How to Calculate Retaining Wall
What is Retaining Wall?
A retaining wall calculator estimates the materials needed (blocks, concrete, drainage) for a wall designed to hold back soil or create level terraces. Wall stability depends critically on height, soil pressure, and drainage.
Step-by-Step Guide
- 1Calculate wall face area: length × height
- 2Number of block courses = wall height / block height
- 3Blocks per course = wall length / block length
- 4Total blocks = courses × blocks per course + 10% waste
- 5For walls over 1.2m, engineering calculations are required for safety
Worked Examples
Input
10m long × 0.9m high · 225mm×100mm blocks
Result
~500 blocks + drainage aggregate
10÷0.225 × 0.9÷0.1 = 400 + 10%
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