LANDSCAPE ENGINEERING

LANDSCAPE ENGINEERING
Landscape engineering is the practice of
manipulating soil through grading, drainage, and
other land-form processes. It is an integral part of
the process for creating pleasant, functional, and
structurally-sound outdoor spaces. Landscape
architects employ engineering knowledge when
designing and building spaces.

LANDSCAPE GRADING
Landscape grading is a fundamental technical aspect of landscape architecture. It involves the remodelling of existing
land form to facilitate the functions and circulation of the site plan and to ensure adequate drainage. Knowledge of
site grading technology is useful in the site planning process. Detailed levelling is needed to make connections
between architecture and landscape, between indoors and out. The site to structure relationship is a visual as well as
a functional matter. The floor levels of buildings should be higher than the surrounding ground. Surfaces adjacent to
and outside buildings should also slope away from the building so that rain water will not easily enter structures or
undermine foundations.
The land may be graded or adjusted to suit the architectural or engineering requirements, or the architecture may be
adopted to meet variations in the ground level so that the original surface is disturbed the least. • Extensive
alterations in the landform may lead to unstable conditions resulting in erosion, landslides, floods, and a complete
destruction of ecosystem. 

LANDFORM
A landform is any natural feature of the Earth's surface, such as a hill, a lake, or a beach.
EXAMPLES OF GRADING AND LANDFORM MODIFICATIONS

Fig.1

1. Grading for drainage.

Surface drainage can be
achieved by pitching
surfaces to natural
drainage feature and
systems.

Fig.2

2. Grading for increased

site interest . Grading can
help emphasize a site's
topography or add
interest to an otherwise
flat site.
EXAMPLES OF GRADING AND LANDFORM MODIFICATIONS
Fig.3
3. Grading related to good views.

Fig.4

4. Grading related to bad views.

PRINCIPLES OF GRADING
The technology of grading represents a unique skill of landscape architecture and is connected with the process of
placing the diagram of the site plan onto a given topographical landscape. It is not only with fitting or
connecting buildings to the land but also with sitting use areas such as playing fields, parking lots, and
circulation routes. All these have specific criteria for slope, foundation depth, and drainage. Landscape
engineering or grading is concerned with economical development and with sensitivity to the existing
conditions.

FOLLOWING ARE THE MAJOR PRINCIPLES OF GRADING:

1. The ground surface must be suitable for the intended purpose or use.
2. The visual result should be pleasing.
3. The result of any grading must have positive drainage.
4. The grading plans should attempt to keep new levels as close as possible to the original state of
the land.
5. When ground is reshaped it should be done positively and at the scale of the machinery.
6. Top soil must be conserved wherever possible.
7. The quantity of cut should be approximately equal to the quantity of the fill.
CUT AND FILL
This method is the usual method of preparing a level area as it balances cut and fill. (Balanced cut and fill means
there is approximately an equal amount of cut and fill. This reduces grading costs as you do not have to dispose of
or import soil.)

Fig.5

The process of removal of earth from one part of site to achieve required grading and the place and using the dug
up earth to achieve required grading by filling it at another place on the same sit. The amount of material from
cuts roughly matches the amount of fill needed to make nearby embankments, so minimizing the amount of
construction labour.
 RETAINING WALLS
Any wall that sustains significant lateral soil pressure is a retaining wall. However, the term is usually used with
reference to a cantilever retaining wall, which is a freestanding wall without lateral support at its top.
For such a wall, the major design consideration is for the actual dimensions of the ground-level difference that the
wall serves to facilitate.
The range of its dimensions establishes some different
categories for the retaining structure as follow:
(a) Curbs
Curbs are the shortest freestanding retaining structures.
The two most common forms are as shown in Figure 6(a),
the selection being made on the basis of whether or not it
Curbs
is necessary to have a gutter on the how side of the curb.
Use of these structure is typically limited to grade level
changes of about 0.6m or less.
(b) Short retaining walls
Vertical walls up to about 3m in height are usually built as
shown in Figure 6(b). these consists of a concrete or
masonry wall of uniform thickness, vertical wall reinforcing,
and transverse footing reinforcing are all designed for the
lateral shear and cantilever bending movement plus the
vertical weights of the wall, footing, and earth fills.

When the bottom of the footing is a show distance below

grade on the low side of the wall and/or the lateral passive
resistance of the soil is low, it may be necessary to use an
extension below the footing – called a shear key – to
increase the resistance to sliding. The form of such a key is Short retaining walls
shown in Figure 6(c) Fig. 6
(c)Tall retaining walls
As the wall height increase it become less feasible to use the simple
construction shown in Figure 1(b) or (c). The overturning moment
increases sharply with the increase in height of the wall.
For very tall walls one modification used is to taper the wall thickness.
This permits the development of a reasonable cross section for the high
bending stress at the base without an excessive amount of concrete.
However, as the wall becomes really tall, it is often necessary to consider
the use of various bracing technique, as shown in Figure 2.
And based on material and technology used there are various
other types of Retaining Walls:
1. An earth retaining structure can be considered to have the
following types:
2. Gravity Walls
A. Reinforced Gravity Walls
I. Concrete Cantilever retaining wall
II. Counter-fort / Buttressed retaining wall Fig. 7 Tall retaining walls
III. Precast concrete retaining wall
IV. Prestressed retaining wall
I. Brick
II. Brick Masonry retaining wall
III. Stone
IV. Reinforced Soil Walls
A. Reinforced Soil
B. Soil Nailing
V. Hybrid System
A. Anchored Earth
B. Tailed Gabion
C. Tailed Concrete Block Fig. 8 Different types of retaining walls based on different
D. Miscellaneous techniques
 SURFACE WATER DRAINAGE
During rain or irrigation, the fields become wet. The water infiltrates into the
soil and is stored in its pores. When all the pores are filled with water, the soil
is said to be saturated and no more water can be absorbed; when rain or
irrigation continues, pools may form on the soil surface (Fig. 9).

The rainwater that falls onto their roofs, drive ways and other parts a building
and surrounding landform  drains to the public sewers. We call this surface
water. The surface water flows into designed gutters and swales or natural
valleys which are collectively called as surface water drainages.

SURFACE DRAINAGE
Surface drainage is the removal of excess Fig. 9
water from the surface of the land. This is
normally accomplished by shallow ditches,
also called open drains. The shallow
ditches discharge into larger and deeper
collector drains. In order to facilitate the
flow of excess water toward the drains, the
field is given an artificial slope by means of
land grading
Fig. 10
Benefits that occur due to the controlled removal of surface water by surface drainage systems are:
1. Erosion control.
2. Removal of surface water.

Excess rain or irrigation water will naturally flow to areas of lower elevation. The excess water may remain ponded,
causing poor aesthetic conditions as well as destroying turf or damaging buildings, homes and hardscapes. Surface
drainage structures can prevent these undesirable conditions and can often be located so they will not interfere with
the planned use of the site
There are many ways to manage surface drainage. Few of
them are:
1.BERM, a small hill covered with grass or other plants that 2. DRY WELL. As the name suggests, this is a hole in
will divert runoff around what you want to protect.  the ground that remains dry most of the time.

3. INTERCEPT THE WATER by using a swale, a shallow ditch with gently sloping sides. You can also use a French drain,
a gravel-filled trench that may have a perforated pipe at the bottom.