Patent ID: RE42680

Claim:
A soil reinforced retaining wall for an earthen formation, comprising: a) a plurality of welded wire soil reinforcing mats successively embedded in the formation one above the other in generally horizontal spaced relationship, each mat having a generally horizontal floor comprised of a gridwork of wires and a face comprised of generally vertically extending wires wherein the wires of the face of each mat are held against horizontal displacement by the reinforcing mat thereabove and are free to move vertically relative thereto; and, b) a welded wire backing mat disposed behind the vertically extending wires of the face of each reinforcing mat for movement relative thereto in a generally vertical plane, each backing mat having an element for supporting engagement with the next successive reinforcing mat thereabove and being spaced from the floor of the reinforcing mat therefor to permit the next successive reinforcing mat to settle to accommodate settling of the earthen formation.