The Retention Wall calculator computes the number of bricks, blocks, 4x4s, 6x6s or railroad ties needed for a retention wall. 
INSTRUCTIONS: Choose units and enter the following:
- (L) This is the length of the retention wall.
- (H) This is the height of the retention wall.
- (M) Choose a material for the retention wall (blocks of different sizes, 4x4s, 6x6s or standard railroad ties).
Block or Railroad Ties: The calculator returns the number of units (blocks or ties) needed to build the retention wall. Note: the standard length used for the 4x4s, 6x6x and railroad ties is 8 feet.
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Description
The Retention Wall formula calculates the number wall units (brick, block, 4x4s, 6x6s or ties) needed to build a wall based on the length and height of the wall, and based on the assumption that the wall is one unit (brick, board or railroad tie) deep. The user identifies the height and length of the wall and chooses the construction unit from the pull down list. To do this, vCalc calculates the area of a wall and then uses the standard dimensions of bricks or blocks to determine how many bricks or blocks are needed for the construction of the wall.
This is an ESTIMATION, and actual number of units needed may vary based on the thickness of the joints and other factors. The margin flag set to YES causes the algorithm to be more conservative. It eliminates the reuse of partial units from one row to the next.
Construction object units include: brick(standard), brick(paver), block(4x16), block(4x18), block(5x18), block(8x8), block(8x12), block(8x16), block(8x18), block(8x24), 4x4 8ft, 6x6 8ft, and railroad ties.
Usage
vCalc simplifies this calculation by performing numerous steps for the user. These include unit conversions. The user can enter the height and length of the wall in any of the units provided by vCalc, and the system will automatically convert those units when calculating the area of the wall. Furthermore, vCalc provides the unit areas for a significant number of materials including two sizes of bricks, eight common sizes of blocks, and the standard railroad tie used in the U.S.. vCalc uses the dimensions of those units to calculate the number needed to create a wall of the specified dimensions.
See Also