Truth be told, we really had no idea what the heck we were doing. But we did realize that we had no idea what we were doing. Because of this insight, we tended to err heavily on the side of caution. To be absolutely certain the wall wouldn't collapse we dug some deep holes, until we hit big rocks, and stuck a piece of rebar in and filled it with cement.
After getting a decent footing installed, we started building the actual wall. We built the wall using 6" x 6" x 20" limestone blocks from a local quarry. These weigh about 90-100 lbs each. They were delivered by the dumptruck load onto the driveway in the front of the house, and then moved, 2 or three at a time in a wheelbarrow, to the backyard where we cemented them into place.
The pink line that can be seen in the first 2 of the above pictures was the height line that we were using to tell us when to stop building the wall. It was also for keeping the wall level across it's entire 60' width. Each block was leveled individually, but small errors would be magnified if we didn't have that guiding line.
in case of floodWhen it rains here, it pours. Drainage was a concern, so we took two precautions. The first was to fill 2 to 3 feet behind the wall with gravel, so water wouldn't pool and wet, heavy clay wouldn't push the wall over. Also we put in some PVC pipes that drain excessive water through the wall over the hill. The pipes were drilled out and covered in a mesh to prevent fill from clogging them and rendering them useless.
