Retaining Wall Programs

[keyPitsimplE]

I am a residential and light commercial "structural" engineer (PE). I have used QuickRWall by IES for several years now and like it. I'm getting ready to upgrade and am considering Retain Pro. Does anyone have any comparitive experience with either or both of these? Others?

Thanks,

 

[jittles]

I have no experience with QuickRWall, but we recently started using Retain Pro.

The few times I have used it, it did everything I needed it to and it was fairly easy to jump into and use; however, there are definitely bugs present in the program. Sometimes it seemed to not recognize that a parameter had been updated in an input box. No error messages or crashes, just no calculation refresh.

Given that it's our go-to program, I work around the bugs and I am still happy with the results. It has actually been several months since I used it, so the bugs have possibly been fixed by now.

 

[sbouvia]

We use RetainPro extensively in our office and it works really well for us. Also none of the other software that we have that does retaining walls has all of the capabilities of RetainPro. Also their support is great, and they will usually provide you an answer within a couple of hours. Another added benefit of the program is that it is super cheap compared to other programs.

I did notice that my output wasn't updating a couple of weeks ago as well and I sent them a technical inquiry and they were right on top of helping me and we determined that it was a bug in the software that they had already fixed I just did not have the newest update.

I think there are still some bugs to be fixed since they have changed to Version 10.0, bit we have been using their software for at least 5 years in this office.

Hope this helps,

Scott

 

[keyPitsimplE]

Thank you both! Will it do retaining walls against a rock face, I.e. reduced pressures? I'm still hoping to hear from someone who has used QuickRWall since that is the one I know. I can upgrade to latest version for $140, so even cheaper than retain pro

 

[MiketheEngineer]

ArchonEng and Engineering International both have cheap good programs

 

[mtu1972]

The last job that had a number of retaining walls was just over a year ago. These were really basement walls, but because of the construction sequencing they would be "retaining walls" for an extended time. After phase II of the construction they would restrained "basement walls" with high storage loads behind the wall.

We had a 2007 version of RetainPro in the office. I tried it but it did not do everything that we wanted. Having previously worked with IES's products we tried QuickRWall and TEDD's (which we already had in the office). I see preliminary calc files for both RetainPro and TEDD's, but the final cacl's are in QuickRWall.

My recollection is that once we got the preliminary walls designed, it became apparent that stepping the wall could result in a cost reduction. Once confirmed by the CM we proceeded that way. I think stepping the walls in Quickerwall was much easier, although sometimes the graphics did not reflect the true picture. I brought up some of those calc's and the views all look OK now.

I would recommend the trial version of RetainPro before you purchase it. TEDD's handles stepping the wall very easily as well, but I can't remember what ultimately swayed us to choose IES's QuickRWall.

Not sure this doesn't further muddy the waters. Right now we only have QuickRWall and TEDD's as our available options.

gjc

 

[keyPitsimplE]

That does help, thank you.

Your initial discussion is why I rarely do basement walls anymore. I do a hybrid retaining wall that has a slightly smaller footing than a typical one giving some credit to the continuity and proximity of returns walls in the basement, by way of reducing the factor of safety. I find a little more concrete, as long as the builder agrees, is the cheaper easier way to go. They can backfill right away and not fuss with all the top connections, nor deal with the inevitable stairway opening.

You must have had to put the steel in the center of the wall in order to have them function as retaining walls for awhile, then switch to basement wall. Or you braced them on the interior. I would love to hear if you came up with an economical solution (that saved labor as well as material).

 

[kipfoot]

fwiw, I use quickr wall and like it. I find that it's very easy to get up and running and presents the calculations clearly. Retain pro seems to have a few more tools in the chest for site retaining walls.

 

[mtu1972]

Rereading my thread, I failed to mention that these were 23'+/- deep basement walls for a heavy industrial project. Several hundred feet in length with the end walls being about 100'. The grade sloped down along each end wall. The wall thickness on the long wall got to be 33" at the base. Different load conditions included the initial retaining wall condition; the surcharge from the construction cranes that would be set on the grade in the warehouse area to erect the main machine room; and then the restrained wall with the high storage surcharges.

We ended up with rebar on both sides of the wall. The Construction Manager initially rejected the idea of stepping the wall, but reconsidered after realizing that the labor and rebar costs would be about the same and he would save a significant amount of concrete costs. He came back to us with the recommended step location based on the that the form sizes his sub was going to use would necessitate placement of the wall in two lifts anyway.

Also forgot that it is now 2013 and the walls were designed for the spring of 2011. It took about a year to get everything tied together, so they were "retaining walls" for a considerable length of time.

gjc

 

[GDinMT]

I'm in the QuickRWall camp. We use both RetainPro and QuickRWall at my firm, but I find QuickRWall to be much more user friendly. I also like that the software provides transparent reporting with all calcs and code references spelled out for you.

keepitsimple, I don't think that RetainPro offers any advanced calculations that QuickRWall doesn't, so if you're familiar with QuickRWall, I don't think you will gain much by switching to RetainPro.

Also, QuickRWall has great technical support. They're very responsive and will work with you to get your questions or any bugs worked out.

-GD

 

[keyPitsimplE]

GD, thank you so much! That is exactly what I was hoping to hear. QuickRWall it is! I'll just wait til they have the 2012 IBC and ASCE 7-10 in it. I asked them and latest version is still based on 09 IBC & ASCE 7-05.

 

[arh13p]

I have been using QuickRWall for several years now and for the most part I think it is very user friendly. One thing I might add to the topic of discussion is whether anyone that has been using this program have noticed that it does not perform all the checks that should be done? Below are some of the "cons" we have found:

• A check on the maximum flexural steel spacing requirements of the Code (QR-wall didn’t do the check).
• Getting printout documentation that was different from what the output on the screen said (had to do “screen shots”) for final documentation with the right information.
• Not using the most up to date version of the Code (at the time I had installed the most recent QR-wall update). I see one of the post above mentioned that 2012 IBC and ASCE 7-10 are not included yet.
• Using the wrong load factors for soil when designing the footings and/or wrong load factors for “resisting” loads.
• The volumes of paperwork required for the file to fully document a complete design.

I am just curious if anyone has experienced some of this (not the paperwork issue) and has any feedback. Thanks in advanced.

 

[keyPitsimplE]

arh13p,

Yes, i have noticed some of the problems you mention. Basically I have found work-arounds that satisfied me, but yes, those things are annoying and hopefully get fixed in the next version.

Thanks to everyone who gave great input. This website consistently impresses me with how useful it is.

 

[TXStructural]

Just released for iPad: RWallHD
It was developed by a practicing structural engineer with attention to maximizing usefulness. I have been talking with him about it for a couple of years, and really like the app. The results agrees with CRSI's published tables. It functions well, and allows a designer to change the variables and see the changes update as that is done. Output includes calc results and a section drawing in a single PDF file via email.

 

[XR250]

I tried Retainpro and felt the interface was very clunky and un-intuitive. QuikrWall looks much more user friendly.
For most of my designs, I use a program called "RetainWall" on my Mac. Super fast and easy (all Mac stuff is)
Have to go to my PC emulation software for the wintel side of things.