A reinforced retaining wall structure for high slopes

Abstract

This utility model discloses a reinforced retaining wall structure for high slopes, relating to the field of slope support structure technology. Its purpose is to minimize excavation work while ensuring support strength. The proposed technical solution includes an existing retaining wall, the back side of which is connected to multiple sets of newly added retaining walls via multiple connectors. Each newly added retaining wall has a foundation at its bottom, and multiple piles are driven into the slope foundation at the bottom of the foundation. The piles, foundation, existing retaining wall, and newly added retaining walls are combined into a unified load-bearing structure through a concrete filling structure, thereby increasing support strength while reducing excavation work. This utility model minimizes excavation, requiring only localized construction of the foundation and piles, avoiding large-scale demolition and secondary slope excavation, and minimizing the impact on slope stability and the environment.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of slope support structure technology, specifically to a reinforced retaining wall structure for high slopes. Background Technology

[0002] In the field of high slope protection engineering, retaining wall structures are key structures for ensuring slope stability and preventing soil collapse. Traditional high slope retaining methods mainly include gravity retaining walls, cantilever retaining walls, and pile-slab retaining walls.

[0003] Gravity retaining walls rely on their massive weight to resist earth pressure, and their stability requirements dictate that the wall section is enormous, with foundation depths often reaching several meters. This results in a huge volume of excavation, leading to long construction periods, high costs, and a high risk of disturbing the original slopes during excavation, causing instability of the exposed surface.

[0004] While pile-slab retaining walls transfer loads to deep, stable strata through pile foundations, reducing the thickness of the retaining slab to some extent, their construction typically still requires large-scale excavation between piles to install the retaining slab, or the construction of massive capping beams to connect with the piles. This fails to fundamentally eliminate the "large-scale excavation" work pattern. Especially in urban built-up areas, near existing buildings, or in areas with limited land, large-scale excavation operations are not only difficult to implement, but the resulting vibrations and soil stress release pose a serious threat to the surrounding environment. Utility Model Content

[0005] This utility model provides a reinforced retaining wall structure for high slopes, with the aim of minimizing the amount of excavation work while ensuring the support strength.

[0006] The technical solution of this utility model to solve the above-mentioned technical problems is as follows:

[0007] A reinforced retaining wall structure for high slopes includes an existing retaining wall. The back side of the existing retaining wall is connected to multiple sets of new retaining walls through multiple connectors. The bottom of the new retaining walls is provided with a pile cap, and the bottom of the pile cap is provided with multiple piles embedded in the slope foundation. The piles, pile cap, existing retaining wall and new retaining walls are combined into an integral load-bearing structure through a concrete filling structure to improve the support strength while reducing the amount of excavation.

[0008] Furthermore, the pile cap and the pile body are cast as a single reinforced concrete structure.

[0009] Furthermore, the connector includes at least one of anchor bolts, bolts, or welded components.

[0010] Furthermore, the new retaining walls are arranged at intervals along the length of the original retaining walls, and the new retaining walls are set perpendicular to the original retaining walls.

[0011] Furthermore, the connector penetrates the existing retaining wall and is welded or bolted to the steel reinforcement frame of the newly added retaining wall.

[0012] Furthermore, the pile body is at least one of bored cast-in-place piles, precast piles, or steel piles.

[0013] Furthermore, the height of the newly added retaining wall shall not be lower than the height of the original retaining wall.

[0014] This utility model has the following beneficial effects:

[0015] This solution achieves multiple beneficial effects by adding a composite system of pile foundations, pile caps, and new retaining walls on the back side of the original retaining wall, and connecting them through the original wall: It minimizes excavation, requiring only localized construction of the pile caps and pile foundations, avoiding large-scale demolition and secondary slope excavation, thus minimizing the impact on slope stability and the environment. It significantly enhances support strength, with the pile foundations providing deep anchorage. The new wall and pile cap act as rigid supports, and prestressed connectors bind the original wall to them, greatly improving resistance to sliding and overturning, as well as overall stiffness. It fully utilizes the existing structure, with the original retaining wall continuing to bear the main earth pressure and participate in co-loading, avoiding resource waste. Construction is convenient and safe, with a clear process sequence, allowing for low-disturbance methods such as static drilling, resulting in a short construction period and low risk. It offers high overall cost-effectiveness, significantly saving on earthwork, demolition, and support costs while achieving the reinforcement objectives, demonstrating excellent engineering applicability and economic efficiency. Attached Figure Description

[0016] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the high slope reinforced retaining wall structure of this utility model;

[0017] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structural layout of the high slope reinforced retaining wall of this utility model.

[0018] Figures 1 to 2 The reference numerals in the attached drawings are respectively: pile body 1, pile cap 2, existing retaining wall 3, newly added retaining wall 4, and connector 5. Detailed Implementation

[0019] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments:

[0020] This embodiment provides a typical reinforced retaining wall structure for high slopes. Its core concept lies in adding a reinforcement system consisting of piles 1, pile caps 2, and a new retaining wall 4 to the back side of the existing retaining wall 3 (i.e., the side directly bearing soil pressure) without large-scale demolition or excavation of the original slope support structure. All components are then combined into a single load-bearing structure via connectors 5 and a concrete filling structure. This structure significantly improves overall anti-sliding and anti-overturning capabilities, while minimizing additional engineering work and slope disturbance by maximizing the use of the original structure.

[0021] See Figure 1 and Figure 2 The high slope reinforced retaining wall structure includes an original retaining wall 3. The back side of the original retaining wall 3 is connected to multiple sets of newly added retaining walls 4 through multiple connectors 5. The bottom of the newly added retaining wall 4 is provided with a pile cap 2. The bottom of the pile cap 2 is provided with multiple piles 1 embedded in the slope foundation. The piles 1, pile cap 2, original retaining wall 3 and newly added retaining wall 4 are combined into an integral load-bearing structure through a concrete filling structure to improve the support strength while reducing the amount of excavation.

[0022] The existing retaining wall 3 is an existing structure that needs reinforcement. Its type can be a gravity retaining wall, cantilever retaining wall, or buttress retaining wall, and is typically a reinforced concrete or masonry structure. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the existing retaining wall 3 is a reinforced concrete cantilever retaining wall, which may have issues such as aging, cracking, or insufficient load-bearing capacity to cope with the new load. Before reinforcement, the current condition of the existing retaining wall 3 needs to be inspected and evaluated to ensure that it still possesses a certain degree of structural integrity and can participate in the load-bearing process as part of the reinforcement system.

[0023] To form a reliable vertical bearing and lateral anchoring foundation, multiple piles 1 are implanted in the soil behind the original retaining wall 3. The piles 1 are arranged in at least one row along a direction parallel to the length of the original retaining wall 3.

[0024] On top of the formed pile body 1, the pile cap 2 is constructed. The pile cap 2 is a key transition component connecting the lower pile foundation and the upper retaining wall. Specifically, after the pile body 1 is constructed, the laitance at the top of the pile is removed down to the solid concrete surface, and the main reinforcement bars at the top of the pile body 1 are extended into the reserved space of the pile cap 2 at a certain angle (or with hooks). Then, the steel mesh of the pile cap 2 itself, including longitudinal main bars, transverse distribution bars, and stirrups, is tied, formwork is erected, and finally, concrete is poured together with the top area of ​​the pile body 1, so that the two solidify into a rigid whole. The cross-sectional shape of the pile cap 2 is usually rectangular, and its width and height need to be determined through structural calculations to ensure that the load from the newly added retaining wall 4 can be effectively distributed to each pile body 1.

[0025] The newly added retaining wall 4 is also a reinforced concrete structure, and its wall thickness and reinforcement are determined based on earth pressure calculations. The lower ends of the vertical main reinforcement bars inside the wall are anchored within the foundation 2 to ensure reliable transmission of bending moment and shear force.

[0026] To achieve coordinated operation between the old and new structures, the key lies in installing connector 5. Connector 5 penetrates the existing retaining wall 3, firmly connecting it to the newly added retaining wall 4 located on its back side. The specific construction steps are as follows: First, drill a through hole in the existing retaining wall 3, corresponding to the designed position of the new retaining wall 4, from the soil-facing side to the back side. To minimize damage to the original structure, static drilling methods such as water drilling or diamond drill bits are recommended. After drilling, insert connector 5 from the soil-facing side, with its tail protruding from the back side. On the back side, reliably weld or bolt the protruding end of connector 5 to the steel reinforcement frame of the new retaining wall 4. Subsequently, a certain prestress can be applied to connector 5 on the back side using an anchoring system such as nuts and washers, and then it can be locked. The application of prestress can generate a pre-compression force between the old and new walls, improving the stress state at the connection interface, more effectively transmitting shear force and bending moment, and allowing the two to work together as a single, integrated wall.

[0027] Finally, the concrete filling structure is formed, which is a key step in achieving the "integration into a whole load-bearing structure". The concrete filling structure mainly consists of two parts: The first part is the cavity located on the back side of the original retaining wall 3, enclosed by the back of the original retaining wall 3, the wall surface of the newly added retaining wall 4, the top surface of the foundation 2, and the side formwork. After the connector 5 is installed, the cavity is formed by erecting a formwork and pouring micro-expansion fine stone concrete to fill it densely. During pouring, it is necessary to ensure that the concrete can fully cover the exposed part of the connector 5 and tightly fill the gap between the newly added retaining wall 4 and the original retaining wall 3, so that the two are bonded together as a whole through concrete solidification. The second part is the contact surface between the foundation 2 and the slope foundation. Before pouring the foundation 2, a layer of plain concrete is usually laid on the excavated foundation surface or the surface is roughened to ensure good contact between the foundation 2 and the foundation. Through this series of operations, the pile 1, the pile cap 2, the original retaining wall 3 and the newly added retaining wall 4 are tightly bonded and wrapped together by the concrete filling structure, and then supplemented by the mechanical interlocking and prestressed connection of the connector 5, finally forming a rigid integral load-bearing structure.

[0028] The stress mechanism of this overall load-bearing structure is as follows: The soil pressure on the slope first acts directly on the soil-facing side of the original retaining wall 3. In the reinforcement system, this load (especially the force that causes the wall to bend and slip) is transferred to the newly added retaining wall 4 located on the soil-repellent side through the connector 5 penetrating the wall. As an important load-bearing component, the newly added retaining wall 4 transfers the tensile and shear loads from the connector 5 downwards to the pile cap 2, which then distributes the load in a coordinated manner to the multiple piles 1 it supports. The piles 1 provide vertical bearing capacity on the one hand, and provide strong lateral anchoring force through their penetration into the stable stratum on the other hand, jointly resisting the overall horizontal slippage and overturning tendency of the structure. In this process, the bearing capacity of the original retaining wall 3 is fully utilized, and it achieves coordinated deformation with the newly added retaining wall 4 through connection and filling concrete. The entire system (pile-pillar cap-new wall-connector-original wall) works together, and its bearing capacity and stability are far higher than the simple superposition of the original retaining wall 3 or the newly added retaining wall 4 working independently, achieving effective reinforcement under minimal excavation conditions.

[0029] Preferably, in order to ensure direct force transmission and good overall integrity of the structure, the pile cap 2 and the pile body 1 are integrally cast reinforced concrete structures.

[0030] In this embodiment, the connector 5 is preferably a high-strength precision-rolled threaded steel bar anchor rod, which, together with a special nut and washer, forms a tensioning and anchoring system.

[0031] Furthermore, on the top surface of the foundation 2, multiple sets of newly added retaining walls 4 are arranged at intervals along the length of the original retaining wall 3. (See also...) Figure 2 In this embodiment, the newly added retaining walls 4 are spaced apart along the length of the original retaining walls 3, and are perpendicular to the original retaining walls 3. That is, the wall surface of the newly added retaining walls 4 is approximately perpendicular to the slope direction (i.e., perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the original retaining walls 3), and is ribbed in shape. This "vertical spaced arrangement" has several advantages: First, it forms a structure similar to a buttress, which can effectively resist soil pressure; second, the spaced arrangement reduces the amount of concrete used, lowers the self-weight and economic cost; third, the spaced areas between the newly added retaining walls 4 provide space for construction operations, facilitating the installation of connectors 5 and concrete pouring.

[0032] In this embodiment, in order to increase the connection strength between the connector 5 and the original retaining wall 3, the connector 5 penetrates the original retaining wall 3 and is welded or bolted to the steel reinforcement skeleton of the newly added retaining wall 4.

[0033] In this embodiment, the pile body 1 is preferably a bored cast-in-place pile. Its construction process minimizes vibration and disturbance to the slope soil. The specific steps are as follows: First, a small drilling rig is used to dry drill or drill with mud slurry wall protection at the predetermined pile location. The drilling depth must penetrate the potential slip surface and reach a certain depth into stable strata to meet vertical bearing and pull-out requirements. Then, a reinforcing cage is lowered, and high-strength concrete is poured into the hole, ultimately forming the reinforced concrete pile body 1.

[0034] The height of the newly added retaining wall 4 shall not be lower than the height of the original retaining wall 3. Preferably, the top elevation of the newly added retaining wall 4 is slightly higher than or equal to the top elevation of the original retaining wall 3, so as to ensure that the reinforced support range completely covers the original height and provides support for any subsequent backfill or load that may exist above.

[0035] Example 2

[0036] The main difference between this embodiment and embodiment 1 lies in the type of pile 1 and the form of connector 5. Other structural features are the same as or similar to those in embodiment 1, and will not be described again.

[0037] In this embodiment, the pile body 1 is a precast pile, such as a high-strength prestressed concrete pipe pile (PHC pile) or a reinforced concrete square pile. The precast pile is driven into the designed elevation of the slope foundation using static pressure or hammer driving methods. Its advantages are fast construction speed and guaranteed pile quality. To form a reliable connection with the pile cap 2, after the pile is driven, the top reinforcement of the precast pile (or through a pile head connector) needs to be inserted into the reinforcement mesh of the pile cap 2, and then the concrete of the pile cap 2 is poured to form a whole.

[0038] The connector 5 employs a combination of chemically bonded anchor rods and high-strength bolts. First, at the predetermined location on the existing retaining wall 3, holes are drilled from the soil-facing side to the soil-repellent side. After cleaning the holes, high-strength chemical anchoring adhesive is injected, and then a threaded rod with an external thread at one end is inserted as the anchoring section. Once the adhesive has cured and reached its strength, the threaded rod is firmly anchored to the existing retaining wall 3. During the binding of the reinforcing steel frame of the new retaining wall 4, a continuous high-strength bolt is pre-embedded. During construction, on the soil-repellent side of the existing retaining wall 3, a connecting sleeve is used to connect and tighten the bolts pre-embedded in the new retaining wall with the chemical anchor rods extending from the wall. Finally, prestress is applied on the soil-repellent side using tension nuts. This connection method facilitates construction adjustments, provides high connection strength, and minimizes damage to the existing retaining wall.

[0039] Example 3

[0040] The main difference between this embodiment and the previous embodiments lies in the arrangement of the connector 5 and the structural form of the newly added retaining wall 4.

[0041] In this embodiment, the connector 5 is a grouped tie rod system. Specifically, within the width corresponding to the newly added retaining wall 4, multiple sets of through holes are drilled at intervals along the vertical and horizontal directions on the original retaining wall 3. A high-strength tie rod, such as a precision-rolled threaded steel bar, is inserted into each set of through holes. Both ends of the rod are equipped with nuts and enlarged bearing steel pads. The rod enters from the soil-facing side of the original retaining wall 3 and exits from the soil-repellent side. On the soil-repellent side, the rod passes through the wall body of the newly added retaining wall 4, with pre-reserved channels or pre-embedded sleeves at corresponding positions in the wall body. Then, the nuts are tightened on the back of the newly added retaining wall 4, clamping the original retaining wall and the newly added retaining wall between the two sets of pads.

[0042] Furthermore, the newly added retaining wall 4 can be designed as a buttress type or a variable cross-section structure with ribs. That is, vertical ribs are added to the back side of the wall, and the ribs are cast integrally with the wall. The foundation 2 is correspondingly widened to support the rib portion. This structure can further improve the out-of-plane stiffness and bending resistance of the newly added retaining wall itself, making it deform less and the force transmission more direct when subjected to tensile forces from the connector 5.

[0043] This embodiment further optimizes the load transfer path from the original wall to the new wall and pile foundation through dense tie connections and reinforced new wall forms. It is particularly suitable for situations where the original retaining wall is severely damaged and a more uniform load transfer is required.

[0044] In summary, this utility model, through its ingenious integrated design of the new structure and the original structure, fully leverages the deep anchoring effect of the pile foundation, the load diffusion effect of the pile cap, the direct support effect of the new retaining wall, and the overall connection effect of the connectors. During construction, there is no need to demolish or extensively disturb the original retaining wall and the soil behind it, truly achieving the core objective of "increasing support strength while reducing excavation work." This utility model is applicable to the reinforcement, upgrading, and expansion projects of various existing retaining walls in highway, railway, water conservancy, and municipal engineering fields.

[0045] Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A high slope reinforced retaining wall structure, comprising an existing retaining wall (3), characterized in that: The back side of the original retaining wall (3) is connected to multiple sets of newly added retaining walls (4) through multiple connectors (5). The bottom of the newly added retaining wall (4) is provided with a pile cap (2), and the bottom of the pile cap (2) is provided with multiple piles (1) embedded in the slope foundation. The piles (1), pile cap (2), original retaining wall (3) and newly added retaining wall (4) are combined into an integral load-bearing structure through a concrete filling structure.

2. The high slope reinforced retaining wall structure according to claim 1, characterized in that, The foundation (2) and the pile (1) are integrally cast reinforced concrete structures.

3. The high slope reinforced retaining wall structure according to claim 1, characterized in that, The connector (5) includes at least one of an anchor rod, a bolt, or a welded component.

4. The high slope reinforced retaining wall structure according to claim 1, characterized in that, The newly added retaining walls (4) are arranged at intervals along the length of the original retaining walls (3), and the newly added retaining walls (4) are set perpendicular to the original retaining walls (3).

5. The high slope reinforced retaining wall structure according to claim 1, characterized in that, The connector (5) penetrates the original retaining wall (3) and is welded or bolted to the steel reinforcement skeleton of the newly added retaining wall (4).

6. The high slope reinforced retaining wall structure according to claim 1, characterized in that, The pile body (1) is at least one of bored pile, precast pile or steel pile.

7. The high slope reinforced retaining wall structure according to claim 1, characterized in that, The height of the newly added retaining wall (4) shall not be lower than the height of the original retaining wall (3).

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