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 Retaining Walls
The purpose of the retaining wall remains unchanged — to hold back dirt — but appearance has become a critical aspect of the wall.
by Rob Spiegel
The concrete retaining wall has evolved from drab to fab. While retaining walls were once just utilitarian surfaces meant to hold back earth, they have also in recent years become aesthetic wonders. Even public highways have become decorative. Take the 8-mile retaining wall on the Pima Freeway in Scottsdale, Ariz. The wall, built by Scott System Inc. out of Denver, Colo., boasts desert-inspired designs, including 40-foot-tall prickly pear cactus and giant lizards 67 feet long.
Another surprising example is the wall along Snoqualmie Pass over the Cascade Mountain range near Edmonds, Wash., where Turnstone Construction Inc. of Seattle, Wash., took a falling-down wall of stacked stone and turned it into a stunning mountain of concrete carved to look like a wall of natural granite.
The purpose of the retaining wall remains unchanged — to hold back dirt — but appearance has become a critical aspect of the wall. Companies specializing in decorative concrete are spicing up walls in both public and private settings.
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