Dry stack walls are popular choices for retaining walls. They are made up of interlocking blocks. To create a dry stack, you basically take big sheets of flagstone, maybe 6-10 inches deep and 4-inches high and you stack them on top of each other with a particular slope into the soil. Each level of the wall goes back a little. It is shifted into the soil side so it locks into the soil.

There are different heights and loading weight for dry stack walls. You can do a dry wall or an interlocking block wall into a point and then you put in a geo grid.

What is a Geo Grid?

Dry stack walls look great but have you ever wondered what’s keeping them together? The geo grid is the answer to that. A geo grid is a fabric that is placed in-between a couple of layers of a wall. For example, for a 6 feet wall, there could be at least 3 geo grids.

The geo grid acts as a the mesh for the wall so that when the soil pushes on the wall, it also pushes back against the soil; making the whole structure more stable and strong. This feature is similar to how a brick wall is kept in place.

You stack bricks on top of each other to create a brick wall. This façade alone is not stable. So brick ties are installed to keep the bricks straight and hold them in place. The geo grid functions similarly for dry stack walls. Without the geo grid, the whole stack will collapse so it is important to install them.

Geo grids are especially recommended when you do a wall that is 5 feet tall or taller. In fact, this is mandated by the manufacturer, especially for a retaining wall. The geo grid will allow you to build your wall as high as you can.

If you’ve seen wall constructions on highways; geo grids are used to lock in the temporary walls. This ensures that the walls are kept in place and won’t collapse unto the road, causing traffic obstruction.

78 Fence designs and installs premium gates that are built to be durable. For more information on designing and installing an automated gate for your property, contact us today.