Claims
- 1. A wall construction having a wire mesh facing, said construction comprising, in combination:
- a granular, compactable fill defining a three dimensional earthen work bulk form having a generally planar front face extending upwardly from a datum plane,
- said earthen work bulk form including a plurality of earth stabilizing members dispersed throughout the bulk form, said stabilizing members extending generally horizontally from the front face into the bulk form, at least some of said stabilizing members comprising first and second tensile members extending from the front face into the bulk form;
- a plurality of generally vertical, planar wire mesh panels on the front face, said panels defining vertical courses of connected panels, having generally horizontal side edges and vertical side edges, the vertical side edges being generally aligned and the horizontal side edges of adjacent panels being offset;
- means for connecting the tensile members to the panels, said means also projecting from the panels and from the front face; and
- cast in place facing material over the means for connecting the tensile members to the panels.
- 2. The wall construction of claim 1 wherein the first and second tensile members include loops at the end of said members adjacent the front face, and further including a wire connector fitted through the loops on the outside of the front face.
- 3. The wall construction of claim 1 including wire mesh base panels along the bottom front edge of the earthen work bulk form, said base panels having a vertical run at least in part on the front face, and a horizontal run at least in part on the bottom surface of the bulk form.
- 4. The wall construction of claim 1 wherein the first and second tensile members further comprise, respectively, first and second rod members extending into the bulk form, and cross members connecting the rod members.
- 5. The wall construction of claim 1 wherein the stabilizing members comprise tension members of substantially uniform length in the earthen work bulk form.
- 6. The wall construction of claim 1 wherein the stabilizing members comprise tension members of different length in the earthen work bulk.
- 7. The wall construction of claim 1 wherein the panels have a generally equal vertical height and wherein horizontally adjacent panels are offset approximately one half of their height.
- 8. The wall construction of claim 1 wherein the wire mesh panels include a horizontal top edge which is hooked to cooperatively engage the horizontal bottom edge of the vertically adjacent panel.
- 9. The wall construction of claim 1 wherein at least some stabilizing members extend horizontally for the depth of the bulk form.
- 10. The wall construction of claim 1 wherein at least some of the stabilizing members extend horizontally only partially into the bulk form.
- 11. The wall construction of claim 1 wherein a single stabilizing member simultaneously connects with two horizontally adjacent panels.
- 12. The wall construction of claim 1 wherein the panels include a hooked rod member along the top edge of the panel for fitting over a generally horizontal cross bar at the bottom of the next adjacent panel whereby the panels are slightly vertically slidable with respect to one another to minimize outward bulging of the panels resulting from competition of the particulate fill.
- 13. The wall construction of claim 12 including stabilizing members connected to a panel at horizontal cross bars along the bottom of the panel, said stabilizing members also cooperative with a hooked rod member to retain the panels vertically in position.
- 14. The wall construction of claim I wherein the means for connecting the tensile members to the panels comprise a handle bar construction coacting with tensile members and including at least one leg projecting outwardly from the wire mesh panels into the cast in place facing material.
- 15. The wall construction of claim 14 wherein the one leg projects generally horizontally from the wire mesh panels and further including generally transverse reinforcing members in the cast in place material supported at least in part by the horizontal leg.
- 16. The wall construction of claim 1 wherein tensile members include looped ends extending through the facing panels and the means for connecting comprise a bar fitted through looped ends.
- 17. A method for construction of an earthen work bulk form wall construction having a wire mesh facing, comprising the steps of:
- (a) forming a datum plane for the earth work bulk form;
- (b) laying a course of wire mesh base members having a generally vertical panel and a connected horizontal panel, said vertical panel generally defining a front face of the earthen work bulk form;
- (c) attaching horizontally alternating height facing panels of wire mesh continuously along the vertical panel of the base members generally along the front face to define a first course of facing panels;
- (d) back filling granular material behind the front face to a first level;
- (e) attaching a plurality of earth stabilizing members by means of connector members to the facing panels for extending into the earthen work and over the first layer of granular material, at least some of the said connector members projecting outwardly from the facing panels;
- (f) attaching vertical wire mesh facing panel members to the alternating lower height facing panel members of the first course;
- (g) back filling granular material behind the front face;
- (h) attaching a plurality of earth stabilizing members to the facing over the back fill; and
- (i) casting in place an aggregate material wall against the facing panels.
- 18. The method of claim 17 including the step of alternately back filling and attaching stabilizing members to the facing of each facing panel.
- 19. The method of claim 17 including the step of alternately attaching vertical wire mesh facing panel members to the lower height facing panels to thereby define a mosaic of facing panel members of alternating vertical height.
- 20. The method of claim 17 including the step of supporting reinforcing members by means of the connector members before casting in place the aggregate material wall, whereby the reinforcing members are positioned within the cast in place wall.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/156,053 filed Nov. 22, 1993, now abandoned, which is a continuation in part of Ser. No. 08/114,098, filed Aug. 30, 1993, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (20)
Foreign Referenced Citations (7)
Number |
Date |
Country |
0379466 |
Jan 1990 |
EPX |
0472993 |
Mar 1992 |
EPX |
574233 |
Dec 1993 |
EPX |
206822 |
Dec 1959 |
DEX |
2-09522 |
Aug 1990 |
JPX |
657651 |
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CHX |
8802050 |
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WOX |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (2)
Entry |
Hilfiker Literature, date unknown but prior to 1993. |
"VSL Retained Earth Metal Facing Wall System Installation Manual" brochure, On information and belief, this document was submitted to the Florida Department of Transportation in 1991 or early 1992. |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
156053 |
Nov 1993 |
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Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
114098 |
Aug 1993 |
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