PROJECTS
IRDP housing gets facelift with Terraforce
Retaining walls are often used to create more usable , durable areas for building homes and roads on land that would otherwise be inaccessible .
By Terraforce
The Botrivier site where Terraforce retaining walls were installed .
Terraforce lends a cost-effective and versatile method for creating building platforms , access steps and road support for low cost housing – or in this case – relocating informal settlers to new Integrated Residential Development Programme ( IRDP ) houses in the Botrivier area .
In 2014 Dassenberg Retaining was approached by the Theewaterskloof Municipality to provide a solution for storm water management , access steps and erosion control between constructions levels at a new IRDP housing site in Botrivier , Western Cape .
During construction of the site , various levels were cut and services installed , creating exposed embankments that would erode and undermine the aprons around the houses . This required several Terraforce L12 retaining walls between one and two metres in height , all 20 metres long , with footing and subsurface drains in front of and behind the walls .
A number of one metre wide steps , using the Terraforce 4x4 Step block and L12 blocks as end stops , were also added to provide pedestrians with access between the levels . In addition , cut off drains were added to some areas of the housing site with Terracrete permeable pavers , to manage water run-off during the rainy season . The onemetre Terracrete channels were placed on A2 filter material and the blocks filled with excavated material . The retaining blocks used for the Botrivier site were pioneered by Terraforce – a Cape Town based pre-cast
Construction workers adding finishing touches to the retaining walls .
Terraforce retaining blocks were used for the IRDP Botrivier site .
concrete licensor – almost 40 years ago and represents one of the most energy efficient segmental retaining wall systems .
Georg Brand of Dassenberg Retaining , says , “ What makes this product so popular in the industry is that the blocks require low hardware input for manufacture , low transport costs and low inventory requirements at sales outlets . They are hollow , yet strong enough , and require less concrete to do the job when compared to solid block systems , which of course saves money .
“ Concrete retaining walls constructed using the Terraforce system are easily formed into complex curved shapes or into walls in which the upper and lower profiles are continuously changing , while the system also allows you a choice between round face , ( plant supportive ) or flush face ( smooth or split version ) to suit specific requirements ,” he says .
Above all , they present a closed vertical surface structure that provides maximum amount of soil mass within the wall , which prevents backfill spillage , and at the same time offers uninhibited permeability .
In total 6 905 Terracrete , 8531 L12 and 1030 4x4 Step blocks were installed on the Botrivier site .
AFFORDABLE
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