need engineer for retaining wall (Indiana, Jim Thorpe: insurance, how much, house)

[Catia]

Please only post their info if you have actually had experience with them, & KNOW they design residential retaining walls & you were satisfied with their services.


Also-what does it cost to get a small residential wall designed by an engineer?
What should I expect?




Wall will be a gabion wall, less than 4 ft tall, maybe 45 feet long, or at least that's what I hope to put there, at the toe of a steep slope, behind my house.


I need to cut into the toe & it's a big hill side.


Normally for a gabion wall less than 4ft doesn't need engineering, but due to the steepness of the slope, I'm trying to err on the side of caution.


My landscaper said he'll do it either way, with or without an engineer, but can't guarantee anything because of the slope, without an engineer...and he said he'd have someone else excavate...
He's never worked with gabions before but is interested in my project, just not completely comfortable, & now, neither am I.


There was (is still remnants of)a dry laid stone wall using local stone, but it's over 75 yrs old, & looks like some type of sandstone & basically is totally worn out, more than 3/4 of the stones are broken into small pieces due to years of winters & now a bunch of rubble.


PS: I DO NOT WANT A BLOCK WALL.





I called a bunch of #'s that were posted in an old thread on here from a couple yrs back & didn't have great success getting call backs. One of them seemed very agitated that I even called, one said they do not do residential.

[WhoIsStanwix?]

All I can say is good luck, especially if you are looking to get something this year. I have found it nearly impossible to get a structural engineer to help out (for any price) on a job at my house which I suspect is much bigger.

You may be better off going through an architect who will likely upcharge you to use the engineer they retain on bigger projects. If you get any bites, please report back. My experiences were much like yours, almost impossible to get a call back, and when I do, they are annoyed and don’t want to bother.

[Catia]

Sigh.
I was starting to wonder what I was doing wrong. I was starting to take it personally after so many attempts.
Customer service skills are certainly lacking in this area.


I'm also trying to get an actual excavator out to take a look, since the landscaper isn't comfortable with it, & doesn't have the experience, & won't be doing the excavation himself, I figured an experienced excavator would have a better idea & also know or have someone they use if it's necessary.




It's not just calling for engineers where they get annoyed either, but
I called several excavation companies so that I could get someone out to give an estimate.


One company, let's call them "ABC Excavating" , note *excavating* is in the title of their business name.


The woman answered the phone, "ABC Excavating", & I said I wanted to get an estimate for excavation of part of my hillside for a retaining wall about 45 feet long.
She actually replied "You should probably get someone for that..."
I didn't even know how to respond, so there was a long pause, all I could muster to say was "Isn't this ABC Excavating?"
She said "Ya, you shouldn't do that yourself, you should get someone to do it for you".
I didn't push any further, because I had zero faith in their skills if I had to further explain that I WAS CALLING TO HAVE SOMEONE DO IT FOR ME.


I feel like I am banging my head against a brick wall somewhere in the twilight zone.


I've also wasted a lot of time with 'no show' appointments.


What type of project are you working on so I can keep an ear out?

[Wells5]

For a retaining wall on a steep slope, I would recommend a reinforced concrete wall. I've never before heard of a "gabion" wall. You can always decorate the concrete with "permastone," artificial face brick or art work. A structural engineer for such a simple project is overkill. Call a "poured concrete wall" contractor for an estimate. There are lots in the Burgh.

[WhoIsStanwix?]

Originally Posted by Wells5

For a retaining wall on a steep slope, I would recommend a reinforced concrete wall. I've never before heard of a "gabion" wall. You can always decorate the concrete with "permastone," artificial face brick or art work. A structural engineer for such a simple project is overkill. Call a "poured concrete wall" contractor for an estimate. There are lots in the Burgh.

You want to be careful with poured concrete. Conditions have to be right, as does the installation. Otherwise, the first crack is your last. This isn't to say you shouldn't do it, but poured concrete with our freeze-thaw cycle really needs to be done by someone who will do it right and stand behind their work. Don't cheap out.

[Catia]

Originally Posted by Wells5

For a retaining wall on a steep slope, I would recommend a reinforced concrete wall. I've never before heard of a "gabion" wall. You can always decorate the concrete with "permastone," artificial face brick or art work. A structural engineer for such a simple project is overkill. Call a "poured concrete wall" contractor for an estimate. There are lots in the Burgh.

No offense, but you should 1st look up gabion walls if you do not know what they are.
You have not seen the hillside to understand the scope of the project to recommend that as a solution.


I'm not interested in a poured concrete wall, I am interested in proper retaining & also erosion control.


I'll be doing gabions & geotech fabrics.


An structural engineer, or a geotechnical engineer, is cheap insurance when dealing with steep slopes.
Retaining wall failures kill people & destroy property.

[ki0eh]

Originally Posted by WhoIsStanwix?

You may be better off going through an architect who will likely upcharge you to use the engineer they retain on bigger projects. If you get any bites, please report back. My experiences were much like yours, almost impossible to get a call back, and when I do, they are annoyed and don’t want to bother.

Here's an architect referral, along these lines:
Contact

Yes, I know the firm is in Indiana, but they have done work in the city before. Tom is honest, and has been around long enough to have good contacts.

[Wells5]

A structural engineer may recommend boring into the hillside to determine the composition of the soils- megabucks for that. This is done when drawing up blueprints for concrete bridge abutments and such.

[ki0eh]

Water is the enemy of a retaining wall. Also, they really should have a step back from vertical. A true vertical wall WILL overturn and be obvious when it does. Even one to three degree angle makes a huge difference in the sustainability of a retaining wall.

Gabions definitely have their place in the retaining wall palette, they sure let water out. One drawback is their installation requires more hand labor rock shoving than many crews like to do. It is NOT a dump out of the back of a truck placement even though a contractor who wants to be done in a day might try it without very close supervision. PENNDOT spec limestone sound rock is much more expensive in the western end of the state than it is in the south-east.

Your designer could evaluate different gabion stone alternatives. A potential advantage is the ability to reuse rubble. I saw a beautiful gabion installation in Jim Thorpe earlier this year. The homeowner got off-spec brick for the cost of hauling it from a nearby brickworks to site. He sure spent many, many hours laying them carefully in the wire cages though.

The segmental concrete blocks are more popular nowadays as their appearance is more acceptable to many, and honestly they are harder to screw up in construction than a gabion wall. You need to own or have access to enough of the high side of the wall in order to place the geogrid and the controlled fill, both necessary with the segmental concrete blocks.

Poured concrete is something of a last resort, it needs very careful design. You're basically building a dam without the ability to see how much water is really behind it. Basically those are done only when there's very high value property behind that you can't access for whatever reason.

[robrobrob]

You might want to reach out to an engineering firm initially. Try Gateway Engineers. My father has been involved with projects that they have done in the past. However, he was never the one cutting the checks. At the very least they might be able to refer you to a smaller firm.