Retaining Wall Design

Our staff specializes in retaining wall design. We have designed thousands of projects and hundreds of thousands of square feet of retaining walls. Since 2011, we have been a VALUED, LOCAL RESOURCE for retaining wall engineering and evaluation. You can see our walls in commercial developments; residential neighborhoods; and along highways, freeways, and bike/hiking paths throughout Minnesota and the surrounding five states. We provide quality service across the Upper Midwest.

We design many types of retaining walls including:

  • Segmental Blocks
  • Concrete Masonry Units
  • Boulders
  • Stone
  • Timber

Contact us today with your questions or to request more information.

We serve materials suppliers, contractors, landscape designers, civil engineers, architects, DOT’s, cities, counties, realtors, and homeowners.

A note to developers, home builders, wall builders and homeowners: Soil is a complicated, unique construction material that changes with different site conditions. An experienced, licensed Professional Engineer should be an important element of your professional design team. Call us with questions regarding this important topic.

Products we work with:

  • Versa-Lok Systems
  • Rockwood
  • Allan Block
  • Old Castle
  • Anchor Block
  • StoneWall
  • Keystone
  • County Materials
  • Marshall Concrete
  • Envirolok
  • …and others

We can provide design assistance for site development and grading projects for both Commercial and Residential (including homeowners). Contact us today for your retaining wall or site design needs.

Our Services:

  • Retaining wall shop drawings
  • Preliminary wall quantity calculations
  • Typical retaining wall cross-sections
  • Project-specific designs & details
  • General information/answers regarding retaining walls
  • Value engineering
  • Site design services
  • Forensic services
  • Expert witness services
  • Site Visits and Construction Review Service

Our Fees (effective July 14, 2023):

  • Retaining wall design: $1.00/sf with $1200 minimum.
    • This fee applies to standard delivery of 10 business days. 10 days may get extended during the construction season.
    • Designs other than those using conventional geosynthetic reinforcement methods may have increased design fees.
    • Complex projects with numerous walls and/or special conditions may have increased design fees.
    • Revisions will incur additional fees.
  • Expedited service fee: $300 or 20% of design fee, whichever is greater.
  • Construction site visits for walls engineered by Criterium-Twin Cities: $175/hour to include all site/travel/reporting time with a 2 hour minimum.
  • Pre-design visit: $675.
    • This is a visit to discuss options for your project when the design is not finalized. Work product is the verbal discussion and recommendations. If requested, a letter with some options based on your desires, site conditions, and our expertise will be provided.
    • Note that this fee applies to residential projects. The fee for HOA and commercial projects is determined on a case by case basis.
    • Travel surcharges apply outside the 7 county metro area.
  • Post built letter (sign-off letter, wall completion letter): $675
    • This fee applies to walls engineered by Criterium-Schimnowski.
    • This fee includes one site visit.
    • Travel surcharges apply outside the 7 county metro area.
    • CSE requires the following:
      • A minimum of one site visit to occur when final grading is completed.
      • Conformance statement from client.
      • Construction progress photos from client.
  • Existing wall evaluation: fee depends on size of wall, type of wall, & number of walls.
  • Fees are subject to change and ultimately determined at time of service agreement.

A note about Construction Review

Construction review is a critical part of segmental retaining wall construction. It protects all members of the project team (i.e., the owner, design engineer, contractor) from incorrect wall construction. Poor wall construction is the primary reason retaining walls fail. Utilizing the construction review services from us can help.

The following wall elements should be verified by the retaining wall engineer prior to and during wall construction:

  • Foundation Materials and Preparation
  • Drainage Aggregate
  • Segmental Retaining Wall Blocks/Wall Facing
  • Wall Backfill
  • Drainage Aggregate
  • Geogrid Reinforcement
  • Geotextile and Drainage Pipe

Contact us or complete an RFP on this website to request our services.