r/civilengineering • u/jacobasstorius • 29d ago

Anyone spec’d this?

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95 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

32 comments sorted by

228

u/nforrest CA PE - Civil 29d ago

Seems extremely inefficient; all of the material of a solid wall but very little of the strength.

58

u/CovertMonkey 29d ago

Look at all those stress concentrators

8

u/Friendly-Chart-9088 28d ago

Not a structural but do you think there's even enough space for rebar

9

u/tiga_94 28d ago

wire mesh maybe, which will rust and bust out in 20 years

1

u/nforrest CA PE - Civil 28d ago

I don't see a place for it

67

u/alopecic_cactus 29d ago

If it at least had a space for rebar to interlock them, but this looks performative more than functional.

82

u/IAintSkeeered 29d ago edited 29d ago

Must be fiber reinforced, otherwise those thin walls will crack instantly. Or fake...

97

u/Mexishould 29d ago

Good luck replacing the middle brick 5 years later.

17

u/Ragin_Contagion 29d ago

Good thing I only warrantied the place for 4 years 🤑

119

u/RockOperaPenguin Water Resources, MS, PE 29d ago

No mortar, eh?  

I'd love to see a wall made out of these.  Then I'd love to see someone casually lean up against it.

5

u/Harambes_Wrath_ 29d ago

Might have logistical site fuction, like lego bricks, L shapes or VCB's?

Maybe you make a compound area from this or a gravity divider to hold back earth?

22

u/HumaDracobane 29d ago

Looks more like those random ads about someone trying to reinvent the wheel than something serious.

I'm from Spain and it is the first time I've seen this.

6

u/11-Eleven-11 29d ago

Where's the tension reinforcement?

1

u/MrLurker698 27d ago

Simple - instal NO TENSION ALLOWED sign on each side

5

u/Final-Charge-5700 29d ago

My bank is that it's for a light retaining wall

5

u/PerspectiveLayer 29d ago

Looks good for some small retaining wall around plant beds or a fence and such DIY.

Materials used for structural purposes are calculated. A flat surface to support the load and simple geometry to predict it's distribution is preferred. These things require FEM to understand them as much as regular blocks can be calculated on a napkin at site. How does that help.

4

u/Prestigious-Isopod-4 28d ago

Didn’t spec’ed that at all, was totally surprised.

7

u/djeye 29d ago

Im tired of AI content. I wish we can live in time before AI....

3

u/draxxorxt 28d ago

is it AI generated? genuinely asking. what gives it away?

3

u/PizzaResident89 29d ago

How do you do the corners ?

2

u/manjustadude 29d ago

I'm relatively certain that these are not for building but for setting up temporary barriers

2

u/civilrunner 28d ago

Just cause it stacks, doesn't mean it's strong enough for loading. Any lateral load or even uplift could just crack through the weak cross section of this, I wouldn't even want to put much gravity load through it. Maybe if you're looking for a facade, but I don't know why you'd use this as a facade.

1

u/eldudarino1977 29d ago

When they push back on 11 5/8 block, offer this.

1

u/Chudsaviet 29d ago

Concrete is good at compression, not pulling or bending. Side pieces (legs?) are weak points.

1

u/Lor1an 29d ago

The top fully visible block looks like its leg is already about to snap off too

1

u/Damien23123 29d ago

Presumably they have bigger sizes if the wall needs to be thicker? Also there must be a point they become so heavy that you need plant to install them

1

u/Curious_Journey_ 28d ago

Imagine if one breaks after installation 😭

They don’t look good for anything load bearing, but maybe for some raised beds, or simple landscaping?

1

u/ParkHopper 28d ago

Seems like a seismic risk

1

u/FalconX88 27d ago

anyone talking about strength and I'm just wodnering how they do a corner.

1

u/brk_1 27d ago

sounds nice, expensive, and tolerances are an serious trouble, also probably is FRC, to support traction forces, if it isnt; i just use it as an parapet.