retaining block wall grouting horizontal rebar bonding

If the wall will be solidly grouted, the cross webs need not be mortared since the grout flows laterally, filling all spaces. If the wall will be partially grouted, those webs adjacent to the cores to be grouted are mortared to confine the grout flow. Head and bed joints must be filled with mortar for the full thickness of the face shell. When walls will be grouted, concrete masonry units must be laid up so that vertical cores are aligned to form an unobstructed, continuous series of vertical spaces within the wall. This TEK covers methods for laying the units, placing steel reinforcement and grouting.įigure 1 shows the basic components of a typical reinforced concrete masonry wall.

Specifications for grout, sampling and testing procedures, and information on admixtures are covered in NCMA TEK 9-4A, Grout for Concrete Masonry (ref. If vertical reinforcement is spaced close together and/or there are a significant number of bond beams within the wall, it may be faster and more economical to solidly grout the wall. When all cores, with or without reinforcement, are grouted, the wall is considered solidly grouted. In partially grouted walls, grout is placed only in wall spaces containing steel reinforcement. In reinforced masonry, grout bonds the masonry units and reinforcing steel so that they act together to resist imposed loads. Grout may also be used to stabilize screen walls and other landscape elements. Grout may also be added to increase the wall’s fire rating, acoustic effectiveness termite resistance, blast resistance, heat capacity or anchorage capabilities. It is also used to fill bond beams and occasionally to fill the collar joint of a multi-wythe wall. Grout is used to give added strength to both reinforced and unreinforced concrete masonry walls by grouting either some or all of the cores.

Grout is a mixture of: cementitious material (usually portland cement) aggregate enough water to cause the mixture to flow readily and without segregation into cores or cavities in the masonry and sometimes admixtures. The industry is experiencing fast-paced advances in grouting procedures and materials as building codes allow new opportunities to explore means and methods for constructing grouted masonry walls. Grouted concrete masonry construction offers design flexibility through the use of partially or fully grouted walls, whether plain or reinforced.

Retaining block wall grouting horizontal rebar bonding