Rebar in a supporting wall

[Ramsey]

I need to construct a retaining wall about 1.6 metres high. The shape of the wall is semi-circular.

I will be building the wall out of 7 newton concrete blocks, behind a purbeck stone wall (dry-stone effect – with scratched out joints).

My question regards the foundations. I have dug out to about 2 foot. Do I need to compact hardcore at the bottom of this or can I just pour concrete. Also, will I need to include vertical rebar to strengthen the concrete block wall? If so, how do I go about doing this? I have been told that I would need to stick rebar into the wet concrete at 9 inch spacings. I don’t really know how I then build the wall using concrete blocks around the rebar. Any help much appreciated.

Ramsey

[seanandruby]

You will need to pour the base now you have dug it, or pour say 300 and bring up the rest to ground level in suitable materials, ie engineering bricks. you only use re-bar in "wet" concrete so use hollow blocks filled with concrete with the rebar coming through same. Re-bar must be anchored into the base concrete. at 1.6 high you should be seeking advice from a structural engineer.