Retaining wall at front of garage 1

[Ambemily]

My client wants to put a large retaining wall at the front of a garage and then backfill with geofoam. I will be designing the wall for typical vehicle surcharge loads, but what else should I be considering? I want to make sure I'm not missing anything here.

 

[RangeRock]

As you stated... besides the ~250 psf surcharge you can expect from the vehicle loads on the drive-way, it looks like there will still be some at-rest & active soil pressure from the original grade below the geofoam.

I'd also check the specs on the geo-foam to make sure that it can handle the compressive stress from a vehicle driving over. Don't want a landscape spec material that will crush over time and eventually destroy the integrity of the drive-way.

 

[EcoGen]

In addition to it's compressive strength, I would also research it's durability over time. Will it hold up well if it gets exposed to any potential flowing rainwater or water from a burst pipe or some other chemical exposure over time? If not, you'll probably start seeing settlement/support issues at the driveway.

 

[PEinc]

It is also unclear what the house is founded on. The original slope? Fill placed on top of the original slope? Slope and global stability? It seems that there may be more issues to address than just the retaining wall and its backfill material.

http://www.PeirceEngineering.com

 

[XR250]

As you stated... besides the ~250 psf surcharge

250 psf surcharge? Where does that number come from?
Is the new driveway concrete?

 

[RangeRock]

@XR250 250psf surcharge is fairly typical for dynamic vehicle loads.

 

[OldDawgNewTricks]

Per ASCE 7, 250 psf live load is for vehicular driveways subject to trucking. For passenger vehicle garages, it's only 40 psf.

For commercial/industrial projects, I tend to design for truck loads (fire truck, dump truck, delivery truck, etc.) unless it is physically impossible for large trucks to enter the area. It's probably overkill for most typical single-family residential projects though.