, not instead of them, and they need to stay clear to do anything.
Does the back of the wall need waterproofing?
The retained face is normally damp-proofed or waterproofed, and on taller walls a drainage board is often specified as well. Concrete is not waterproof on its own, and constant contact with saturated soil takes a toll over decades.
Can a poured wall be faced with stone or veneer?
Yes, and it is a common reason to choose poured. The wall provides the structure and the veneer provides the appearance. That has to be planned before the pour so the finished face lines up correctly.
Do poured retaining walls crack?
Concrete moves, so control joints are planned into longer runs to give it a chosen place to crack rather than a random one. Proper reinforcement, curing and joint spacing keep that movement cosmetic rather than structural.
Get Your Poured Wall Priced
Send photos of the grade and what sits behind and above the wall, plus drawings if an engineer has already been involved. We will check bearing and space, then put the scope and sequence in writing.