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Fixing a Collapsing Wall in France

March 04, 2022 2 min read

Fixing a Collapsing Wall in France

The Collapse

In Mont Bellizon, France, Ed Westgate faced a collapsing 2m high retaining wall made up of rock and horizontal 125mm diameter timber stakes. With the cost of a rebuild looking north of £15,000 he knew there had to be a way of stabilising the wall to stop the imminent collapse. This is where the Easy Petrol Post Driver and Spirafix stepped in. The collapse had begun at the bottom of the wall where a number of the timber stakes had slipped out roughly 30cm. The solution was to install tie backs within the timber to offer the support required.

Infograph with users application

The Solution

Discovering how well both Spirafix and the Easy Petrol Post Driver worked together was a little case of ‘small world’. “I'd used Spirafix before on tying down a trampoline and between myself and Jake at Spirafix we came up with a plan. The solution was to drive a total of 10 x 1m long 50mm diameter Spirafix Ground Anchors into the wall and bank. We then attached steel channels to the end of the anchors. Jake strongly advised me not to use a sledgehammer as I'd be there for weeks, he advised me to use an Easy Petrol Post Driver. I thought ‘what is one of those?’ so I visited the website and up popped the face of a neighbouring farmer with the post knocker, so I phoned him up and he said ‘it's Simon at SPA Landscaping in Sheffield’ and I thought I know Simon from SPA Landscaping as I go swimming with him at Hathersage pool.” At this point it was a pure case of ‘lets crack on with the job’ and so Ed and his brother-in-law packed the van and drove out to France. Upon tackling the job, Ed tells us how he was able to complete it within a day.

“The evidence is there on the video, it was very simple, very easy to do, 2 man operation, with a modicum of practical and bit of common sense thrown in we achieved a solution. I prepared the timbers and that was probably around 4hrs work and then actually installing the Spirafix was literally 10 minutes per anchor, we had to set up the support mechanism, I say support mechanism it was a split pallet. However, we'd got the Spirafix installed by dinner time and by 3/4pm we were enjoying a beer admiring our work.” Versatility at its finest. By combining the power of the post driver with the range of Spirafix Ground Anchors, Ed was able to massively cut costs and time in completing the job. Watch the video that showcases the excellent work carried out and how, in the end, it was a very simple to secure the wall.