small retaining wall with railway sleepers Drainage pipes, concrete, footings and foundations. Post your questions and find answers here

[dom71]

Hiya. I'm new to these boards, so forgive me if I do anything wrong.

I need to build a low retaining wall for the garden (since I had some building work done.) I plan to use railway sleepers (new ones, not reclaimed.) The dimentions of the sleepers are 24cm x 12cm x 2.4m. Total height needed above ground level is about 30cm.



As you can see from the photo, I plan on putting them in 2 high, using the height rather than the width. The bottom sleeper will be well over half underground (as per piccie). I plan to link the sleepers together with Timberlok fasteners

My questions are ....

Do I need footings for this - concrete etc or am I OK just tampening the ground ? If I need concrete, what depth would you use?

Do I need vertical posts to secure the sleepers with - or should I be OK without (I thought I would be OK without because it isn't very high).

Any advice would be most welcome. Please bear in mind I'm far from experienced though.[/img]

[stoneyboy]

dom71,
Should be OK for stability with bottom sleeper partly buried. How quickly the bottom sleeper will rot is another matter.
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[dom71]

OK thanks. I thought the idea of these sleepers was that they were pretty rot resistant? Should I be treating the bottom layer beforehand then? How long are we talking about? Years, decades?

[stoneyboy]

dom71,
"How long are we talking about?" depends on the timber quality, ground conditions and how well the timber was pressure treated. If you are unlucky it could be 5 years.
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