Method and apparatus for anchoring backfilled wall structures

Abstract

A subassembly for use with a wall panel to retain a backfilled enbankment or the like is disclosed which subassembly comprises a pair of pillar-like concrete anchor members having vertical keyslots formed therein which receive and lock onto the enlarged end portions of a wire mesh web defining the connection therebetween. The top strand of the web is recessed beneath the top surface of any e xposed anchor member by a distance selected to permit backfilling thereabove as is the top surface of any buried anchor member. In one embodiment of the invention, the web is generally U-shaped and is looped through the embankment to interconnect a pair of exposed anchor members at the surface thereof while in another an exposed and a buried anchor member are interconnected by a straight run of the web stretched therebetween. The invention also encompasses the improved method for retaining backfilled earthen embankments which consists of placing a pair of pillar-like upstanding anchor members at an exposed surface of the embankment in transversely-spaced substantially parallel relation to one another, connecting the pair thus exposed to one another by means of a vertically-disposed wire mesh looped through the embankment or, alternatively, connecting each of the anchor members thus exposed independently to a third anchor member buried in the embankment by means of a straight run of wire mesh web stretched therebetween, and then interconnecting the transversely-spaced pair of exposed anchor members by bridging the gap therebetween with a wall panel.