Retaining Wall on BART Trail near Earthquake fault  
 by
Jeevanram Srinivasan
Troop 154, Fremont

My name is Jeevanram Srinivasan and I am a current Life Scout who planned out an Eagle Project of building a retaining wall at Tule Ponds. The process of this retaining wall took a good amount of time, but it was worth it during the end. To set up the retaining wall, I had to plant down 4 posts equally separated into the ground. My retaining wall was 24 feet long and 30 inches high. To create the foundation, I had to first excavate 6 inches of the dirt hill behind the wall so there is enough space between the retaining wall and the hill. Next, I made sure to flatten the ground, and use an auger in order to dig 20 inches down into the ground. We then inserted the posts and mixed quikrete and water to create strong concrete. After this, we dug 2-4 inches behind the post line so the bottom of the plank would not be touching the ground. We drilled the planks into the posts and created the retaining wall.

 

   area before starting cutting back ground
Throughout this eagle project, several people had helped. I was extremely happy seeing 7 younger scouts sign up and work even though this was a project for older scouts. From those younger scouts, 1 parent signed up. The younger scouts did not let that stop them from helping dig manually if the Auger did not work and dig more whenever I had asked. They had done a really good job in listening to my instructions, and I greatly appreciate their contributions. I would not have been able to get the wall up in 2 days if they were not there. As this was a project for older boys, I also invited 2-3 of my friends over to help me dig down with the auger, but my brother mainly helped. After we had gotten the posts structured on work day 1, my family had come to help me drill in the planks for day 2. I highly appreciate them as my older brother had held the wall up right whenever I had to drill. He also did some drilling as well. This created the strength and backbone of the wall. Finally, my family and I had mulched the pathway in order to balance the trail. As we had completed everything, I was proud to say that I could finish my retaining wall in around 16 hours (of working time) with the help of my friends and family and 3 days across those 16 hours.
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                    making holes with auger proud family

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