Functions of earth retaining walls
- Flexibility to accommodate high differential settlement and several feet of total settlement
- Bearing pressure is distributed over a wide foundation area
- Extreme wall heights can be achieved
- Extreme loads can be carried (bridge abutment footings, cranes)
- High resistance to seismic and other dynamic forces
- Free-draining, due to granular backfill and open panel joints
- Form liners or elaborate murals can customize the aesthetics
- Soil reinforcing strips can easily accommodate obstructions within the MSE backfill volume
- Very versatile. Special design can allow for nearly any geometry
- Rapid, predictable, and repetitive construction
- Superior finished wall alignment
- Flexibility to accommodate high differential settlement and several feet of total settlement
- Bearing pressure is distributed over a wide foundation area
- Extreme wall heights can be achieved
- Extreme loads can be carried (bridge abutment footings, cranes)
- High resistance to seismic and other dynamic forces
- Free-draining, due to granular backfill and open panel joints
- Form liners or elaborate murals can customize the aesthetics
- Soil reinforcing strips can easily accommodate obstructions within the MSE backfill volume
- Very versatile. Special design can allow for nearly any geometry
- Rapid, predictable, and repetitive construction
- Superior finished wall alignment
Functions of load bearing walls
- It is a structural element.
- It carries the weight of a house from the roof and upper floors.
- Load bearing walls transfer loads all the way to the foundation or other suitable frame members.
- It can support structural members like beams (sturdy pieces of wood or metal), slab and walls on above floors above.
- A wall directly above the beam is called a load bearing wall if it is designed to carry the vertical load.
- Load bearing walls also carry their own weight.
- This wall is typically over one another on each floor.
- Load bearing walls can be used as an interior or exterior wall.
- This kind of wall will often be perpendicular to floor joists or ridge.
- Concrete is an ideal material to support these loads.
Functions of non-load bearing walls
- A non-load bearing wall does not accommodate over ground-roof loads.
- It is not an integral part of the structural framing system.
- Most of the time, they are interior walls intended to split the floor into rooms.
- They are built lighter to bring down the structure’s dead load.
- One may remove any non-load bearing walls without sacrificing the building’s protection.
- The joists and rafters are able to identify non-load bearing walls.
- They aren’t responsible for the property’s gravity support.