EP0305258B1 - Prefabricated elements for building walls and wallings, especially retaining walls - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to prefabricated elements for building walls and wallings. According to the invention, the wall element consists essentially of the assembly of an element forming a base (3), on which a wall element (2) is placed and locked by means of its foot (6) introduced into a congruent cavity (4) of the base. The invention is used particularly for making noise-preventing walls, storage walls and retaining walls. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to prefabricated elements for the construction of walls and walls.

For many uses, in particular in civil engineering and in industrial applications, walls are used which are erected in the open air and fulfill various uses such as: retaining walls, storage walls, noise barriers along roadways or rail, etc.

For such constructions which often reach very long lengths, prefabrication techniques are particularly suitable. But in practice, we run into difficulties of implementation and implementation.

Indeed, taking into account the functions which they must fulfill, the walls must have excellent stability and be capable of withstanding forces, in particular thrust. This requires either that a wall element can be properly anchored in the ground, which requires long and delicate excavation work, or that the wall element comprises a base or support sole of sufficiently large size to give it the required stability. But in this case, such large elements in the general shape of a "tee" (T) are both difficult to make in prefabrication, requiring complex molds, and difficult to handle, transport and set up on site.

The object of the invention is to solve these difficulties. According to DOS document 2,456,915, it has already been proposed to constitute the wall element from two complementary elements, respectively a concrete base which can be placed on the ground and comprising on its upper face a cavity open upwards and a wall element comprising a foot which can engage and be posed by a movement of lowering then of tilting with ball joint over the base in final inclined locking position. But this solution does not provide, without other complementary means, a precise and constant laying plan from one element to the next and obliges to have the wall in an inclined position relative to the vertical.

• le premier formant embase ayant un polygone de sustentation adapté et présentant au moins une cavité ouverte vers le haut, présentant au moins une face d'appui supérieure (S), jouxtant ladite cavité pour recevoir une partie coopérante du second élément,
• le second élément formant paroi généralement érigé au-dessus de l'embase, comportant au moins un pied susceptible de s'engager avec jeu dans ladite cavité et au moins une face d'appui inférieure formée au niveau dudit pied et venant en position d'assemblage des deux éléments reposer sur ladite face d'appui supérieure (S) dudit premier élément,

The wall-forming construction element according to the invention is of the general type described in the aforementioned document DOS 2 456 915 comprising a base and a cooperating wall element, but it also ensures perfect orientation of the wall walls which can be oriented precisely, at will, and for example vertically. Specifically, the building element forming a wall according to the invention essentially comprises two complementary elements:

• the first base forming a suitable support polygon and having at least one cavity open upwards, having at least one upper bearing face (S), adjoining said cavity to receive a cooperating part of the second element,
• the second wall element generally erected above the base, comprising at least one foot capable of engaging with play in said cavity and at least one lower bearing face formed at said foot and coming in position assembly of the two elements rest on said upper bearing face (S) of said first element,

• ladite cavité a une section évasée générale sensiblement en tronc de pyramide à section rectangulaire, avec une face d'appui supérieure (S) et une face latérale d'appui complémentaire (A),
• ledit pied de l'élément de paroi a une section congruente avec celle de la cavité en présentant un angle d'évasement plus fermé que celui de la cavité et une face d'appui inférieure (R) ainsi qu'une face latérale (B) formée en décrochement en gradin, au niveau du pied, les faces d'appui inférieure (R) et latérale (B) du pied venant s'appuyer précisément sur les faces d'appui en regard supérieure (S) et latérale (A) de la cavité dans la position d'assemblage des deux éléments complémentaires, position dans laquelle est réservé entre les faces opposées auxdites faces (A, B) en coopération, le jeu précité pour l'insertion d'une cale de blocage.

said building element being characterized in that:

• said cavity has a general flared section substantially in the form of a pyramid trunk with rectangular section, with an upper bearing face (S) and a complementary supporting side face (A),
• said foot of the wall element has a cross-section congruent with that of the cavity by presenting a more closed flaring angle than that of the cavity and a lower bearing face (R) as well as a lateral face (B) formed in step step, at the level of the foot, the lower (R) and lateral (B) support faces of the foot coming to rest precisely on the opposite (upper (S) and lateral (A) support faces of the cavity in the assembly position of the two complementary elements, position in which is reserved between the faces opposite to said faces (A, B) in cooperation, the aforementioned clearance for the insertion of a blocking block.

It is understood that in this way, the two complementary elements forming a wall element are both easy to manufacture, transport and handle, because they are both essentially in the form of a relatively flat long profile. And the installation on the site is particularly simple, since it suffices to position the base flat, and then introduce, in a vertical position, over the base, making the foot of the element penetrate. wall in the cavity of the base element, the wall element over the base. The blocking of the assembly is done simply by locking the foot in the cavity by any suitable means such as wedge, filling with a junction material, etc.

• la figure 1 montre de façon schématique en vue élévation de côté un élément de mur en cours de pose,
• la figure 2 montre, comme-la figure 1, avec arrachement l'élément de mur après verrouillage de son élément de paroi et d'embase; '
• la figure 3 montre de façon schématique en perspective l'élément de mur en question;
• la figure 4 montre de façon schématique vu par dessus commemt est réalisé le ferraillage de l'embase;
• la figure 5 est une vue de côté de la figure 4 faite selon la flèche V de cette figure;
• la figure 6 montre à plus grande échelle la coopération de l'élément de paroi et de l'embase au niveau de leur jonction;
• la figure 7 montre de façon schématique un emploi des éléments de l'invention pour constituer un mur anti-bruit.

The invention and its implementation will appear more clearly with the aid of the description which follows, given with reference to the appended drawings in which:

• FIG. 1 schematically shows a side elevation view of a wall element being installed,
• Figure 2 shows, as in Figure 1, with cutaway the wall element after locking its wall element and base; ''
• Figure 3 shows schematically in perspective the wall element in question;
• Figure 4 shows schematically seen from above as is carried out the reinforcement of the base;
• Figure 5 is a side view of Figure 4 taken along arrow V of this figure;
• Figure 6 shows on a larger scale the cooperation of the wall element and the base at their junction;
• Figure 7 shows schematically a use of the elements of the invention to constitute a noise barrier.

As illustrated in the drawings, and as can be seen more clearly in FIGS. 1 to 3, a wall element 1, in accordance with the invention essentially comprises two complementary elements, namely a wall element 2 and a base element 3 serving it support sole.

These two elements 2, 3 each have a general shape of a relatively flat profile and are advantageously made of molded reinforced concrete, other materials which can however be used as a replacement as the case may be, the wall elements 2 can be produced for example by metallic alloy or in reinforced or unarmoured plastic profile as well as possibly the base 3.

As can be seen more clearly in FIG. 6, the base element 3 has, in an intermediate part, for example around a third or a quarter of its length, a cavity 4 with a section flared upwards and which, in the 'Illustrated example, as it appears in particular clearly in Figures 4 and 5, has a general section substantially in the trunk of a pyramid with rectangular section. In other words, in the position of use of the base, with its sole 3a placed on the ground 5, the pyramid trunk is directed upside down.

The wall element 2 comprises, for its part, at its lower end, at least one foot 6 capable of being engaged with a certain clearance in the cavity 4, the foot having a section congruent with that of the cavity by presenting a taper angle more closed than that of the cavity. Also the foot at a height lower than the depth of the cavity which receives it (see figure 6). In the assembly position illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 6, and as can be seen more precisely in FIG. 6, the wall element 2 rests by a lower support face R formed in a step or step at the level of the foot 6 on an upper support face S, formed on the base 3 and adjoining the cavity 4. In this assembly position, the perfect positioning of the element 2 on the element 3 is ensured, in addition to the cooperation of the surfaces R and S by that of the face A of the cavity on which the face B comes to bear opposite the foot 6 of the element 2. These faces can be formed with great precision during molding and therefore ensure perfect positioning relative geometry of the element 2 with respect to the element 3. The assembly of the parts, after erection of the wall element 2 and introduction of its foot 6 into the cavity 4, is ensured by the installation of a wedge 7 made of any suitable material which can be pressed into place to or to ground for example. Depending on the case, hardwood, metal or plastic shims will be used. The assembly is perfect by filling any gaps between the cavity 4 and the base 6 by introducing a mortar of cement, sand or other suitable powder material.

The installation is particularly simple since it suffices, on site, to correctly position the desired base 3, for example by checking its horizontality if the wall 2 must be erected vertically. Then, by means of any handling device, such as for example a crane, the element 2 can be presented and put in place so that its foot 6 comes into place in the cavity 4. The handling is facilitated by the provision in the upper part of the element 2 of one or more orifices such as 8 , which can be used, in addition, to receive transverse bars for the lateral locking of the successive wall elements of a wall, as constructed for example as illustrated in FIG. 7. When the element 2 is in place on the element 3, it suffices to block by inserting the shim 7.

As it appears in FIG. 3, the wall element 2 is advantageously profiled with stiffening ribs 9, making it possible to stiffen and lighten the construction.

In order to ensure excellent locking and anchoring of the foot 6 in the cavity 4, the latter is advantageously produced as illustrated in more detail in FIGS. 4 and 5, in reinforced concrete with U-shaped reinforcements marked 10, 11, 12, mounted oblique, as it appears clearly in figure 5, and crossing with their openings which face each other by surrounding the cavity 4. In this way, the cavity works correctly in compression thanks to the play of U-shaped reinforcements and the transfer of forces over the entire surface of the base. This is for the rest made of reinforced concrete with simple reinforcements, suitably arranged as illustrated in particular in 13 and 14.

For the use of the wall element, the base is suitably oriented so that its long part 3b is opposite to that which receives the thrust and the support polygon is adapted to the overturning torque which can be applied to the wall element. For example, in the case illustrated in FIG. 7, of an anti-noise wall placed on the edge of a road 13 and assuming that the wall receives and supports an earth slope 14, grassed, the long branch 3b of the the armature 3 is directed outward relative to the slope 14.

For example, the wall elements can have a width of 0.50 m, a height of 2.50 m at 3 m and the base can have an overall length of 1.50 m with the cavity 4 arranged at one third of the length. The elements are relatively thin, their thickness not exceeding on average 30 cm.

The advantages of the elements of the invention are multiple.

First of all, the wall and base elements can be very easily made of reinforced concrete by means of simple molds. The elements being flat, the setting of the concrete is fast.

Transport and handling of flat profile elements is also simple. The wall element composed of the wall element fixed on the base element is solid.

The applications can be multiple and we can cite in particular anti-noise walls, storage walls, embankment support walls, river retaining walls, civil engineering construction. They can also form the element of a lost formwork for example for foundations of important buildings.

It will be noted in FIG. 7 that the general direction of the wall, formed by the adjoining wall elements, is parallel to the base edge 16, visible in the junction figure, between the bases 3 and the walls 2, or in other words parallel to the bases of the U of the armatures 10, 11, 12, for locking the cavity 4.

Finally, it will be noted that the profile of the base allows in practice the use of the wall whatever the direction of the thrust exerted on it by the grounds or the stored materials which it will support.

Claims (4)

1. A building element forming a wall and of the type which essentially comprises two complementary elements:

- the first which forms a footing (3) which comprises an appropriate supporting polygon and having at least one open-topped cavity (4) and having at least one upper supporting surface (S) contiguous with the said cavity, for accommodating a cooperating part of the second element (2),

- the second element (2) forming a wall which is generally erected above the footing, comprising at least one foot (6) adapted to engage with clearance into the said cavity (4) and at least one bottom support surface (5) formed at the level of the said foot and, when the two elements are in the assembled position, coming to rest on the said upper support surface (S) of the said first element,

the said building element being characterised in that:

- the said cavity (4) has a generally flared cross-section substantially in the form of a truncated pyramid of rectangular cross-section, with an upper support surface (S) and a complementary lateral support surface (A),

- the said foot (6) of the wall element having a cross-section which is congruent with that of the cavity (4), exhibiting a more closed angle of flare than that of the cavity and a bottom support surface (R) as well as a lateral surface (B) which is set back from it like a step, at the level of the foot (6), the bottom support face (R) and lateral support face (B) of the foot (6) bearing precisely on the oppositely disposed upper surface (S) and lateral surface (A) of the cavity (4) when the two complementary elements (2, 3) are in the assembled position in which there remains between the faces opposite the said faces (A, B) which cooperate with them the aforesaid clearance to allow insertion of a locking wedge (7).

2. A building element according to one of the preceding Claims (sic!) characterised in that the foot (6) is of a height which is less than the depth of the cavity (4) which receives it.

3. A building element according to one of the preceding Claims, characterised in that the footing element (3) is made from reinforced concrete and the said cavity (4) comprises at the level of its wall substantially U-shaped reinforcements (10, 11, 12) which intersect obliquely and of which the open ends face one another as they surround the said cavity.

4. A building element according to claim 5, characterised in that the bases of the U-shapes of the reinforcements (10, 11, 12) are directed parallel with the horizontal direction of orientation of the wall elements mounted on their footing.

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