Crushed cinder block a substitute for crushed stone?

Question

I have two projects and I'm hoping there's a synergy between them. The first project is the demolition of a small cinder block wall that has just been completed. The second project is building a retaining wall out of stone. Question: can I smash the cinder blocks with a sledge hammer and use the result as a foundation for the retaining wall instead of modified crushed stone? If the answer is yes, that would save me the cost of dumping the cinderblocks and the cost of getting the crushed stone.

Lee Sam · Answer

Depends on the height of the retaining wall and what it’s holding back.
We like footings on undisturbed soil. In fact, depending on the soil we might compact it too.
If the soil is soft, we may require a few feet be removed and replaced with compacted gravel. This will help distribute the load over a greater area (the gravel area is usually 2 times wider than the footing) and rests on soil several feet lower so it will be stronger.
However, the gravel is not a random mix. The gravel is uniformly mixed with specific set of type, grade, amount, etc. that is designed to be compacted. So, if you just break up the cinder blocks, the breakage will be random and cannot be compacted properly.
If the retaining wall is only 2-3’ tall, then this will not be a problem. However, if the retaining wall is 8’ or more, then the compacted gravel must be done properly, including doing the lifts in 6-8” each and compacted as it’s installed up to 95% by volume.

Crushed cinder block a substitute for crushed stone?

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