How To Set Railroad Ties

Retaining walls are amid the most common things people build with mural ties. Republished below is a step-by-step guide via Instructables.

If y'all have a slope that is demand of a retaining wall and accept admission to railroad ties, this is the perfect project for yous! We'll be showing yous how we made a railroad tie retaining wall in betwixt two of our shops. We had 18 inches of a hill that needed to be retained. This is how we fabricated a basic retaining wall using railroad ties found on our farm.

Footstep 1: Level and Tamp Downwards the Area

First, we leveled the expanse where to wall was going to exist. Really, it is slightly sloping down away from the building. We then tamped the dirt to make a nice, hard foundation. Tamping the clay volition also assist to minimize settling and shifting of the wall. Although, it will settle and shift a fleck no matter what you do.

Step ii: Cut the Area to Brand a Snug Fit for the Railroad Ties

Yous want to cut the area where the wall will be square so the ties fit in there nicely. Make the surface area virtually five or 6 inches deeper than the railroad ties so you have room to fill the expanse backside the tie wall with gravel. This will let whatever water coming downwards the hill to seep into the gravel instead of bulging out your tie wall and eventually making it fall downwards or movement.

Step 3: Add in a Layer of Gravel

One time you've got a practiced area for your wall made, put down a foundational layer of gravel. We did ours nigh iv inches thick and tamped it down existent good. This will provide bottom drainage for the wall, allowing the water to bleed away through the gravel instead of pushing the railroad ties out or eroding the dirt abroad from the wall.

Step four: Level the Get-go Tie in the Wall

In one case you lot have a expert bed of gravel laid downwards and tamped, it's time to level the kickoff tie in the wall. It'due south of import to get this tie as level every bit possible because any error will be compounded the higher the wall is. Take away or add gravel underneath the necktie as needed until it is level in both directions. Having the wall out of plumb volition as well cause the wall to sag, bulge or fall faster. Using a sledgehammer as a tamper works pretty well to tamp gravel under the front or back edge to adjust it.

Step 5: Make Your Pins to Secure the Ties Together

Next, yous're gonna need to make some pins or "dead men." Most people utilize rebar because the ridges help to grab the dirt and railroad ties to concord the wall solid. We didn't have much rebar on hand but we did have these square aptitude 1/two″ steel rod things with eyelets on the end we found in the barn. So we just chopped those up.

The first set of pins that are going through the bottom necktie are very important. These will pin the wall firmly to the ground. Our wall was 8 feet long, and then we used 4 pins. Each of the pins should be almost 2-2 ane/2 feet long so that you lot get a good solid concur into the footing.

If y'all cut one stop at an bending, it will be a lot easier to bulldoze the pivot through the soil or through the railroad necktie. Sometimes it can exist near incommunicable to get a pin through a railroad tie without cutting a signal on information technology.

Step half-dozen: Drill Holes in the Necktie for the Pins

Now you gotta drill some holes. Y'all want the hole to be the same size or just slightly bigger than the pin you are going to bulldoze through it. You tin can drill it smaller if you want, only information technology will make pounding the pivot in a real pain. Especially if your pins are made out of rebar.

The all-time thing to use is a long woods auger fleck as opposed to one of those drill scrap extender things. The drill bit extender will probably work, all the same, it volition also probably come up loose in one of the railroad ties at some point. Thus creating a permanent home for one of your drill $.25 inside one of the ties. Drill flake extenders are pretty cool just non for this application. Railroad ties are made of tough oak and are soaked in tar and baked in. They're pretty tough. An auger bit volition eat correct through it and has the length to drill through more than than ane tie at a time when demand be. Try not to hit the ground also much or your bit will go dull real fast.

Lastly and apparently, utilize a corded drill that has some power. If you endeavour to dive an auger bit into a railroad tie with a rinky dinky cordless drill, neither y'all nor the drill (nor its battery) will be happy.

Footstep seven: Pound in the Pins

Now information technology's time to pound in some pins. Nosotros like to beginning them off with a 5 lb manus sledge and cease them off with a 10 lb total sledge hammer when the goin' gets tough. Once you lot've got the pin nigh all the way in and there'southward about 4-5 inches sticking up, pound it over to lock the railroad tie down so it tin can't slide off the pin. Since our wall is 8 anxiety long, we put a pivot in about every 2 feet or then. We wanted to make certain that the foundation necktie was really secured to the ground well.

Step 8: Fill the Gap in Between the Tie and the Wall

After the pins in the first tie are prepare, make full that 5-six inch gap between the back of the necktie and the hill that information technology will be property back with gravel. Tamp it downwardly with a sledge hammer. We like to put downwards nigh 2-3 inches of gravel at a time and then tamp it, so add some other 2-3 inches, tamp it and so on and so forth.

Step nine: Repeat the Process Until You've Reached the Desired Height

Now just repeat the procedure. Place a railroad tie on top of the final tie you laid, drill into it and the ane below it as deep every bit y'all can, drive in the pins, fill up the back side with gravel, tamp information technology downwards and echo!

Step 10: Finishing Touches!

It's ok to cover everything upward with dirt if that'south the expect you're going for. It should not affect drainage too much. We did it only temporarily until we get around to filling this whole expanse in with gravel driveway and connecting information technology to the balance of our driveway. When that 24-hour interval comes, we will remove the little bit of dirt that is covering the gravel between the ties and the wall to let for even better drainage. This is also why information technology look like the dirt is a little low. Gotta leave room for gravel driveway!

Source: https://nevadarail.com/2019/01/07/how-to-build-a-railroad-tie-retaining-wall/

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