GB2151287A

GB2151287A - Embankment stone and method of building a sloping structure therewith

Info

Publication number: GB2151287A
Application number: GB08431021A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Willi Ruckstuhl
Original assignee: KRONIMUS BETONSTEINWERK
Current assignee: KRONIMUS BETONSTEINWERK
Priority date: 1983-12-13
Filing date: 1984-12-07
Publication date: 1985-07-17
Also published as: FR2556382B1; FR2556382A1; IT8423933A0; IL72513A; IT1178727B; CH669001A5; IL72513A0; GB8431021D0; DE3344974A1; GB2151287B

Abstract

An embankment stone, which can be strung together and stacked in a staggered relationship, comprises two directly adjacent cavities (1, 2) of at least partly circular cross-section serving as plant compartments are provided, wherein a bridge (5) forms a complete wall and displays a cross-section in the form of a segment of a circle and the cavity (2) is widened by walls (6,7) which extend at an angle towards the rear to form a wide rear wall (8) for insertion of a geo-textile netting, and in that on the outer side of this cavity (2) an extension (9) is provided, which corresponds to said segmental connecting bridge (5) and has a outwardly concave curvature (10). The netting is looped around each wall 8 and is embedded in the back fill material. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Embankment stone and method of building a sloping structure therewith The invention relates to an embankment stone and a method of building a sloping structure therewith.

A system of such embankment stones is already known which consists of a stone for plants and an intermediate stone, which can be strung together and stacked in a staggered relationship in order to build a sloping structure. In this system the stone for plants has two plant compartments which, after the staggering, are filled with soil and planted. The intermediate compartment between the two plant compartments serves as support for the plant compartment of the layer next above and receives the roots of its plants. In order to be able to string together the plant-stones, special intermediate stones must be provided, whose concave surfaces mesh in the curves of the plant-stones.

Thus in the known embankment stone system two differently shaped stones must be used for building. In addition, the building height of the dry wall is limited to about three metres maximum.

The present invention therefore has the object of devising an embankment stone of the above-stated type, with which as the sole element a sloping structure can be made and which, as a result of its economical and space-saving design, makes possible an embankment structure adapted to any terrain in a height limited only by the properties of the material.

To meet this object an embankment stone is proposed, which can be strung together and stacked in a staggered relationship, with forwardly-extending cavities separated by a partition, serving as plant compartments and of at least partly circular cross-section, wherein the front arcs of the plant compartments have sections which are rounded off at the front to retain the cylindrical front wall of the plant compartment of the embankment stone arranged above in a staggered position, characterised in that only two directly adjacent cavities serving as plant compartments are provided, whose middle points M1, M2 lie on a straight line G at a distance apart of 2R which is greater than the diameter 2 Ral of the outer circumference of one circular cavity, wherein the resulting connecting bridge forms a complete wall and displays a cross-section in the form of a segment of a circle of radius Ral, and the other cavity is widened by walls which extend at an angle towards the rear to form a wide rear wall for insertion of a geo-textile netting, and in that on the outer side of this cavity an extension is provided, which corresponds to the said segmental connecting bridge and has a concave curvature outwards, of which the radius of curvature is Ral and of which the mid-point lies on the straight line G at a distance 2R from the midpoint M2 of said cavity.

According to one particular embodiment of the invention, the distance E from the plane joining the outer walls of the cavities to the segmental webs is about one quarter of the overall width of the stone.

Thus the embankment stone according to the in vention consists of two compartments, whose proj ecting halves, staggered stepwise, can be planted.

In this way an economic and space-saving struc ture is obtained, which is in accord with current environmental protection requirements.

The size of the compartments with the laterally staggered arrangement affords the plants con tained therein the necessary room in the region of their roots. Moreover, the plants have enough space, air and light to enable them to spread out.

The depth of the compartments, which are linked by back-fill soil, provides the necessary humidity and rooting, so that drying out of the topsoil is substantially prevented. In addition, the embank ment stone according to the invention has the im portant advantage that only a single component is used to construct the embankment. At the same time, the one compartment is shaped especiaily wide in the rear zone adjacent the soil, so as to be able to receive so-called "geo-textiles" in the form of a netting, which is anchored in the rear zone of soil during construction.

The embankment stone according to the invention is not comparable with the prefabricated building stone disclosed in German Published Ap plication (DOS) 28 09 892, wherein teeth provided in the rear wall serve to retain and stabilise the stacked building stones.

Preferred embodiments of the embankment stone according to the invention are set forth in the sub-claims.

The invention also includes the construction of an embankment structure using the embankment stones of the invention. This method consists in looping a netting around each of the strengthened and widened rear walls of those cavities serving as plant compartments, so that the netting protrudes above and below each cavity. The sections of netting are installed in layers as the wall is built and are embedded in the back-fill material. The body of earth installed over the tightiy-stretched strips of netting is continuously compressed in layers also.

As a result, a top-up zone is formed in the region of the netting, wiith netting passing through it. The built-in netting or the back-fill material take on, together with the embankment stone according to the invention, the function of the supporting wall and form a unit which withstands the soil pressure which arises. It is thereby possible to achieve greater heights of supports. Theoretically the possible structure heights (depending on the strength of the material) are almost unlimited, as long as the lengths of netting suffice. The limits arise from the dry construction method (i.e. without mortar), in which there is no absolutely complete supporting of the individual building components.

By means of the accompanying drawings, a preferred embodiment of the embankment stone according to the invention and also the method of constructing an embankment according to the invention using said embankment stone are further explained by way of example.

In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the embankment stone according to the invention; Fig. 2 is an elevation from the front of the embankment stone of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the embankment stone of Figs. 1 and 2; Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are schematic front and plan views and a vertical sectional view respectively showing the construction of a sloping structure using the embankment stone of Figs. 1 to 3; Figs. 7 and 8 show in elevation and plan respectively the construction of said sloping structure; Fig. 9 shows the arrangement of a row of embankment stones according to the invention with netting incorporated; Fig. 10 is a section on the line b-b of Fig. 11; and Fig. Ii is a section on the line a-a of Figs. 9 & BR< 10.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the embankment stone according to the invention, made for example of concrete, has two cavities 1, 2 serving as plant compartments, which pass axially parallel right through the stone. The cavity 1 has a circular profile and the cavity 2 has a profile which extends outwardly from an arc towards the rear. The front arcs of both cavities have rounded sections 3, 4 which serve to hold the cylindrical front wall of the plant compartment of the embankment stone arranged in stagger above it.

The mid-points M1, M2 of the two cavities 1, 2 lie on a straight line G at a spacing of 2R, which is somewhat greater than the diameter 2Ra1 or 2Ra2 of the outer circumference of a cavity 1 or 2 respectively (Fig. 3). The connecting bridge 5 is formed as a complete wall and has a cross-section in the form of a segment of a circle of the same radius Ral.

The other cavity 2 is widened by walls 6, 7 running at an angle towards the rear to form a wide rear wall 8 for insertion of a geo-technical netting.

On the outer side of said cavity 2 an extension 9 is provided, corresponding to the segmented connecting bridge 5, which extension 9 has an outwardly facing concave curvature 10. The radius of this curvature also equals Ra1 and is therefore equal to the radius of the outer circumference of cavity 1. The mid-point M3 of the concave curvature lies on the straight line G at a distance 2R from the mid-point of the cavity 2.

On the right-hand side, the stone also has an inclined face 11 which leads to the outer rear face 12 of the embankment stone.

In order to afford a good stacking of the embankment stones on each other, three stacking pins 13 are also provided, in the rearward region of the stone. The frontal roundings off of the sections 3, 4 also have the same radius of curavture Ral, and the spacing is so chosen that the distance E from the plant connecting the outer walls of the cavities 1, 2 to the segmental bridges 5, 9 is equal to about a quarter of the overall width of the stone.

It should be borne in mind that, in the illustrated embodiment, the inner radius Ri 1 of the cavity 1 is about 5 per cent less than the inner radius Ri 2 of the front arc of the cavity 2. In this way a strengthening of the rear wall of the stone is facilitated.

In Figs. 4, 5 and 6 is shown the building of a sloping structure using several embankment stones according to the invention. The individual stones, starting from a bottom row 14, are so arranged upon each other that the individual arcs of the cavities lie in a staggered arrangement upon the segmental parts 5, 9 and are retained by the sections 3, 4. By means of the concave curvature 10 on each segmental part 9, the next stone can be added on in any position. Thus an interlocking connection is achieved without using intermediate stones, and this connection is indeed staggered in every individual position relative to the next, as is clearly shown in Fig. 6.

In Figs. 7 and 8 the same arrangement is shown, the individual components being shown shaded to better emphasise the spatial relationships.

The method of constructing an embankment with the embankment stones according to the invention is shown in Figs. 9 to 11. This method consists in looping a netting 16 around each of the strengthened and widened rear walls 8 of the cavities 2, so as to protrude below and above the cavity. The netting sections are then incorporated in layers as the wall is built and embedded in the back-fill material. The nettings are incorporated in the layers S1, S2 (Figs. 10 and 11). The compartments of the intermediate layers remain empty. In this way, layers of netting are provided in every horizontal joint. Back-filling and compression follow in every layer up to the desired stone height.

The netting parts are therefore incorporated in layers in the building of the wall and embedded in the back-fill material.

It is advantageous to first of all lay the looped-in netting over the wall and to pull it back tightly and at the same time to secure it with some filling material only after compression. The body of earth built in over the tight-stretched strips of netting is continuously compressed, also in layers. In this way, a top-up zone penetrated by the netting is established in the area of the netting.

It should further be emphasised that the distance R is about 5 to 10 per cent greater than the radius Ral or Ra2. The total building length of the embankment stone can advantageously amount to 600 mm.

Claims

1. An embankment stone, which can be strung together and stacked in a staggered relationship, with forwardly-extending cavities separated by a partition, said cavities serving as plant compartments and being of at least partly circular crosssection, wherein the front arcs of the plant compartments have sections which are rounded off at the front to retain the cylindrical front wall of the plant compartment of the embankment stone arranged above in a staggered position, characterised in that only two directly adjacent cavities (1, 2) serving as plant compartments are provided, whose mid-points (M1, M2) lie on a straight line (G) at a distance apart (2R) which is greater than the diameter (2Ra1) of the outer circumference of one segmental cavity, wherein the resulting connecting bridge (5) forms a complete wall and displays a cross-section in the form of a segment of a circle of radius (Ra1) and the other cavity (2) is widened by walls (6, 7) which extend at an angle towards the rear to form a wide rear wall (8) for insertion of a geo-textile netting (16), and in that on the outer side of this cavity (2) on an extension (9) is provided, which corresponds to the said segmented connecting bridge (5) and has a concave curvature (1) outwards, of which the radius of curvature is (Ra1) and of which the mid-point lies on the straight line (G) at a distance (2R) from the mid-point (M2) of said cavity (2).

2. An embankment stone according to claim 1, characterised in that the distance (E) from the connecting plane of the two outer walls of the cavities (1, 2) to the segmental bridges (5, 9) is about a quarter of the overall width of the stone.

3. An embankment stone according to claims 1 and 2, characterised in that the inner radius (Ril) of one cavity (1) is about 5 per cent less than the radius (Ri2) of the inner arc of the other cavity (2).

4. An embankment stone according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterised in that the wide rear wall (8) is bevelled to receive the textile netting on its inner and outer edges.

5. An embankment stone according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, characterised in that a plurality of stacking pins (13) are provided in the rearward part of the recessed front surface of the stone.

6. Method of building an embankment structure with the embankment stone claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterised in that it comprises looping a geo-textile netting around each of the strengthened and widened rear walls of the cavities serving as plant compartments so that it projects again below and above the cavity, incorporating the netting sections in layered form, preferably in the layers (S1, S2), and embedding them in the back-fill material, during the building of the wall or the embankment, subsequently carrying out the back-filling and compressing in layered fashion up to the desired stone height, whereby in the area of the netting a top-up zone penetrated by netting is created, and the incorporated netting or the body of back-fill material, together with the embankment stones, takes on the function of the support wall and forms a unit which resists the earth pressure which arises.