The building of the Great Wall ! back

This is the area that needed retained.

(To the left of the wagon)

So before the rainy winter, the building of the wall is necessary.
Our neighbor has a back hoe, he dug the retaining wall footing for a small fee.

After the trench was dug, I added the footing forms and lots of rebar, including six steel beams.
The #5 horizontal rebar was was welded to the beams to make sure everything stayed in place during the concrete pour.
Everything braced and ready to pour the footing. It was about $700 for all the steel reinforcing.

It was 10 yards of concrete for the footing.
Next step, remove all the bracing.
With the braces removed the next job was to start setting the forms for the actual retaining wall and bracing them. Most of it will be 8 ft. tall and the wall will be 44 ft. long. 12" wide at the top and 21" wide at the base. Footing was an average of 5 ft. wide.

This is a photo of everything ready to pour with concrete.
I used all-thread in the center holding the forms so they wouldn't spread apart.
I used 5 per 4 ft. section,
I should have used more.

The forms were also bolted down to the footing.

Here we are almost finished filling the forms. (I'm in the black shirt).
It took 15 yards of concrete for the wall (and 10 for the footing). We used a pump truck and hose to get the concrete up into the forms.
All the forms needed unbolted and stripped from the wall.

This photo is after the forms were taken down and the area cleaned up.
Next step in to add drain rock and drain pipe behind the wall after it cures a couple weeks.
(Car is a visiting friends)

I hope to add a facing of rock to
the wall for looks...some day.
Behind the wall.
Added a landscaping felt. This
lets the water through, but not
the dirt, so it will not plug
up the drain rock, or so they
tell me.
Added a layer of drain rock,
then two perforated drain pipe.
Then one more layer of drain rock.

I added a third drain pipe, then
another layer of drain rock.

Then folded the landscaping felt
over the rock, so that all of the
rock is wrapped in the felt.

Then added another layer of rock
to hold it in place.
This is adding the last one foot
layer of rock over the felt.
This shows the three 4" drain
pipes coming out the end
of the retaining wall.
Next I will add one more layer
of landscaping felt and fill in
behind the wall with dirt.
We worked a few weeks digging
from where the red arrow points.
It is a wall of dirt we needed to
take 3 ft off the top. We moved the dirt to behind the retaining wall.
Then we added two pickup loads
of "scalps". Which is just gravel with
a lot of dirt in it. It was cheap.

Then we added good top soil the
last 2 feet. Not cheap!!
The two pickup loads of scalps
were abount 5,000 pounds each.
Then three pickup loads of top
soil, at 4,000 pounds each load.

Yes we unloaded all by hand,
shovel, by shovel.

Lots of work!
This is after the top soil was all in
place. We are about to plant some Heather.
Elaine's sister gave us some very nice mature Heather plants. They really
filled up my van.
We have them planted.