How to Build a Block Training Wall

Training walls are often placed alongside streams and river banks to direct the flow of water, especially when the river nears the coast. A body of flowing water along a training wall is much less likely than an unguided stream to jump its banks or cause erosion. You can build a training wall out of concrete blocks anchored to the stream bed with vertical steel rods to protect waterfront property and keep the river on course.

Steel rods
Sledgehammer
Concrete blocks
Shovel

Instructions

- 1
  Measure the distance between the center of the holes in the concrete blocks.
- 2
  Stand a 1-inch steel rod in the bed of the stream and as close to the bank as possible. Strike the upper end of the rod with a sledgehammer to drive it down until it will no longer move.
- 3
  Drive another steel rod next to it as far away from the first one as the distance measured in Step 1. Continue driving rods for the intended length of the wall spaced equally apart.
- 4
  Slide a concrete block down over two rods so that it rests on the stream bed. Slide another block over each pair of rods all the way down the line to create the foundation row.
- 5
  Lay a second row of blocks the same way as the first but this time offset the row by one rod for a staggered block formation. Offset each row from the row beneath it to create a brick-like pattern for extra integrity.
- 6
  Fill in any space between the wall and the bank with dirt once the wall has reached its intended height. Pack it down.

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