Finishing up my house. Back yard is last thing I have to do. It's got a
hillside that slopes down maybe 20 degrees to the back my house. I need
to put retaining walls to keep this hillside from ending up in my
bedroom during next year's heavy rain.

This evening, while taking my walk, I followed a dry creekbed that had
been shored up in places with heavy guage galvanized corrugated sheet
metal. Looks very much like this stuff:

http://www.cajunmarineconstruction.c...ing_Walls.html

It actually looked pretty good to me, as I tend to go with
non-traditional landscape treatments wherever I can get away with it. I
liked the industrial feel, and it looked like the metal walls had been
in place for at least a couple of decades with little or no corrosion.

The stuff is perfect for my application, but I don't have any
experience with it. Especially whether it's something a handy guy could
install himself, or even where to buy it within a reasonable distance
of my house (California Central Coast).

Anybody ever work with this stuff?

-Frank

--
Here's some of my work:
http://www.franksknives.com

Frank: The stuff is called sheet pile. It has to go in pretty deep, the
depth determined by the soil conditions and the height. Do a search on sheet
pile and you will find more info than you need.
John
"Frank J Warner" wrote in message
news:261020051839572128%warnerf@veriSPAMMERSDIEzon .net...
Finishing up my house. Back yard is last thing I have to do. It's got a
hillside that slopes down maybe 20 degrees to the back my house. I need
to put retaining walls to keep this hillside from ending up in my
bedroom during next year's heavy rain.

This evening, while taking my walk, I followed a dry creekbed that had
been shored up in places with heavy guage galvanized corrugated sheet
metal. Looks very much like this stuff:detn place for at least a couple
of decades with little or no corrosion.

The stuff is perfect for my application, but I don't have any
experience with it. Especially whether it's something a handy guy could
install himself, or even where to buy it within a reasonable distance
of my house (California Central Coast).

Anybody ever work with this stuff?

-Frank

--
Here's some of my work:
http://www.franksknives.com

Frank J Warner wrote:
Finishing up my house. Back yard is last thing I have to do. It's got a
hillside that slopes down maybe 20 degrees to the back my house. I need
to put retaining walls to keep this hillside from ending up in my
bedroom during next year's heavy rain.

This evening, while taking my walk, I followed a dry creekbed that had
been shored up in places with heavy guage galvanized corrugated sheet
metal. Looks very much like this stuff:

http://www.cajunmarineconstruction.c...ing_Walls.html

It actually looked pretty good to me, as I tend to go with
non-traditional landscape treatments wherever I can get away with it. I
liked the industrial feel, and it looked like the metal walls had been
in place for at least a couple of decades with little or no corrosion.

The stuff is perfect for my application, but I don't have any
experience with it. Especially whether it's something a handy guy could
install himself, or even where to buy it within a reasonable distance
of my house (California Central Coast).

Anybody ever work with this stuff?

-Frank


Fairly unlikely this would be a homeowner project because the sheet
piling has to be driven deeply into solid ground.

Frank J Warner wrote:

Finishing up my house. Back yard is last thing I have to do. It's got a
hillside that slopes down maybe 20 degrees to the back my house. I need
to put retaining walls to keep this hillside from ending up in my
bedroom during next year's heavy rain.

This evening, while taking my walk, I followed a dry creekbed that had
been shored up in places with heavy guage galvanized corrugated sheet
metal. Looks very much like this stuff:

http://www.cajunmarineconstruction.c...ing_Walls.html

It actually looked pretty good to me, as I tend to go with
non-traditional landscape treatments wherever I can get away with it. I
liked the industrial feel, and it looked like the metal walls had been
in place for at least a couple of decades with little or no corrosion.

The stuff is perfect for my application, but I don't have any
experience with it. Especially whether it's something a handy guy could
install himself, or even where to buy it within a reasonable distance
of my house (California Central Coast).

Anybody ever work with this stuff?

-Frank


You need a pile driver to install this, especially in loose soil.

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/mow20.html

It is not suited to self installation and doesn't do well in
rocky soil. (A pile driver is one tool that I have been
meaning to get, but can't afford.)

--
Robert Allison
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX

On Wed, 26 Oct 2005 18:39:57 -0700, Frank J Warner
wrote:

Finishing up my house. Back yard is last thing I have to do. It's got a
hillside that slopes down maybe 20 degrees to the back my house. I need
to put retaining walls to keep this hillside from ending up in my
bedroom during next year's heavy rain.

This evening, while taking my walk, I followed a dry creekbed that had
been shored up in places with heavy guage galvanized corrugated sheet
metal. Looks very much like this stuff:

http://www.cajunmarineconstruction.c...ing_Walls.html

It actually looked pretty good to me, as I tend to go with
non-traditional landscape treatments wherever I can get away with it. I
liked the industrial feel, and it looked like the metal walls had been
in place for at least a couple of decades with little or no corrosion.

The stuff is perfect for my application, but I don't have any
experience with it. Especially whether it's something a handy guy could
install himself, or even where to buy it within a reasonable distance
of my house (California Central Coast).

Anybody ever work with this stuff?

I've seen it used many times, and it's NOT DIY unless people will
rent you very heavy equipment - do you have truck access to the area?
The stuff installs fast, they can get in and out in a day if all the
prep work is done, so it might not be that expensive.

They use a heavy lift crane with a special Vibratory Pile Driver to
install sheet piling - it's a paint shaker the size of a large engine
block with a big set of gripper clamps on the bottom for the sheet
piling, and a remote hydraulic power supply driven by a large engine.

They grab the piling with the gripper, the crane places it in
position so it interlocks with the last sheet, and they turn on the
shaker, which buzzes it down into the dirt like a tent peg. And if
the shoring was temporary, removing them is just a matter of bringing
the crane back and reversing the procedure.

Make absolutely sure that the area is clear of all drainage or
utility lines, The sheet pile will go right through them like they
aren't there, with possibly disastrous results.

-- Bruce --

--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
Spamtrapped address: Remove the python and the invalid, and use a net.

Hey Frank,

Sheet pile requires drive machinery of some sort, either a drop hammer
style pile driver, or the newer hydraulic "shakers". The hydraulics
are favoured for lots of reasons, including ease of use (precise
alignment) and possibly just as an attachment on a back-hoe (rather
than a crawler), and the ability to pull out the sheet piling if
necessary.

The sheet must be forced into virgin material for a fair distance. If
it is not deep enough, the bottom will "kick out" some time in the
future, dependant on lots of weather specifics at location. One
advantage to the interlocking type sheet pile is that it can follow a
segmented curved line.

Take care.

Brian Lawson,
Bothwell, Ontario.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

On Wed, 26 Oct 2005 18:39:57 -0700, Frank J Warner
wrote:

Finishing up my house. Back yard is last thing I have to do. It's got a
hillside that slopes down maybe 20 degrees to the back my house. I need
to put retaining walls to keep this hillside from ending up in my
bedroom during next year's heavy rain.

This evening, while taking my walk, I followed a dry creekbed that had
been shored up in places with heavy guage galvanized corrugated sheet
metal. Looks very much like this stuff:

http://www.cajunmarineconstruction.c...ing_Walls.html

It actually looked pretty good to me, as I tend to go with
non-traditional landscape treatments wherever I can get away with it. I
liked the industrial feel, and it looked like the metal walls had been
in place for at least a couple of decades with little or no corrosion.

The stuff is perfect for my application, but I don't have any
experience with it. Especially whether it's something a handy guy could
install himself, or even where to buy it within a reasonable distance
of my house (California Central Coast).

Anybody ever work with this stuff?

-Frank

"Frank J Warner" wrote
Finishing up my house. Back yard is last thing I have to do. It's got a
hillside that slopes down maybe 20 degrees to the back my house. I need
to put retaining walls to keep this hillside from ending up in my
bedroom during next year's heavy rain.

This evening, while taking my walk, I followed a dry creekbed that had
been shored up in places with heavy guage galvanized corrugated sheet
metal. Looks very much like this stuff:

If the sheet piling is too rich for your blood, you might try mezzanine
decking pans. They're narrow enough to drive without a large machine, and
pretty stout. You can find "drops" all over multi-story concrete
construction.

LLoyd