Freestanding wall structures made using sandbags

Abstract

A freestanding wall structure comprises a pair of opposed wall faces formed of sandbags with a mass of fill therebetween. The sandbags are attached together by means of interconnecting members. Sheets of geogrid extend between the two wall faces through the fill, attached to the interconnecting members, and support the wall faces and hold the wall structure together.

1 . A wall structure comprising: 
 (a) a plurality of courses of sandbags forming a first wall face, each said course comprising a plurality of sandbags;    (b) a second plurality of courses of sandbags forming a second wall face, each said course comprising a plurality of sandbags;    (c) interconnecting members positioned between adjacent courses of each wall face to connect said sandbags of said courses to sandbags of an adjacent said course, said interconnecting members having means to attach to a wall-holding means;    (d) a mass of fill between said two wall faces and supported thereby; and    (e) said wall-holding means extending between said first wall face and said second wall face through said fill material and attached to said interconnecting members.    
     
     
         2 . A wall structure according to  claim 1  wherein said wall-holding means comprises a sheet of geogrid.  
     
     
         3 . A wall structure according to  claim 1  wherein said wall-holding means is one of a sheet of geotextile, a cable, a rod, a wooden member and a rope.  
     
     
         4 . A wall structure according to  claim 1  wherein said interconnecting member is a plate having an upper side and a lower side, each said side having a plurality of projections thereon, said plate being capable of extending across at least part of two adjacent sandbags in one said course with said projections on said upper side or said lower side protruding into said two adjacent sandbags.  
     
     
         5 . A wall structure according to  claim 1  wherein said opposed wall faces slope towards each other in the upward direction.  
     
     
         6 . A wall structure according to  claim 1  wherein said sandbags are made of geotextile.  
     
     
         7 . A wall structure according to  claim 1  further comprising plants on the exterior of one or both of said wall faces growing from said sandbags.  
     
     
         8 . A method of constructing a wall structure having first and second opposed wall faces and a mass of fill therebetween, comprising the steps of: 
 (a) placing a plurality of sandbags to form a course of said first wall face;    (b) placing a plurality of sandbags to form a course of said second wall face, said course of said second wall face being spaced from said course of said first wall face;    (c) placing interconnecting members on both said courses, said interconnecting members being adapted to connect adjacent sandbags together and having means to attach to a wall-holding means;    (d) placing said fill in the space between said courses of sandbags;    (e) attaching said wall-holding means to said interconnecting members on both said courses so that said sheet extends between said courses; and    (f) repeating steps (a) to (e) one or more times to build one or more additional courses extending the height of said wall structure.    
     
     
         9 . A method according to  claim 8  wherein said wall-holding means comprises a sheet of geogrid.  
     
     
         10 . A method according to  claim 8  wherein said wall-holding means is one of a sheet of geotextile, a cable, a rod, a wooden member and a rope.