Sleepers retaining wall

[Carberry]

So ideally I need to keep softwood sleepers away from contact with soil. Does that mean poly sheet behind the sleepers or should i perhaps fill in immediately behind them with pea shingle so there's no water retention ?

If i bed and haunch in concrete will that not mean that a soaked sleeper would struggle to dry out being surrounded by concrete?

Maybe i should pay extra and go for oak. I don't like the sound of the 7 years life expectancy of softwood sleepers.

Softwood isnt necessarily 'soft' eg: Balsa is a hardwood.

[DNgroundworks]

So ideally I need to keep softwood sleepers away from contact with soil. Does that mean poly sheet behind the sleepers or should i perhaps fill in immediately behind them with pea shingle so there's no water retention ?

If i bed and haunch in concrete will that not mean that a soaked sleeper would struggle to dry out being surrounded by concrete?

Maybe i should pay extra and go for oak. I don't like the sound of the 7 years life expectancy of softwood sleepers.

Softwood isnt necessarily 'soft' eg: Balsa is a hardwood.

Didnt know that!

What i do is lay the first "course" on a bed of concrete, purely just to get levels.

On small stuff i concrete in 4x4 tanalised timber posts and screw/bolt into them, then line with visqueen.

I have also put small land drains and shingle behind the wall, as afterall it is a retaining wall.

We have and oak one to do, ill post pics when we actually get round to it.

[darrenba]

All these oak sleepers are about a 1/3 into the ground, bedded into tons of concrete

[r44flyer]

Nice looking project Darren!