Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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Wall made of concrete elements
Description
The invention relates to a wall made of plate-
shaped wall elements, especially of concrete, which are
joined together by means of push-in connections and
which are provided with vertical recesses extending
from the margins for the entry of an adjacent wall element,
The efforts of the building industry to manufac-
ture wall systems consisting of prefabricated, that is
to say mass-produced concrete elements are many and
various. In practice, it is possible to introduce
successfully only those systems in which the individual
wall elements are of a simple geometrical shape and can
be assembled into a load-bearing system on the spot by
means of simple assembly work. Furthermore,
attempts have been made recently to design the wall
elements or the wall constructions manufactured from
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them in such a way that plant growth can take placeO
The invention seeks to provide a wall made of pre-
fabricated concrete elements, which can be formed largely
of extremely simple and standard wall elements and permits
equally simple assembly by means of slot-in connections,
and, furthermore, is also aesthetically satisfying, while
providing good stability and sound insulation.
According to the invention a wall made of vertical
plate shaped concrete wall elements, which are joined to-
gether by interlocking of vertical recesses in horizontalmargins of vertically adjacent plates, such vertically
adjacent wall elements extending in planes at opposite
acute angles to the plane of the wall to form an inter-
locked framework have an approximately lazy-tongs con-
figuration in plan.
Preferably a plurality of courses of wall elements
are arranged above one another, the wall elements of one
course being interlocked with wall elements of the two
adjacent courses by means of interengaging recesses.
In a preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention,
the plate shaped wall elements are provided with substan-
tially rectangular upper and lower recesses in their upper
and lower horizontal margins respectively and lying oppo-
site one another in three pairs, such that the recesses
are arranged symmetrically in relation to a central verti-
cal transverse plane of the wall element.
Because of the high stability and the narrow width
of the wall, it is possible, by means of the invention, for
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the first time to use prefabricated, mass produced concrete
elements for erecting effective noise protection walls on
streets, highways and intersections.
The surface configuration of the present wall is
sound absorbing to a high degree as a result of the alter-
nating positions of the wall eIements from layer to layer.
This effect can be increased by means of planting which
ensures, at the same time, that the exterior of the noise
protection wall is attractive in comparison with hitherto
conventional noise protection walls made of metal and
plastic. For this purpose, the wall according to the
invention is provided with a filling or backfill of earth,
soil, sand or the like. The soil filling permits plant
growth, recesses within the wall elements and between
these allowing the passage of plants.
According to a further feature of the invention,
measures are taken which retain the filling of earth or
sand within the cavities formed by the wall elements,
despite the recesses formed in these and between them.
Specially shaped concrete blocks in the form of retaining
brackets are provided for this purpose which are placed on
free margins of the wall elements or of recesses therein,
in such a way that outward projecting retaining plates
receive and support the filling of the wall to form a
slope. At the same time, these retaining brackets have
the function of collecting precipitation, especially rain
water, and of guiding the latter, by means of retaining
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plates inclined towards the wall, into the interior of the
wall and, consequently, to the plants or to the soil.
Exemplary embodiments of the invention are described
in more detail below with reference to the drawings in
which:
Figure 1 shows a portion of a wall, specifically a
noise protection wall, in diagrammat.ic plan view;
Figure 2 shows in elevation a portion of the wall of
Figure 1, partly cut away;
Figure 3 shows an exploded view of three wall ele-
ments in a relative arrangement corresponding to their
positions within the wall;
Figure 4 shows an individual wall element in
elevation;
Figure 5 shows a fragment of the wall element accord-
ing to Figure 4, in cross section and greatly enlarged;
Figure 6 shows, in a perspective representation, a
special margin element which can be used in a wall at its
upper and lower mar~ina.l~ regions;
Figure 7 shows, likewise in a perspective represen-
tation, a terminal element which can be used in the lateral
marginal region;
Figure 8 shows a vertical section through a portion
of a wall element supporting a retaining bracket, on a
greatly enlarged scale;
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Figure 9 shows a perspective ~presentation of the
detail according to Figure 8.
The wall, or a portion thereof, which is illustrated
in Figures 1 and 2 as a preferred exemplary embodiment can
be used with particular advantages as a noise protection
wall. It is composed of plate shaped wall elements 10
(Figure 4) ~oined exclusively by slot-in connections.
All the wa]l elements 10 are directed at an angle to the
(imaginary) wall plane 11, namely, here, at an angle of
45. In this case, the rectangular wall elements 10
arranged in an upright position are placed in individual
courses or layers 12a, 12b, 12c, etc., located above one
another. The wall elements 10 of one layer 12a,12b, etc.,
are connected to the wall elements 10 of the layer extend-
ing above or below this. Furthermore, the wall elements10 of the one layer 12a, 12b, etc., are aligned parallel
to one another, but are offset 90 relative to the wall
elements 10 of the adjacent layers. Consequently, the wall
elements 10 of the one layer 12a, 12b, etc., lie perpendi-
cular to the wall elements 10 of the adjacent layers 12a,12b, etc.. This results in a supporting structure which,
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as shown in Figure 1, resembles a horizontal pro-
~ection of lazy. tongs. ~n the way des-
cribed, a plurality of layers 12a, 12b, 12c, etc can
be arranged above one another, the wall elements 10 of
one layer 12a, 12b, etc. extendingin the same planes as
the wall elements 10 o~ the next layer 12a, 12b, etc.
above.
. The supporting framework so far described is
composed - predominantly - of rectangular plate-shaped
wall elements 10 in the embodiment according to Figure 1.
According to this, each wall element 10 is provided with
upper and lower recesses 13a, 13b, 13c and 14a, 14b, 14c
respectively, which extend in a vertical direction from
the upper margin 15 and lower margin 16 respectively of
the plate-shaped wall element 10. The recesses 13a,
13b, 13c and 14a, 14b, 14c respectively have a rect-
angular shape The transverse dimension, that is to
say, the width of the recess 13, 14, corresponds approxi-
mately to the thickness of the wall element 10. The
middle recess 13b and 14b respectively lies in the verti-
cal central transverse plane of the wall element 10,
whilst the recesses 13a, 13c and 14a, 14c respectively
towards the margin are located at a distance from the
side margin of the wall element 10, forming a projection
17 on the margin side The depth of the recesses
13a, etc, and 14a, etc amounts approximately to one-
third of the height of construction of the wall element
10. In the assembled state of the wall elements 10,
these penetrate with each of their recesses into a
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recess of the adjoining wall element 10.
In an actual, advantageous exemplary embodiment
o~ a wall element 10 made of unreinforced concrete, said
wall element has a thickness of approximately 8 cm.
The longitudinal dimension (dimension in the plane at
an angle to the wall plane 11) is 125 cm. The height
dimension is chosen as 60 cm. A wall element 10 of
this type can be made, lying flat on a production board
of conventional dimensions, in a bloc~-making machine.
To guarantee that a wall element 10 is lifted off from
this supporting board by means of conventional loading
clamps gripping on the narrow marginal sides, namely
at the margins 15 and 16, without the danger of damage,
the projec-tions 17 formed at each of the corners of
the wall element 10 are somewhat set back relative to
the margin 15 or 16. As a res~lt, these projections
17 are not stressed with pressure by a laterally engag-
ing loading clamp or by its jaws
Using wall elements according to Figure 4, a
stable wall having a considerable height of construc-
tion can be erected by arranging several layers 12a, 12b,
etc. above one another, and erected entirely by
pushing the wall elements together in the formation des-
cribed. Each wall element is connected, at the
upper margin 15 and at the lower margin 16, at three
points by means of a positive connection to adjacent)
trarsversely directed wall elements. The dimensions
of the wall transversely to the wall plane 11 are rela-
- tively small, as a result, despite a high stability and
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a relatively high load-bearing capacity,
As a result of the arrangement of wall elements
10 which has been described9 there exist, on both sides
of the central wall plane 11, vertical cavities 18 which
are closed in horizontal projection, being encompassed
on all sides by wall elements 10, and which have a
square or rectangular horizontal projection. These
vertical column-like cavities 18 are filled, and
preferably with soil which can be planted. ~he
dimensions and arrangement of the wall elements 10
ensure that free gaps 19 exist, in the region of the
vertical cavities 18, between layers 12a, 12b, 12c, etc
which are vertically consecutive. Plants growing
in the wall can be inserted in the region of these
cavities 18
To improve further the capacity of the wall to
receive plants, the wall elements 10 can, as illustrated,
be provided with continuous openings 20. These lie
respectively in the region between the planes or regions
formed by the recesses 13a, 14a; 13b, 14b; 13c, 14c
lying opposite one another Plants can likewise
pass through these openings 20
However, the vertical cavities 18 can, in parti-
cular fields of use of the wall, also contribute to
increasing the stabilityand load-bearing capacity, in that
additional supporting or holding members are provided
within the cavities 18 In the exemplary embodi-
ment shown in Figures 1 and 2, individual or several
cavities 18 are filled with concrete, so that a vertical
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concrete column 21 partially surrounded by wall elements
10 is formed here. This is made from concrete mixed
i~ situ, after the wall has been assembled. It is
~lso envisaged here that the concrete column 21 be pro-
vided with a con~entional reinforcement 22 The
concrete column 21 or another supporting framework
located in the cavities 18 is appropriately connected
to a supporting system anchored in the ground. In
the present case, the wall consisting of the wall ele-
ments 10 stands on a foundation 23, especially a con-
tinuous footing made of concrete. The concrete
column 21 can bè bonded into this foundation 23
The system of the positive connection of each
wall element 10 to three wall elements 10 of the layers
12a, 12b, 12c, etc. adjacent above and below is inter-
rupted in the end regions of the wall. There,
special terminal elements 24 are provided (Figure 7).
Having appropriately shorter dimensions, these are pro-
vided with only two recesses 13a, 13b and 14a, 14b
respectively, although these fit, in terms of size and
dimension, into the grid system of the wall elements 10.
The terminal element 24 of one layer 12a, 12b, etc. is
connected to an adjoining wall element 10 and to a
further terminal element 24 of the adjacent layer 12a,
12b, etc. below and above
At the low~r and upper margins 15, 16, the wall
is appropriately provided with special marginal elements
25 (Figure 6) These correspond to a wall element
10 which is div~ded along a horizontal longitudinal
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central plane, that is to say, "half" a wall element 10,
but without the openings 20 proposed therein Con-
~sequently, the marginal elements 25 are provided, on one
side only, with three recesses 13a, 13b, 13c or 14a,
14b, 14c A lower or upper continuous smooth
terminating margin 26 constitutes, at the bottom, a
seat on the foundation 23 or the like. At the top,
the marginal elements 25 formed in this way constitute
a smooth termination of the wall.
The surfaces or visible faces of the wall ele-
ments 10 can also be structured differently in a special
way. As a resul*, highly varied visual impressions
arise, dependingon the direction from which the wall is seen.
For example, the face turned upwards when the wall
elements 10 are manufactured can be provided with grooves
27 which are produced, during manufacture, by means of a
di~ which can be lowered from above onto the concrete
mould. Furthermore, the grooves 27, which are
trapezoidal in cross-section in the present case (Figure
5), have the effect that the die can be lifted off from
the surface of the wall element 10 without problems,
namely without loosening concrete pieces from said sur-
face,
In the case of walls with a relatively large
height of construction and loads resulting therefrom in
the region of the push-in connections, it can be appro-
priate to provide the inside limitations of the recesses
13a, 13b, etc. and 14a, 14b, etc., as a bearing face 28
for adjoining wall elements 10, with an equalising
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layer 29 which equalises or which distributes the load
over the entire bearing face 28, This equalising
layer can consist of appropriate pieces of elastic
material, for example so-called gap-fi]ling felt.
The assembly of the wall elements 10 described
or the erection of a wall is carried out by placing the
individual layers 12a, 12b, etc. one after another,
with the insertion of each wall element 10 into the
recesses 13a, 13b, 13c of a wall element 10 of the layer
already in place. For this purpose,the wall elements 10
can be handled by means of a lightweight lifting appli-
ance, for example by means of a small crane present on
a transport vehicle (heavy goods vehicle). This
crane appropriately engages into the openings 20 of the
wall elements 10 by means of appropriate loading gear
The cavities 18 formed by the wall elements 10
in the assembled state are preferably provided with a
backfill. 32 consisting of sand, gravel, or prefer-
ably of soil, which permits growth in the region of
openings and recesses of the wall. To prevent the
(loose) backfill 32 from escaping in the region of,
for example, the openings 20 of the wall elements 10,
special retaining pieces are arranged here for the backfill
32,.namely retaining brackets 31 designed as separate
shaped concrete blocks Each of these consists of
a retaining plate 33 which is arranged in the manner of
a table and which extends transversely to the plane of
the wall element 10 and projects on the outer side, that
- is to say, the side lying opposite the backfill 32.
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The retaining brackets 31 are located on a (lower)
margin 30 of the opening 20, so that the backfill.32
forms here a "natural" slope 38 on the retaining plate
~3.
The retaining plate 33 is designed with an
inclined upper supporting face 39, As a result of
the inward-descending inclination of the supporting
face 39, collected water - due to precipitations - is
guided inwards into the backfill. 32 and thereby
effects a watering of the plants, A bead-like
elevation 36 is located at the outer margin of the
retaining plate 33,
. The retaining brackets 31,designed as a simple
concrete moulding,are connected positively to the wall
element 10 by being pushed onto the latter, For this
pulpose, moulded on the underside of the retaining
bracket 31 or of the retaining plate 33 are two legs
3~ and 35 which extend on both sides of that region of
the ~all element 10 which faces the opening 20, that is
to say, which surround this part positively, The
leg located on the inside is made longer, so that the
backfill 32 bearing thereon causes an embedding and
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fixing of the retaining bracket 31.
-~-----Several-retaining brackets 31 can be located
next to one another in the regionof one opening 20, as
is evident from Figure 4,
