GB2552766A

GB2552766A - Modular construction system and method

Info

Publication number: GB2552766A
Application number: GB1609625.7A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Quinn Jonathan
Original assignee: Virtus Concrete Solutions Ltd
Current assignee: Virtus Concrete Solutions Ltd
Priority date: 2016-06-02
Filing date: 2016-06-02
Publication date: 2018-02-14
Also published as: WO2017208010A1; GB201609625D0

Abstract

A system for the construction of a retaining wall including a base 54 having one or more upstanding guides 52, and two or more modular building blocks 10, each having one or more throughgoing apertures for receiving the guides. The apertures may be offset towards the inner face of the block. Each block may include frusto-conical or frusto-pyrimidal projecting members on an upper surface and corresponding recesses on a lower surface to allow the blocks to tessellate. There may be eight interlocking members, which may be arranged in rows. The system may be used to form a mortar free gravity wall. The interlocking members and upstanding guide rods may prevent course slippage and reinforce the wall.

Description

(54) Title of the Invention: Modular construction system and method

Abstract Title: Retaining wall with interlocking members and reinforcing rods (57) A system for the construction of a retaining wall including a base 54 having one or more upstanding guides 52, and two or more modular building blocks 10, each having one or more throughgoing apertures for receiving the guides. The apertures may be offset towards the inner face of the block. Each block may include frusto-conical or frustopyrimidal projecting members on an upper surface and corresponding recesses on a lower surface to allow the blocks to tessellate. There may be eight interlocking members, which may be arranged in rows. The system may be used to form a mortar free gravity wall. The interlocking members and upstanding guide rods may prevent course slippage and reinforce the wall.

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MODULAR CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM AND METHOD

The present invention relates to modular systems and methods of construction. In particular, the present invention relates to modular systems and methods of construction concerning retaining walls.

Retaining walls are designed to resist the lateral pressure of material when it is desirable to change ground elevation that exceeds the angle of repose of the material. They are used widely to restrain material to unnatural slopes to bound material between two different elevations in areas where, for example, there are undesirable slopes or where the landscape requires shaping for roadway overpasses.

Gravity retaining walls are relatively basic in design and rely on the mass of the wall to retain the material behind.

There are, however, a number of problems associated with known retaining walls, such as overturning, exceeding bearing capacity, sliding and shear. Overturning can occur when the material being retained creates a force (moment) that causes toppling of the wall; exceeding bearing capacity where the weight of the wall and the material is supported by a base and subsidence may occur;

sliding might occur when the horizontal force exerted on the wall by the material being retained exceeds its limit; and, shear which can occur at the base of a wall or along a course of blocks.

A number of solutions have been proposed to address each of the problems identified above which include gravity retaining walls, inclined retaining walls and reinforced earth retaining walls.

Gravity retaining walls rely on the mass of the blocks used to build the wall to retain the material behind it. The height that a gravity wall can extend is therefore very limited and is typically calculated as being two times the base width. It is possible to economically build walls up to 4m high using this method but any higher and the wall is likely to fail.

The foundation does not need to be reinforced, however providing a kicker at the front edge will restrain the wall from slippage. In poor soils the foundation can be constructed deeper and wider to add more resistance. Inclusion of drainage material to the back of the wall together with drainage holes at the bottom of the wall is recommended to relieve hydrostatic pressure.

It has been known to use interconnecting blocks to help prevent course slippage but the maximum height of such structures is limited and a large number of blocks is required as each successive course form the top down needs to be wider than the last.

An inclined block retaining wall is the one of the most economical solutions known in the art as it uses the inclined blocks and gravity to add resistance to the forces trying to push the wall over. The design concept is similar to gabion wall construction but results in a plain concrete face to the wall and is ideal for situations where gabion baskets are likely to corrode within a short time period.

For example, it can be noted that a 4m inclined block wall is significantly less than for a similar gravity block retaining wall.

To construct the wall a tapered foundation at the inclined angle is cast. The foundation requires a single layer of reinforcement as indicated in the design table.

Single courses of blocks are laid and the retained material is then placed to support the block and compacted.

A lip or kicker stops the lowest course of blocks from slipping during compaction.

Reinforced earth retaining walls rely on the use of webbing which is fixed to each course of blocks used for creating a wall and which are embedded in the material to be retained. This helps prevent slippage of each course and acts as an anchor.

The present invention advantageously addresses and/or alleviates one or more of the problems associated with the known systems.

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for the construction of a structure comprising a base having one or more upstanding guides and two or more building blocks having one or more throughgoing apertures for receiving said guides.

The guides may comprise steel rods fixed to the base. The rods may extend substantially perpendicularly to the plane of the base.

The system may comprise a plurality of guides.

The base may be planar.

The modular blocks may comprise two throughgoing apertures each for receiving a guide.

The modular blocks may be generally cuboidal in shape.

The modular blocks may comprise mating means to facilitate mating between blocks. The mating means may comprise a mating pair. The mating pair may comprise a male member and a female member. The male member may be disposed on one surface of the block and the female member may be disposed on another surface of the block. Advantageously the male member is disposed on the upper surface of a block and the female member disposed on a lower surface of a block. The female member is advantageously complementarily shaped to the male member. The male member may comprise a stud. The stud may have a frusto-conical or fruto-pyrimidal shape.

The block may comprise a plurality of male members and a plurality of female members. Thus blocks may be stacked on top of one another and mate.

The male and/or female members may be arrange into one or more rows. Advantageoulsy they are arranged into two rows. More advantageously, there are eight male members and 8 female members each arranged into two rows of 4.

The throughgoing apertures may be complementarily shaped to the guides.

The guides are advantageously cylindrical steel rods.

The one or more apertures are advantageously disposed off-set from the longitudinal axis and to one side of the block. The one or more apertures may be adjacent to what is intended to be the inner face of the block.

In an embodiment with 8 male and female members, each arranged into two rows of four, the apertures are co-linearly disposed with respect to the inner most row of male and/or female members.

The block may be manufactured from any suitable material. The block may be cast from concrete.

Alternatively, the block may be manufactured from plastic material.

In an embodiment, the block may comprise an upper surface, a lower surface, an end wall and two side walls defining a cavity therein. Advantageously, the block may have a closable opening to gain access to the cavity. The cavity may be fillable with any suitable material such as soil, water, rocks or the like.

The base may comprise a retaining lip to engage with the lowest course of blocks disposed thereon.

The construction may be a retaining wall and comprise a plurality of blocks.

The base and wall formed by a plurality of blocks may act as a cantilever to retain material on one side of the wall.

The following table 1 shows various embodiments of the present invention:

Table 1 sets out features of different constructions in the form of retaining walls as illustrated in the 'Sketch' row.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of construction comprising the system as described hereinabove.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a retaining wall comprising the system as described hereinabove.

The present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the following figures:

Figs, la and b show perspective views of a block in accordance with the present invention from above and below, respectively;

Fig. 2 shows a retaining wall in accordance with the present invention; and

Fig. 3 shows an alternative retaining wall in accordance with the present invention.

As shown in Fig. 1, block 10 has a cuboidal body having an upper surface 12, a lower surface 14, two side walls, one intended to be the outer side wall of a construction and the other an inner side wall,

16,18 and end walls 20,22. Extending upwardly from the upper surface are frusto-pyrimidal studs 24 arranged into two rows of four. It will be appreciated that for longer blocks that the upper surface may have more studs and for shorter blocks the number of studs may be reduced. Disposed on the lower surface 14 of the block 10 are a plurality of recesses 26 whose number and position correspond to the number and position of the studs 24 on the upper surface 12 of the block 10. The recesses 26 are complementarily shaped with respect to the studs 24.

Extending from the upper surface through to the lower surface are two spaced apart throughgoing bores 28, 28'. The bores 28, 28' are co-linearly disposed with respect to one row of studs 24 and positioned proximal to the inner side wall 18. The through going bores are shaped to receive guides (not shown in Fig. 1).

Fig. 2 shows a retaining wall 50 having a plurality of blocks 10 mounted on a plurality of guides 52 which consist of elongate steel rods which extend through the bores 28, 28'. The guides are mounted on a planar base 54 having an upstanding lip 56 at one end extending from the upper surface of the base which engages with the lower course of blocks 10 to prevent slippage. The base together with the wall acts as a cantilever to retain the material 60 behind the wall.

The reinforced wall has improved retaining design characteristics which allows for higher surcharge loads to be resisted.

Fig. 2 shows the retaining wall for use in a car park, for example.

Fig. 3 shows a retaining wall 60 with drainage material 62 to the back of the wall together with drainage holes (not shown) at the bottom of the wall 60 can be incorporated to relieve hydrostatic pressure.

Claims

I. A system for the construction of a structure comprising a base having one or more upstanding guides and two or more modular building blocks each having one or more throughgoing apertures for receiving said guides.

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2. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the guides comprise elongate rods mounted on the base.
3. A system as claimed in claim 2 wherein the rods extend substantially perpendicularly to the plane of the base.
4. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims comprising a plurality of guides.
5. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the base is planar.

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6. A system as claimed in any one the preceding claims wherein each modular block comprises two throughgoing apertures for receiving a guide.
7. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the modular blocks are cuboidal in shape.
8. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the modular blocks comprise

15 mating means to facilitate mating between blocks.
9. A system as claimed in claim 8 wherein the mating means comprises one or more mating pair.
10. A system as claimed in claim 9 wherein the mating pair comprise a male member and a female member.
II. A system as claimed in claim 10 wherein the male member is disposed on one surface of the

20 block and the female member is disposed on another surface of the same block.
12. A system as claimed in claim 11 wherein the male member is disposed on the upper surface of a block and the female member disposed on a lower surface of a block.
13. A system as claimed in claim 12 wherein the female member is complementarily shaped to the male member.
14. A system as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 13 wherein the male member comprises a stud.
15. A system as claimed in claim 14 wherein the stud has a frusto-conical or fruto-pyrimidal shape.

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16. A system as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 15 wherein a block may comprise a plurality of male members and a plurality of female members.
17. A system as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 16 wherein the male member of one block mates with the female member of another block.
18. A system as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 17 wherein the male and/or female members are

10 arranged into one or more rows.
19. A system as claimed in claim 18 wherein the male and/or female members are arranged into two rows.
20. A system as claimed in claim 19 wherein the block comprises eight male members and eight female members each arranged into two rows of 4.

15 20. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the throughgoing apertures are complementarily shaped to the guides.
21. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the guides comprise elongate cylindrical rods.
22. A system as claimed in anyone of the preceding claims wherein the one or more apertures are

20 disposed off-set from the longitudinal axis and to one side of the block.
23. A system as claimed in claim 22 wherein the block comprises an upper surface, a lower surface, two end walls an outer side wall intended to form at least a portion of the outer surface of a construction and an inner side wall, wherein the one or more apertures are disposed proximally to the inner side wall.
24. A system as claimed in claim 23 wherein the apertures are co-linearly disposed with respect to the inner most row of male and/or female members.

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25. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the block may comprise an upper surface, a lower surface, an end wall and two side walls defining a cavity therein.
26. A system as claimed in claim 25 wherein the block has a closable opening to gain access to the cavity.
27. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the base comprises a retaining

10 lip to engage with the lowest course of blocks disposed thereon.
28. A retaining wall comprising the system of any one of the preceding claims.
29. A method of construction comprising the use of a system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.
30. A block for use in a system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 27, said block comprising an

15 upper surface, a lower surface, two end walls an outer side wall intended to form at least a portion of the outer surface of a construction and an inner side wall, wherein the one or more apertures are disposed proximally to the inner side wall, and wherein there are disposed on the upper and lower surfaces mating means.

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