Stone vs. Concrete Retaining Walls
We've all admired a beautifully landscaped terrain, complete with rows of flowers and lined with shrubs and terraced to give the feel of expanse. With due respect to the gardeners' contribution, admirable landscaping rests on an appropriate retaining wall construction that creates the desired effects related to terraces, steps, waterfalls, patios, driveways and other special effects. Landscaping is the work of professional contractors that specialize in understanding the varying retaining wall types to suit you while catering to your wishes.
Most of the times the role of a retaining wall is to prevent soil erosion and extend the land for designing a nice landscaping. Retaining Walls have been traditionally made out of blocks of stone. In the modern world, the retaining wall blocks are made out of concrete; these blocks could be solid or hollow, light or heavy. The purpose of both types of retaining walls remains the same: to prevent soil erosion and to maintain the contours of the land. Retaining walls made from man-made concrete blocks are often preferred by many for being custom-made to suit specific design needs, as well as being inexpensive and very durable, offering great strength and making it suitable in most applications.
On the other hand, block retaining walls made of stone have been the choice across centuries owing to certain distinct advantages they offer such as: Walls made of stone are constructed without any mortar or filling; stones are simply stacked and this gives the wall its name: 'dry wall' or the dry stack approach. The biggest plus point of a dry wall is that it acts as a natural drainage system; water does not accumulate behind these walls; it simply seeps through.
As a result, the danger of the wall getting damaged due to water or other weather conditions is negligible. Such damage as does occur is easily repaired. Another advantage is that a 'footing' does not need to be sunk beneath the frost line. Lastly, since a retaining wall is much like a dam trying to hold the pressure of the soil - as well as dealing with soil settling and the destructive heaving and displacement by frost - weight is a critical factor in retaining wall block construction and design and heavy stone blocks work best.
