Thread: Retaining Wall to hold back flood water

Ok here's some pics of the back of the land pretty much as I described (from each side).









Water will come past the bamboo when it really gets wet. Funny thing, first time I went there was some major flooding and I thought they bordered a river which had breached its banks (the contrast on my next visit was interesting). So plan is to build wall and backfill it. Looking at the pics myself, maybe it will only be a metre high will have to measure it when I'm back there in a couple of weeks. I'm going to get someone who knows what they are doing (as in, NOT the local wack some bricks and concrete together brigade) and just getting ideas here so I've got some idea when they tell me what they propose to do. I think the real trick will be proper foundations.


DD - yeah I was thinking that it would be built from reinforced blocks. Putting the blocks on their sides would give horizontal strength as opposed to vertical wouldn't it? I suppose that would be an issue based on height. I'm no builder, hence my enquires.

This picture is looking out over the adjoining rice fields. This will be covered in water with enough rain and the canoes come out.





If anyone can provide some suggestion, lunch is on me

I'll give you one advice based on my own mistake:

Avoid sloping land, better to let all of your land soak up the water during heavy rain than collecting it at the end of the land.
There it will create a lake, softening the soil which will slip out under your retaining wall.
Weep holes will help to get rid of the water but you'll find that stones get stuck in them and after a while there are no longer any functioning weep holes.

You will need a very strong retaining wall to cope with the pressure of all the mud you're gonna get there if you have the land sloping.

Thanks lom,

I hear what you are saying, I couldn't level it completely as it will be too high to the surrounding land and wouldn't look right. With weep holes, as I understand it you need to put mesh over the holes and use pebbles, ag pipe and sand to ensure best drainage. The problem in this case is what it lets out, it will let in. I'm thinking the bamboo would soak up a bit of the moisture. I was thinking I could dig a drainage ditch across the land to exit to the side of the wall. I could probably then use it also as an over flow trench for waste water - something I would consider to fix a problem.

Another solution and I'm completely thinking outside the square here is to have drainage holes that I could open and close when needed - like screwing a cover on them. The obvious problem with that is they would be closed during the "wet season" and hence would they serve a purpose other then operating when the water recedes. The other option is to keep the wall under metre and I should be fine.