Segmental Block Retaining Wall with Steps

Service

Retaining Walls

Material

Segmental block

Location

Vienna, VA

A front yard that falls away from the house gives you two bad options and one good one: live with an awkward slope, cut a raw bank into it, or terrace it properly. This is the third. The wall holds the grade back in a curve that follows the natural line of the approach, and the steps are built into the wall rather than bolted on beside it.

Segmental block suits a wall like this because it flexes. Each course sets back slightly into the slope, so the wall leans into the load it is holding instead of standing straight up against it, and the curve is achieved by the geometry of the units rather than by cutting. The capping course finishes the top and, on the lower run, doubles as somewhere to sit.