Design options

Cantilever Retaining WallS

Cantilever retaining walls use concrete footings, also known as base slabs, beneath large retaining wall blocks, which are reinforced with steel rebar and concrete filling. The concrete footing extends at the toe and heel of the retaining wall, with the heel stretching under the approved backfill material being retained. Cantilever retaining wall designs enable the wall to withstand major lateral forces and earth pressures.

Steel rebar stems vertically from the concrete footings through the large hollow core retaining wall blocks, which are then filled with concrete to increase the structure’s mass. This steel rebar can also be placed horizontally from the vertical rebar, running through the block’s horizontal hollow core for further reinforcement, also filled with concrete.

MagnumStone retaining walls can hold as much reinforced steel as necessary, with natural, textured facings that offer beautiful aesthetic features for Cantilever retaining walls.

When to Use Steel Reinforcement for Retaining Walls

Cantilever retaining wall designs are typically selected and implemented when geogrid and gravity retaining walls are unable to meet the necessary structural criteria. This can be due to a variety of reasons, including right right-of-ways (ROWs) or sites with structures that have extremely close or limited excavation areas.

Common Applications for Cantilever Retaining Walls:

Where space is too limited for Gravity walls
Little to no toe footing space
Heavy load scenarios

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The Purpose of Cantilever Retaining Walls

The reinforced strength of Cantilever retaining walls make them a valuable and reliable retaining wall application which is utilized around the world. This extra strength is a result of tying the base course, several courses – or even the whole retaining wall – together with rebar and concrete fill throughout the MagnumStone system’s large vertical and horizontal hollow core blocks.

A cantilever base, the concrete footing, holds the slightly battered precast retaining wall in place to resist overturning or sliding from pressures behind the wall. MagnumStone Cantilever retaining walls have been trusted all over the world by engineers to achieve maximum strength and durability for a wide range of projects and applications.

Cantilever Retaining Wall Design Considerations

Soil types
Loading above the wall
Slopes above or below
Services behind the wall
Existing structures behind or around the wall
Rebar strength and size needs to be designed ahead of time
Water, where is it headed and is there adequate drainage behind the wall and outlets throughout
Groundwater and subsoils

Advantages of Cantilever Retaining Walls

When designing the rebar in the footing, the steel can easily extend to be placed through the hollow core or along the sides of the tapered MagnumStone blocks where there is more space
This type of wall is often designed by structural engineers and not geotechnical engineers
These are effective retaining wall solutions – MagnumStone has many cantilever retaining wall designs all over the world, from New Zealand to Iceland

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