Void under walkway and steps next to retaining wall
Hi, I was planning on renovating my backyard and while powerwashing I discovered a 2' deep hole under part of my concrete walkway, which leads to steps built into a CMU retaining wall/seawall in my backyard. The hole extends beneath the walkway toward the steps. The walkway has no visible cracks or sinking, but I also found a void inside one of the steps, which looks like it was patched before. There’s a hole in the step that connects to the void under the walkway. I shoveled the hole a little more but it doesnt seem to extend to much, unless its the tree roots holding it in place, I dug a hole next to it but it seems solid. The retaining wall is next to a freshwater canal. The soil here is mostly loamy sand, and I’m not sure if the void is from erosion, soil washing out to the canal, broken sprinkler/drain pipe, or something else. What's weird is that I found pieces of pavers or concrete but no rocks. Although the retaining wall has deadman anchors (found 1" rebar running from the wall to some concrete footing) but they are only about 10 inches below the surface, so I don’t know how much they help with stability. Would you call a specialist on something like this? What could be causing this void? What’s the best way to fix it? Should I fill it with flowable fill, compacted gravel, or foam? Thanks! submitted by /u/magnumpl [link] [comments]
| | Hi, I was planning on renovating my backyard and while powerwashing I discovered a 2' deep hole under part of my concrete walkway, which leads to steps built into a CMU retaining wall/seawall in my backyard. The hole extends beneath the walkway toward the steps. The walkway has no visible cracks or sinking, but I also found a void inside one of the steps, which looks like it was patched before. There’s a hole in the step that connects to the void under the walkway. I shoveled the hole a little more but it doesnt seem to extend to much, unless its the tree roots holding it in place, I dug a hole next to it but it seems solid. The retaining wall is next to a freshwater canal. The soil here is mostly loamy sand, and I’m not sure if the void is from erosion, soil washing out to the canal, broken sprinkler/drain pipe, or something else. What's weird is that I found pieces of pavers or concrete but no rocks. Although the retaining wall has deadman anchors (found 1" rebar running from the wall to some concrete footing) but they are only about 10 inches below the surface, so I don’t know how much they help with stability. Would you call a specialist on something like this? What could be causing this void? What’s the best way to fix it? Should I fill it with flowable fill, compacted gravel, or foam? Thanks! [link] [comments] |
