Basement Retaining Wall Expansion Joint Detail

This is a CAD dwg drawing plan section, illustrating a generic Basement Retaining Wall Expansion Joint Detail. For large reinforced concrete basement structures, the perimeter retaining walls might need to be designed and constructed with expansion joints to avoid cracking.In these situations, since the retaining wall is to retain soil and water from the exterior of the building, special detailing with special water-stops will need to be installed during the construction of the wall.

In this generic detail, specific brands and models of such waterstops are specified but one can use any other equivalent type or model as seem fit or according to availability.

It is extremely important to follow the manufacturer’s installation procedures to ensure the water tightness of the basement.

Smooth metal 20mm rods are also installed between the two expansion joint sections to ensure both walls behave the same, avoiding differential movement thus breaking the water sealing.For small buildings up to 30-40 meters using expansion joints at the basement retaining walls might not be needed.