Batter

Category: infrastructure

The intentional receding or backward slope of a masonry wall face as it increases in height.

The exact opposite of a corbel, a batter is heavily utilized when building high stone or block retaining walls. Sloping the wall face back into the soil grade significantly shifts the center of gravity backward, expanding the wall’s native capacity to resist lateral earth pressures.

Common Examples

• The civil engineering design specifies a precise one-inch backward batter for every vertical foot of stone retaining wall layout.
• Maintaining a uniform structural batter line prevents the heavy dry-stack stone assembly from tipping forward under saturated soil loads.