Retaining Wall Inspection Logger
Retaining wall walkdown log — bulging, tilt, cracking, drainage weeps, MSE panel distress and toe erosion; GPS-tagged and offline.
New retaining wall inspection
Walls > 1.5 m deserve a documented look every 1–3 years; always after seismic events, heavy monsoon seasons or utility work at the toe.
Field guide: Retaining Wall Inspection Logger
Retaining walls fail by water and by surprise loads far more often than by age. Blocked weep holes turn a drained wall into a dam — hydrostatic pressure roughly doubles the load the wall was designed for — and the homeowner's innocent stockpile or new parking pad above the wall adds surcharge the designer never assumed. This logger walks the failure chain in order: geometry (bulge, tilt, translation), face condition by wall type, drainage function, and new loads above.
Geometry findings carry warnings in the picker because movement is the conversation-ender: a wall that has visibly bulged or rotated is consuming its safety factor in real time and needs an engineer, not a maintenance ticket. Everything else — staining, blocked weeps, minor face cracking — is the affordable maintenance that prevents that conversation.
Field tips
- Photograph the wall face-on from a fixed, findable spot (log its GPS) — bulge progression between visits is the key diagnostic.
- Check weeps in or right after rain: a dry weep in a storm is a blocked weep.
- A crisp new diagonal crack through masonry beats years of map cracking for urgency — fresh edges mean recent movement.
Records are stored only in this browser (localStorage) — export regularly. This tool aids field documentation; it does not replace your agency's official inspection procedures or engineering judgment.
Retaining Wall Inspection Logger — Retaining wall walkdown log — bulging, tilt, cracking, drainage weeps, MSE panel distress and toe erosion; GPS-tagged and offline. Free, offline-first and GPS-aware: open it on any phone, log in seconds, and hand your GIS team clean GeoJSON.
About Retaining Wall Inspection Logger
Retaining walls fail by water and by surprise loads far more often than by age. Blocked weep holes turn a drained wall into a dam — hydrostatic pressure roughly doubles the load the wall was designed for — and the homeowner's innocent stockpile or new parking pad above the wall adds surcharge the designer never assumed. This logger walks the failure chain in order: geometry (bulge, tilt, translation), face condition by wall type, drainage function, and new loads above.
How to use Retaining Wall Inspection Logger
- 1Enter the wall id / location and tap 📍 GPS to pin the retaining wall's exact location (or type coordinates).
- 2Work through the retaining wall checklist — every field matches what a real inspection program records.
- 3Pick a condition on the Stable / Monitor / Distressed / Urgent — engineer review scale; actionable findings are tallied automatically.
- 4Add notes and log the inspection — it saves instantly to your device, even with zero signal.
- 5Export the round as CSV for your asset system, GeoJSON for the GIS, or print a clean report.
Why use Retaining Wall Inspection Logger?
- ✓100% free, no sign-up — built for crews, not per-seat licences
- ✓Offline-first: records save to your device instantly and survive dead zones
- ✓One-tap GPS tagging with accuracy capture on every record
- ✓Exports CSV for asset systems, GeoJSON for GIS, and print-ready reports
- ✓Checklist and guidance aligned with FHWA HIF-22-017
Frequently asked questions
How much tilt is acceptable in a retaining wall?+
Many walls are intentionally battered (leaned into the soil), so compare against the design or adjacent identical sections rather than pure vertical. Apparent outward rotation that increases between inspections, or exceeds roughly 1–2% of height beyond design batter, warrants engineering review. Trend matters more than a single number.
Why are weep holes such a big deal?+
Most walls are designed assuming drained backfill. When weeps clog, water builds behind the wall and adds hydrostatic pressure that can approach or exceed the soil load itself — effectively doubling demand. Cleaning weeps and fixing surface drainage is the cheapest stability intervention that exists.
What's special about MSE wall distress?+
Mechanically stabilized earth walls are flexible systems of facing panels plus soil reinforcement straps. Watch for panel joint openings, cracked or displaced panels, and bulging between reinforcement layers — these can indicate strap corrosion or connection failure inside the fill, which is invisible from the face and definitely an engineering investigation.
Do small walls under 1.5 m need inspection?+
They rarely threaten life, but they fail by the same mechanisms and often hold up driveways and utilities. A two-minute log entry every couple of years — geometry, drainage, loads above — is proportionate, and the photo trail settles boundary and liability disputes cheaply.
Embed Retaining Wall Inspection Logger on your website
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