Fix for retaining wall footer that is too short?

12 years ago

Meaure twice, pour once, I guess. I'm having a retaining wall built by a licensed contractor. The wall was designed by an engineer, permited, and the footer framing/rebar/depth/width and soil condition, etc., inspected and approved for pouring. It was then poured today.

So I'm gazing at the footer, feeling good about being one step closer to having the wall built, when I notice that the last segement of the footer (the walll has three angled sections) appears to be shorter than spec'd. Sure enough, it's only 7' 2" long rather then the 8' specified. The wall height for that section is 4'. Short of busting the footer up and starting over is there anything that can be done to remedy the situation? By the way the footer for this section is 3ft wide by 1 ft deep, so we're talking about 3/4 of a yard, or about 2500 lbs of concrete that I'd rather not have the guy tear out to get the last 10" of the wall, but I also don't want one section of the wall and accompanying railing to be shorter than the others. I'm concerned about the stability of a 1 ft footer and any internal torque created by the 7' section applying force on the 1' section. Perhaps I'm over-thinking it? Should I be concerned and, if so, what might I do to fix this?

One final note..the inspector said the next inspection is the final inspection, so I don't need to be concerned about passing inspection of the poured footer, but I don't want issues down the road, either.

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Comments (7)

User
12 years ago
If an engineer designed it he/she should propose a fix.
sierraeast
12 years ago
Maybe the pour was 7'2" for layout of the block reasons? Check the layout and you might find that the courses will end at that figure with a half block being +,- 8" of the proposed 8'. If an extension is needed, it can be tied in by drilling in horizontally into the existing footer and placing rebar in about a foot or so and extending out for the new extension epoxying the rebar into the existing. For 3/8" rebar, a 5/8" masonry bit drills a hole that will allow the 3/8" in but still be snug coupled with the epoxy.
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sierraeast
12 years ago
Would be to remove back enough of the existing footer to tie into the existing rebar with new and make the extended pour that way. I can't see jack hammering all that concrete for the fix, but I could be wrong. Your best bet as stated above would be to get advise from your engineer.
brickeyee
12 years ago
Just drill for the rebar to tie the sections together deeper than the start of the rebar in the section.

No reason to remove anything.
shadetree_bob
12 years ago
Well first of all the inspection of the footer passed, meaning that the inspector was happy with the dimensions for some reason. First thing to do is talk, yes thats right "talk" to the contractor and give him a chance to explain. You did not say what kind of wall is going on top of the footer, if it is concrete and the footer does need to be extended than it is no problem to drill and epoxy rebar into the end of existing and pour the add on at the same time the wall is poured. I am going to assume that you have rebar coming out of existing footer to tie it to the wall. If the wall is block then again the first step is to get the full story from contractor and then if necessary let the engineer earn his money and come up with a solution.
strouth64
Original Author
12 years ago
First, thanks for the replies. The wall will be CMU with stone and brick facing. And yes, there is some thick #6 rebar sticking 2 ft out of the footer. It's shaped like an L with the foot of the L facing away from the backfill side of the wall to offer additional support. I sent a note to the engineer about the issue. His reply was "with the ultra low bearing pressures, you might consider igoring it". Not sure what "ignoring it" means. It's too dang short. I can't totally ignore it. This section of the wall is 4ft max and will likely be only 2 feet above grade on either side of the wall at this end of the wall section, so I think the idea of drilling a hole and inserting rebar into the existing section of the footer and then extending (with rebar in the new section, as well) will be a sufficient fix. Thanks, again.
brickeyee
12 years ago
What ground loading and loads are in the wall?

The problem with extending off the footers is that it WILL crack at that spot.

It sounds like the engineer (who is not responsible if the drawings are not flowed exactly) is making excuses for the folks that screwed up the length.

Are they working for the same firm?

Fix for retaining wall footer that is too short?

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Fix for retaining wall footer that is too short?

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sierraeast

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