Stringer for retaining wall construction

Claim 2

A stringer for a retaining wall comprising an elongate body having first and second spaced-apart stacking pads thereon, each said pad having an upper and a lower bearing surface thereon, one of said bearing surfaces having a concavity and the other said bearing surface having a convexity complemental to said concavity so that superposed stringers engage one another by engagement of the concavity and convexity in respective said bearing surfaces, said pads having a vertical extent exceeding the vertical extent of said bodies so that a space is defined between the bodies of adjacent stringers when vertically stacked with the pads thereon in engagement with one another.

Claim 3

A stringer, according to claim 1, wherein said concavity and convexity are symmetrically spaced on opposite sides of a vertical midplane through said stringer so that oppositely oriented superposed stringers engage one another.

Claim 4

A stringer, according to claim 1, wherein said upper and lower pad surfaces are identical, each said bearing surface having a concavity and convexity complemental to said concavity, said concavity and convexity being disposed on a plane normal to the central longitudinal axis of the body and symmetrical of said axis so that oppositely oriented superposed stringers engage one another by engagement of the concavity and convexity in the lower bearing surface of the upper stringer with the respective convexity and concavity in the upper bearing surface of the lower stringer.

Claim 5

A stringer, according to claim 3, wherein said concavity and convexity are defined by a rabbet formed by two congruent horizontal surfaces at vertically spaced-apart levels, there being a substantially vertical surface extending between said horizontal surfaces, said vertical surface being in a vertical plane that extends through the central longitudinal axis of said body.

Claim 6

A stringer, according to claim 1, wherein said concavity and convexity are of complemental V-shape, the apices of said V-shapes residing in the vertical midplane of said stringer.

Claim 7

A stringer, according to claim 1, wherein said pads are disposed on opposite sides of the longitudinal midpoint of said body.

Claim 8

A stringer, according to claim 6, wherein said pads are disposed symmetrically of the longitudinal midpoint of said body.

Claim 9

A stringer, according to claim 7, wherein the distance between respective said pads and the midpoint of said body is at least as great as the distance from respective said pads to respective longitudinal extremities of said body.

Claim 10

A stringer, according to claim 1, wherein each said pad defines an opening therethrough for receiving a stretcher therethrough, said opening being substantially parallel to and midway between said upper and lower bearing surfaces.

Claim 11

A stringer, according to claim 1, wherein said body has upper and lower surfaces that define outward diverging surfaces to promote water run-off from the retaining wall.

Claim 12

A stringer, according to claim 1, wherein said body and said pads are constructed of concrete including reinforcing steel therein.

Claim 13

A wall for retaining an earthen mass comprising a plurality of identical stringers each having an elongate body and at least two stacking pads disposed in spaced apart relation along said body, each said pad having an upper and lower bearing surface, said surfaces defining compLemental concavities and convexities so that the upper bearing surface of the pad of a lower stringer engages the lower bearing surface of the pad of an upper stringer superposed on the lower stringer to resist relative movement in a direction normal to the longitudinal axes of the stringers, said plurality of stringers being arranged in stacked relation with the pad bearing surfaces of vertically adjacent stringers interengaged and said pads having a vertical extent exceeding the vertical extent of said bodies so as to define a space between the bodies of adjacent vertically stacked stringers, and means for securing alternate horizontal rows of stringers to the earthen mass.

Claim 14

A wall for retaining an earthen mass comprising a plurality of identical stringers each having an elongate body and at least two stacking pads disposed in spaced apart relation along said body, each said pad having an upper and lower bearing surface, said surfaces defining compLemental concavities and convexities so that the upper bearing surface of the pad of a lower stringer engages the lower bearing surface of the pad of an upper stringer superposed on the lower stringer to resist relative movement in a direction normal to the longitudinal axes of the stringers, said plurality of stringers being arranged in stacked relation with the pad bearing surfaces of vertically adjacent stringers interengaged and said pads having a vertical extent exceeding the vertical extent of said bodies so as to define a space between the bodies of adjacent vertically stacked stringers, and means for securing alternate horizontal rows of stringers to the earthen mass.

Claim 15

A retaining wall, according to claim 12, wherein said securing means comprises at least one tension member having a first end fixed to said stringer and a second end remote from said first end, and a deadman fixed to said second end, said deadman being buried in the earthen mass.