Sand Castle Holds Up A Car! - Mechanically Stabilized Earth

[@PracticalEngineeringChannel]

In the narration, I'm using the terms "soil" and "dirt" to mean any earthen granular material (including sands). A lot of non-US viewers have been confused by my mixing those terms. Sorry about that!

[@maxmogavero1624]

Do you live in texas?

[@markfryer9880]

There are various types of homes built using earthen materials, mud brick houses, rammed earth houses and there can be slight variations on these for example mud bricks that are formed inside sand bags. The next progression on from that would be to use a soil and cement mix in the sandbags.

[@Cecil97]

the ancient Chinese used similar methods to construct the great wall as well as the watch towers in area's where stone was not available, they has a layer of dirt and then added a layer of hay and kept that pattern. Some of those buildings are still standing today.

[@Cecil97]

who u flaming????

[@Thomas-rz5nt]

Nathan C you could use it for the base of the house if it goes on a hill

[@user-sb3wh3dd4v]

"I dropped a 25 pound weight from six feet up, to simulate what would happen if you dropped a 25 pound weight from six feet up." That's a perfect example of "engineer humor." Made me LOL, Thanks!

[@gaz789789]

Sorry I'm dumb I don't get it!

[@tylerrandolph195]

I laughed at that and replayed it so many times 🤣

[@samuelfraser8880]

Who else noticed it was only 20 pounds?

[@chandlerjones662]

He also called it a ‘barbell’ 😂😂

[@mydickisunbelievablysmallb8132]

Hmm yes, the floor here is made out of floor.

[@HydraulicPressChannel]

I might know one guy that has a hydraulic press...

[@PracticalEngineeringChannel]

+Hydraulic Press Channel Heck yeah! Do it! I can give you a diagram - it's really just sand and window screen.

[@HydraulicPressChannel]

+Practical Engineering I think I do this video in about 2-4 weeks. I have quite many videos booked already but I will link this video to my video since this is very interesting and well made.

[@PracticalEngineeringChannel]

+Hydraulic Press Channel Thanks! Just holler if you have any questions.

[@JeremyMcMahan]

+Hydraulic Press Channel I'll be watching for your video! Exciting collaboration!

[@Tyrog]

+Hydraulic Press Channel Oh my, history made in front of my eyes !

[@Tomartyr]

That kid who smashes my sandcastles is in for a surprise.

[@nguyenpham3593]

put a block of concrete inside your castle and watch the kid scream in pain

[@libertardsbeware4180]

He will break his legs

[@BoxofMadness]

His fault for trying to break sandcastle

[@JohnDlugosz]

Use cactus as an armature.

[@maddogmcfly5504]

take a backpack of quick dry cementto mix in with it, leave a legacy for others to admire :-)

[@DanHassan]

Is this why they put the extra piece of bread in a big mac?

[@BillyBob-qk6vy]

Yeah, if you dont have a reinforced big mac you end up with 5 big macs on the table/floor.

[@dwightshrute4364]

Lol!! Highly underappreciated comment.

[@yeahrightbear8883]

This comment is genius!

[@earthscrust9092]

Haha

[@yohanesyohanes1871]

epic comment lol

[@Mcofell1]

*"I dropped this 25 pound barbell from about 6 feet up to simulate what would happen if you dropped a 25 pound weight on the cube from 6 feet up."* This is why I love this channel.

[@ericstoverink6579]

HardHatCat And then we see clearly that it was in fact a 20 pound weight.

[@arklanuthoslin]

went back and checked - god dammit. it is 20.

[@oneofmanyparadoxfans5447]

Perhaps the bar itself was already five pounds.

[@Druid_Plow]

lol, i was gunna say the same thing. we're not doing science, we're doing engineering.

[@butterfinger4393]

That Bad BLU Spy no the bar is incuded in the 20.

[@jasoonpittard9900]

This reinforced dirt reminds me a lot of what plant roots do to keep the earth together.

[@smolboyi]

I was just thinking... how should/can I use this in the garden

[@lolbosss]

Now this makes me hate moles

[@linkwokeup]

Exactly, and why trees are so important for the long term sustainability of our soils, especially in areas of sloping country and flowing water.

[@namAehT]

Sod houses exploit this principle very effectively.

[@alexsavastru8125]

Well it's pretty much the same thing. Reinforcing earth with things that grow from said earth. Cool stuff idk

[@windykar3705]

7:14 "Dirt was probably your first construction material" *Flashbacks to my first minecraft house*

[@sep4106]

L O L

[@theodorvigilius4446]

So true

[@markuspl4y]

Underrated

[@trickydicky2594]

Got that GREEN TOOOOOP!!

[@meowtzy4099]

Hahaha right

[@karennakye]

IfI had watched your channel in my Final Year of High school, I would be a civil engineer instead of an electrical engineer.

[@dezcartez7345]

This hit different

[@oksowhat]

i am about to go to college, i took admission in computer science and engineering, his channel has literally made me fall in love with civil engineering, but there is not many oppunities in civil in my country until you are not from a good college

[@Blank-wv3uf]

Third year EE here, and I completely agree lol

[@oksowhat]

@@Blank-wv3uf dont be so exited, my brother took inspiration from YT, its just too much maths for him in civil moreover bleak placements

[@Seabass1206]

u can still do it

[@johnlawlor7931]

"I dropped a 20 lb weight from 6 ft up to simulate dropping a 20 lb weight from 6 ft up."

[@johnlawlor7931]

Liked for this quote, this guy is a comedy genious

[@baganatube]

25.

[@dasaint0]

he said "I dropped a 25 pound dumbell from 6 ft up to simulate during 25 pound weight from 6 ft" i don't think this was a joke, i think if he would have had a perfectly flat 25 pound weight he would have used it instead, like the other flat heavy objects he used.

[@tr0jan523]

John Lawlor Lol

[@KARMICHAEL11]

The other thing is, he said barbelll... when it's a dumbell... extremely funny though, gotta love engineer brains!

[@louisswanepoel1614]

No one laughed at the comment "This is an engineering channel, NOT A SCIENCE CHANNEL". This is the most beautiful line I have ever heard on KZbin.

[@micahchilders3911]

This. Everyone DOES know what happens when a car gets dropped on a regular pile of sand.

[@kovacszsolt6005]

That's because engineering isn't science. It's a different level. It's pure magic in real life.

[@Mezuzah87]

Yet most of his content is science. An engine didn't invent or implement these things. Just another engineer claiming scientific processes and innovations for themselves.

[@An_Urban_monk]

@@Mezuzah87 Science in and of itself is useless. It is just merely discovering and stating the actual state of the world with increasing accuracy. Scientists hypothesize, experiment, and state the obvious i.e. the intrinsic nature of the physical universe. Scientists add nothing to the world except content and knowledge of reality. Engineering on the other hand changes the world. By using that knowledge to design systems that didn't previously exist by leveraging the intrinsic qualities of the universe, often pushing to the boundaries of these qualities to maximize reality for the benefit of living things.

[@EidolonSpecus]

Yeah, people can't tell the fundamental methodological differences between Sciences, Engineering, Arts and Philosophy. Academic fields are not all just "Science of X".

[@ubelmensch]

I see now that when Anakin said that sand was coarse and rough, he actually was praising its mechanical engineering properties

[@aerodynamicist4]

Contrary to his hatred for granular materials, he sure did appreciate their physical qualities

[@stevepowsinger733]

Whoever Anakin was.

[@adamw1331]

@@stevepowsinger733 He was Your Father!

[@iantaakalla8180]

He was still fairly authoritarian, saying that “dissenting parties should be made to agree”.

[@cezarcatalin1406]

@@iantaakalla8180 He wasn’t wrong on that point though...

[@arvnd619]

I watched this video when it was posted, now am married and my wife showed a highway bridge and told me they used poor construction materials for the side walls which makes the bridge week. I immediately remembered this and showed her this video to make her understand. Thanks a lot for making videos like this to understand science in simple terms…

[@WilliamDye-willdye]

"I dropped this 25-pound barbell from about six feet up to simulate what would happen if you drop a 25-pound weight on the cube from six feet up." :-)

[@gtasandman]

then it rolls over and shows a 20

[@sigmafox5955]

Hahah yes I love it! Earned my sub right there

[@zajec11]

when you try to reach the word count on an essay 😂

[@Orc-icide]

yep

[@Kopfkissen21]

Arbeitssicherheit

[@WhatAreYouBuyen]

When I was a kid I used to use sea weed and layers of dirt to build my sand kingdoms. But I didn't know why it was always better... Now I know. Thanks

[@KnakuanaRka]

Ding it, I want so give some profound one-line quip in response, but I can’t figure out how to express it!

[@johncayenne-mccall3867]

My sister and I used to pretend seaweed was like rebar

[@pandu142]

You are natural born engineer brother!

[@Paul-sj5db]

Next time I'm at the beach, assuming we'll ever be allowed there again, I'm building a sand castle with reinforced sand.

[@alejochol9397]

same

[@jdgower1]

Come to Georgia - Now is your time to shine!

[@jdgower1]

@Romano Coombs LOL! We all got the Wuhan HELLA before 7/4!

[@allanstewart5682]

@@alejochol9397 Frenchman Henri Vidal (an engineer) patented reinforced earth in early 1960's after seeing his children building large sandcastles reinforced with , I think it was palm fronds, & being able to climb all over the castles which didn't collapse !!!

[@Jacob-yg7lz]

Imagine reading this without the context of the pandemic and thinking that you're referencing some unspoken event that got you and your family banned from the beach

[@IRAMightyPirate]

As a structural engineer who works with MSE walls I honestly have never seen a more practical demonstration for MSE walls. This is fantastic, subscribed!

[@harrypehkonen]

I set up our above-ground pool on sand last spring. Our yard is not level, so I got some sand to even it out with. I had visions of the pool being so heavy that it would push all the sand out from under it. It made perfect sense to add layers of landscaping fabric within the sand. It worked perfectly! Now that I found out that it's actually a "thing", I'm feeling so smart. Oh, Harry.

[@Hobbyrepubliken]

Did this with my preschoolers as an experiment today and it went really good. We used large rocks instead of cars though :)

[@PracticalEngineeringChannel]

Awesome!

[@nolanstrife7350]

It's been literal years since I first watched this video, and yet composite dirt experiment still remains one of the most memorable experiment I've ever seen It's not something flashy or bombastic like the stuff people like NileRed perform. It's just putting a weight of a car on a pile of sand. So simplistic yet it blows away all and all expectations

[@OmniversalInsect]

Most chemistry experiments aren't very visually interesting either

[@pedrova8058]

Of course you don't know the guy who synthesizes Cubane in his backyard woodshed LOL

[@charlesgmcd]

I dropped a 25 lb weight from 6ft to simulate dropping a 25lb weight from 6ft. Awesome.

[@valentine2430]

That was pretty much the greatest thing ever said.

[@HayateV3]

I just paused this video cause i was laughing too hard. this just earned a sub.

[@yuekang6098]

Same here haha

[@sleepwalker3520]

+Zarc could be metric/imperial..... hmm... nope

[@tsegayealtaye9760]

ethiopia fm12; radio

[@RealEngineering]

Great stuff!

[@Hallow_Ghost]

Lol didnt you get many likes even if youre verified.

[@theemeraldboat9947]

1:19 lol the earth is connected by love XD

[@tr0jan523]

TheEmeraldBoat Lol

[@StefanReich]

YEAH beautiful :)

[@c.g.jonesze9089]

It is simply true

[@kwcnasa]

OMG, i love this channel.

[@mattchopin2418]

TheEmeraldBoat ...Yes, love and the principles of buoyancy. It helps to know this works since the earth is flat, and also knowing that gravity has never been scientifically proven (gravity is only a constant to help explain the difference in buoyancy between an object of one density in a substance of another density), and also that water always finds its level... on this entire earth... so God's love and the principles of buoyancy... and electromagnetism, but that's enough for now.

[@landeuxmille]

"This is an engineering channel, not a science channel. We all know what would happen if we dropped a car on a block of sand." Perfect example of engineers lowkey throwing shade at real science hahaha.

[@skchan2]

I just want to say the same too 😁

[@syrthdr09sybr34]

And by "real science" we all know you mean fake mainstream brainwashing science.

[@mattn.8941]

@@syrthdr09sybr34 By "real science" he means real science... What are you on about?

[@syrthdr09sybr34]

@@mattn.8941 If you know you know. And you obviously don't.

[@mattn.8941]

@@syrthdr09sybr34 Conspiracies aside, you can't bash all of science because of cherry-picked results, flawed studies, or straight up faked data. The scientific method has greatly assisted humanity with innovation and research. The OP was talking about real science, not whatever you're thinking of.

[@BenKarcher]

One thing you didn't touch on is erosion. Even if the soil has a capacity to bear thousands of pounds of pressure it can be quickly worn away by rain. I assume that is the main reason the panels are used: To protect soil from rain and slow erosion.

[@PracticalEngineeringChannel]

Thought I mentioned that, but it's been a while!

[@JoahTheThread5ive]

I bet it provides a bit of extra support plus, I would imagine without it the dirt would spill out on its own little by little.

[@PracticalEngineeringChannel]

@@colemanadamson5943 5:23 raveling = erosion

[@_wayward_494]

@Coleman Adamson.....No....he did mention erosion in the video. Im glad Practical Engineering mentioned it. Its quite important

[@runcycleskixc]

yeah, I just meant to ask the same thing

[@goldenages7089]

I've seen a ton of rammed Earth videos where they make walls in this manner, but I have never seen anyone use a layering material to increase the load bearing properties of the walls. Thanks for this. I will be implementing this into my real life Minecraft house I'm going to build..

[@JohnPoteet]

Not widely known is The Great Wall of China is exactly this sort of reinforced earth with facing construction project. Most of the wall by volume is local dirt with layers of willow branches to add shear strength.

[@DanielBeecham]

Some of the great wall - depending on who you ask - is also mountains and rivers, and some of it if big trenches. I'll let "stuff you should know" podcast be my source.

[@pedroisaacs6212]

Thanks Brady, really informative. I now understand how the romans built the seige ramp at the siege of Massada. They intelaced tree branches between the soil layers which allowed them to build the ramp at a very steep angle.

[@StephanieVargasMusic]

I wondered about that too!

[@tommclean9208]

your channel is insanely good, I'm loving how your channel is technical and yet understandable

[@PracticalEngineeringChannel]

+Tom Mclean Thanks!

[@jasondads9509]

"For the sake for science, we probably should do a control test with no reinforcement but, this is not a science channel, its an engineering channel" that just reminds me of the physics vs engineer memes. subscribed

[@mraider94]

Should contact the hydraulic press channel and do a colab. See how far different reinforcements will go.

[@zollotech]

great idea

[@sam0vice]

Actually I did this before reading this :D

[@sleepwalker3520]

Definitely! if it can be crushed it will be😃

[@Orc-icide]

"the hydraulic press channel" because there's only one and traveling is so easy

[@matthewgold3054]

They did it.

[@rawrbowser]

I probably already commented in this post. I build a sandstone addon drive way, resolve keeps sinking in the surrounding dirt. You warrant on geological dirt re-enforce best video ever. I can't thank you enough.

[@doubledarefan]

I did a similar thing during my kid years in my backyard with plain old dirt and some fiberglass roof shingles that were laying around.

[@Private27281]

Double Dare Fan why were they laying around?

[@doubledarefan]

A shed was demolished and the mess was never totally cleaned up. Total cleanup did happen a year or 2 later.

[@tjja7321]

Proof for 7:15 also cool! I “invented” file compression before learning that file compression was a thing. Did you know it would do that?

[@seededsoul]

Good job. Did you become an engineer?

[@chriscaahbaugh2246]

About 20 years ago I did the same thing this guy did to show off to tmy kids and thier friends...😂😂😂 they evan brought thier parents over to see it....this stuff is taught in middle school(earth science) but most of us forget it..

[@chopinbloc]

6:59 This is one of the funniest things I've ever heard.

[@loganpowers4833]

hahahaha i love it

[@NavyMitchell]

Came here to say this

[@chopinbloc]

+NavyMitchell lol

[@dizquier91]

Haha, i thought the same thing!

[@XiAwesomeGodziX]

reminds me of the "Ten people died in the Bronx last night due to a fire that killed ten people in the Bronx last night during a fire" lmaoooo

[@me-un4jl]

Very cool! I ran into this when installing a retaining wall at my house. Code required that you layer in plastic geogrid (looks like temporary fencing) for a few feet away from the wall when backfilling. I kinda understood why, but now I fully appreciate the merits of it!

[@davidcalderwood4131]

Dude, that was great. I worked for three summers doing geotechnical work and didn’t know this. This was awesome. Thanks.

[@Snaily]

This was the video that introduced me to this channel and, looking back, you've got MUCH better at literally everything since then.

[@SorryBones]

“Engineered dirt” I guess nothing is overlooked when it comes to human ingenuity huh

[@mftripz8445]

SorryBones from dirt to wood homie

[@Cheepchipsable]

He doesn't mean soil, he means "clean" sand or granular particles, like the kind they dig out for construction. You could use regular soil, but you would probably need to process it to remove any organic material from it.

[@LorcanG]

7:00 I'm dropping this 25 pound weight 6ft up to simulate dropping a 25 pound weight 6ft up

[@rogerfroud300]

It's great to find a channel where you can find things you've never heard of, despite being in Mechanical Engineering all my life. Absolutely fascinating.

[@isaahsan9395]

"I dropped a 25lb weight to simulate what would happen if a 25lb weight fell on the block" 😂😂

[@WeskerUmbrella4]

I've been binge watching your videos for a couple of hours and i can honestly say that you've really sparked my interest in engineering. Really clean explanations without getting too technical into it and there's always a practical and a real world example of how it works, which makes it so easy to understand.

[@Ilamarea]

Holy shit! That's why they put plant matter inside the Great Wall of China! This is some ancient wisdom right here!

[@TOASTEngineer]

Goes to show, people really weren't any dumber back then; they just didn't have the benefit of the ~5000 years of experience that we do.

[@jonnygat1580]

Using plant material as reinforcement in soil based constructions has been documented well before the Great Wall of China. Its use was widespread in Babylonia and the Assyrian Empire both of which date back to just shy of 2500 BC, and its use existed (though to a lesser extent) even earlier, in the early Egyptian dynasties.

[@joelights6476]

seigeengine, Jonny is probably talking about using straw to reinforce mud bricks. That's been done since ancient times.

[@minixllc4860]

As I was building a spa to an existing pool today and I need to pile dirt up to 5' high in the next couple of days, I thought of this video which I had seen on the past already, so I looked for it again to understand the concept of reinforcement layers and I got my bright idea of how to do it by implementing this method in a much bigger scale than just a cube. Thank you for your indirect help. My son and my self love watching your videos😀😀

[@QueenBeee]

That fact that you put Love for what holds earth together made me cry. Beautiful

[@anonymousbosch9265]

Dimension 47 I read it aloud to my wife and daughter and they rolled their eyes thinking it was one of my dad jokes

[@faustin289]

No. That's only poetic or figurative at best. Love is a function of a conscious mind. There are shitloads of planets out there that are not inhabited by conscious beings and they hold just fine. It's called gravity, thank you!

[@tomast9034]

love is in slang money, at least here.

[@randallmacdonald4851]

I love learning new things. It never occurred to me that those decorative walls hid reinforced earth. Wow. Even the concept of reinforcement was new to me. Thanks!

[@hannahkan0622]

**Well that's why I build my Minecraft bunkers out of dirt n00bs**

[@TmanTyler619]

yiu yeung Kan and sand

[@Saamniferu]

Lol yiu and same idro

[@DisKorruptd]

you're supposed to throw in some wool to reinforce it

[@jodi8076]

These short, relatively straight forward, videos are great for my kids and our homeschooling! It opens conversation and thought processes for more in-depth research. Thanks

[@luckydal2059]

That’s really cool that you’re exposing them to mechanical engineering!

[@crystalking2468]

Of course dirt is cheap,it's everywhere! Just punch the ground 3 times.

[@JTA1961]

Hence the saying... dirt cheap. 📉😎📈

[@NeverSnows]

instructions wheren't clear. i broke my hand and kidnaped a cop.

[@bucket1442]

Instructions unclear, defeated an interdimensional dragon.

[@nunyabiznes33]

Instructions unclear, fell into the Void.

[@GameandGig]

Great video, as always, Grady! Keep them coming

[@BenBrandt22]

That was more interesting than I expected. Very cool.

[@off_mah_lawn2074]

The planet held together by love. I appreciate you Grady

[@Waluigi_]

Finally I can build the best sand castle

[@Vagitarion]

When you dropped that barbell, I was relieved to see it didn't bounce onto your mechanically unstabilized foot

[@DigGil3]

"This is an engineering channel, not a science channel." Nice. It's funny because usually people forget there is a difference.

[@ilovefunnyamv2nd]

DigGil3 I wouldn't say difference, call it a sub suction. engineering is the science of design.

[@alanostner4909]

Thanks!

[@redcastlefan]

*Bully tries to kick sand castle* *breaks foot cuz reinforced soil*

[@gansetsukon]

I'd like to see that XDDD

[@blockcamp]

can relate

[@Helperbot-2000]

Or when one kid kicks my foot, but i have reinforced shoetips!

[@kerbotr]

Reinforced MP5 for the bullies the best song is Run run baby run run

[@lolbosss]

*laughs in boot*

[@goober239]

"This is an engineering channel, not a science channel" *SHOTS FIRED*

[@TheJttv]

the same concept is used in shipping pallets with what is known as a slip sheet that is placed between layers of boxes

[@PracticalEngineeringChannel]

+Jttv very cool. I didn't know that.

[@karelbroda8877]

As a professional, geotechnical engineer, I want to thank you for explaining engineering in simple, fun and understandable form to the public. What would the civilized world do without engineers? Look no further than the “original”, aboriginal nations in Africa, Australia, Asia and South America.

[@Qwarzz]

"Unfortunately I don't have a hydraulic press so...". Now I see why Hydraulic Press Channel decided to try this :)

[@yousorooo]

Someone posted this video onto Reddit and he picked it up

[@fiveohfivethree]

I love the internet!

[@uvbe]

Qwarzz Im some months late, but could I have the link?

[@Qwarzz]

Look for "Crushing reinforced sand with hydraulic press"

[@ryanm.191]

6:59 This sentence sums up what engineering is

[@Schranzoslavek]

Hydraulic Press Channel sent me here ^^

[@Ztingjammer]

Same here!

[@philipcai9499]

FUGGG :DDDDDdDDDd

[@Schranzoslavek]

XD--DD:DdddD

[@usmc_1998]

These are so great. I am on a construction admin team, with all levels of engineering knowledge from our admins and techs to licensed PEs and there is something here for everyone.

[@sofhie5110]

Scientist: We need cheap constructing material Minecraft player: problem solved

[@RobertMilesAI]

You used paper towel, t-shirt fabric, and fibreglass screen. But what do they actually use in highways etc?

[@Weewee17367]

BeGamerSl lmao

[@StriderCX]

Robert Miles They use love, man. They use love.

[@MrAnperm]

The bones of those who died during construction

[@snowstarsparkle]

Paper towel, t-shirt fabric, and fiberglass screen

[@GODSOFTHEGUITARS]

Excellent source

[@Neo-po2xw]

wow things around us are really complicated and well engineered. Love it.

[@kshxfkt76pz7]

Awesome video. Now I understand how tree roots stabilize earth, and why we get mudslides after brush fires (the roots also burn up, removing the reinforcement). Thanks.

[@MelonMafia1]

2:36 This shot made me realize mountains are just giant piles of dirt

[@WSmith1984]

No, they are solid rock that was deformed into shape through intense pressure. The pressure was generated by tectonic action.

[@rezandrarizkyirianto-1933]

@@WSmith1984 No, Winston. The Party expressly states that mountains are giant piles of dirt. Therefore,your opinion is invalid. You have commited a thoughtcrime and you shall be sent to Room 101 where you will be re-educated. Long live Big Brother and Oceania.

[@WSmith1984]

@@rezandrarizkyirianto-1933 It looks like I am going to have a double plus ungood day...

[@anondimwit]

THEY CAN BE ROCK OR SOIL

[@A55455In47I0n]

@shadyshawn trismegistus Technically good sir you are incorrect, the agrogates of multidirt rock materials are hydrichemicaly seraphimaly composed of irregular compacted ailmenting... ya its dirt your right.

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

_"...but some of us have dirtier minds than others."_ I see what you did there...😊

[@Cameron330ci]

that stuff must be *dirt cheap*

[@fryncyaryorvjink2140]

YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

[@RWBHere]

I don't *under sand* your comment...

[@Rusiputki]

You should go to a building site or a quarry and buy a bag of sand. You are in for a shock when you find out the price....

[@G.I.Jack69]

Your sense of humor is really *soiled*

[@BraddahSpliff]

Dirt is not cheap.

[@jtd8719]

This is one of the best descriptions and demonstrations of reinforced soil that I have seen. I will shamelessly refer others to this video when trying to explain the idea.

[@zidaryn]

6:47 "My Mazda grocery hauler" awesome line.

[@delroypeters2765]

This is so clear and structured, I immediately subscribed! Looking forward to seeing more interesting topics on water resources

[@matttlitke]

"I dropped a 25 lb weight from 6 feet up to simulate dropping a 25 lb weight from 6 feet up" 😂😂😂

[@jarrydbowater1790]

I’m about to upskill to a cert 3 in Civil Construction. I think this channel is going to help me more than weeks of theory and paperwork!

[@earlgrey2130]

You say dirt, i see sand.

[@PracticalEngineeringChannel]

Just curious, are you from the UK? I've been getting this comment a lot, and I think there might be a stronger distinction between the words there. I'm using "dirt" tongue-in-cheek to refer to generic granular material (basically a synonym for soil).

[@earlgrey2130]

Practical Engineering No i'm from switzerland. But hey.. in the end it doesn't matter. The point is that i was absolutely suprised by how strong that reinforced dirt/sand (whatever) was! Really cool video. Thanks a lot for making it :)

[@dickhead8775]

I am from the UK and we would always call this substance sand, never dirt. Great video, by the way.

[@nevar108]

From Canada, and that is sand for us to. Dirt typically has organics in it and rarely if ever used in structural construction.

[@beakus71]

nevar108 .....maybe concrete........

[@ronanclark2129]

It's so simple and I was an inch away from never knowing it

[@superchargedpetrolhead]

It's sand castle time...

[@RoadsideRescue]

I had that same jack. I loved it. Nice and portable.

[@Darkherring]

Hi, are you aware that FB page Mashable is using your content on their page?

[@Killbayne]

This is why watermarks exist; Facebook and Instagram clout chasers.

[@HoffmanEngineering]

Amazing video, your explanations are clear and informative, and the video is still entertaining. I was sad when dirt didn't map to Love though.

[@DeDeNoM]

Apparently it doesn't stand a chance against a hydraulic press. :P

[@LJdaentertainer]

*hydraulic breast

[@itokuun]

*hydraulic press

[@freddyfredrickson]

I watched his version of this and the spacing between screens were much larger compared to surface area. I am sure that greatly affect the strength. However, I suspect with that press it really wouldn't matter how it was built.

[@PracticalEngineeringChannel]

Haha I guess not. It still held several tons before the reinforcement failed. I call that a success!

[@MLMechanic]

I believe he said 3-4 tons. That's pretty cool!

[@franciswayungi8896]

I reccently came across this channel & I am already greatly in love with it. I have always seen these MSE structures every on our roads & wondered what they are. It feels better to know what they are now & I feel i have more control of my environment from watching this channel . KNOWLEDGE IS POWER !!!

[@fl260]

''What holds it together?'' Earth > Love Earned you a subscription! :D

[@floricide9669]

gravity

[@infinitepower98]

@@floricide9669 iM just not ganna say the word but Can you just re read this comment

[@infinitepower98]

@Benjamin Joshua Beggs Pretty sure he wasnt

[@b-h-t]

@@infinitepower98 You don't spead much love here. But at least nor do you spread much gravity...

[@pagghr51]

to a non engineering guy.. this was amazing and makes you wonder how intuitive we really can be..

[@Gregemio]

1:15 - Love holds he world together. Nawww Grady - stop it you!

[@Derrick_Crenshaw]

One of the coolest videos you've done yet. I've seen so many of these MSE retaining walls built alongside highway systems locally and always wondered about the safety of it. Astounding how solid it really is. Very cool!

[@uabir8338]

Now I know that engineering is not science. I'll make sure to let my engineer friends know over and over again.

[@rapierlynx]

Of course engineering isn't science. They have completely different goals. Science seeks to learn about the world and universe we live in. Engineering uses what scientists learn to solve practical problems. That's probably oversimplified, but close enough. Also, an engineer would be satisfied with a "close enough" answer, if a sufficient factor of safety is applied. We don't have to know the exact breaking strength of a bridge, for example, as long as we're pretty sure it's twice as much as the biggest load we expect to be on it.

[@BigUriel]

@@rapierlynx What are you talking about, engineering is science, or if you want to be really pedantic about it, it's the practical application of science. The distinction here, and made in the video, is that when people hear the word "science" they usually take it to mean academic theoretical science. Which often takes a lot of unnecessary extra steps, in this case there is no point in testing what happens to a lump of sand when you try to support a car on it, it's obvious. Or when he dropped the 25lbs weight a scientific paper would have weighed it with some calibrated scales and written down the exact weight which probably isn't exactly 25lbs, but for you and me and anyone making blocks of reinforced sand who cares if it's 24 or 26. Without engineering science is just a massive waste of time.

[@American-Plague]

Now that *I* know this I'll be telling the next inspector who shows up on my jobsite "F**k off! No, you CAN'T come in! You don't need to inspect anything! It's not like this is a science or anything!"

[@jdgower1]

Science is more about precision, while engineering is more about accuracy. In other words, engineering has to deal with a myriad of changing "constants" in order to make things work in the real world - therefore it has to allow for a whole lot of imprecise conditions while still maintaining the viability of whatever system it is concerned with. Science, however, is based on specific nodes of data that define the limits of those systems. Basically, engineering is hella based on science - but whatever science a particular species of engineering is based on is cast broadly in the design process. Engineers have to "over design" just enough for the required safety factor ("I have to make this 'thing' twice or three times or five times stronger than it really needs to be"), while also making it affordable to build. In short, everything about engineering is about "efficiency". Make it better than it needs to be, but don't go overboard and break the bank. What he said is not to imply a contradiction between science and engineering - just a distinction between the two.

[@inthefade]

Hudrolic Press sent me, and I am now a subscriber. Really cool video.

[@akkupackage]

hudrolic

[@SatelliteYL]

“I dropped this 25 pound weight on a section of MSE to simulate what would happen if you dropped a 25 pound weight on a section of MSE” genuinely laughed out loud at that lmao

[@me-un4jl]

I just love this video. I think about it every time I see a retaining wall. It's the perfect mix of informative and interesting. It's something most people don't really understand, either. Even people that should.

[@ocass66]

Who else is bringing construction paper squares to the beach after seeing this?

[@mrhutt857]

PE, I am an engineering tech III in FL. We use straps which are attached to the inside of our MSE walls. At 6", sometimes we get 60 - 70 lifts.The straps are incredibly effective long term, except within the 3' perimeter inside the wall due to the 90% requirement for density testing (the fear of the wall bowing due to the increased compaction is real). Can adding extra straps in a criss-cross fashion in this zone combined with greater compaction help solve this problem? The settling of approach slabs is another problem when it comes to this issue. There's nothing quite like that DIP! in a 70 MPH zone...

[@stevetaylor7530]

MrHutt k

[@jaym8299]

This has been in my suggested videos for 3 years.. Finally watched it n it was pretty cool actually.

[@superandreanintendo]

Oh jesus. Not even in my surveyors school is explained this amazing thing :O

[@sethapex9670]

That fiberglass screen actually seems like an ideal reinforcement material for this type of engineering since it is porous and will let water through.

[@immaleaf4964]

runoff will carry the granular material with it, you want a material that drains similarly to the soil, I think the fabrics are called geotextiles and they can be matched to different soil types

[@sethapex9670]

@@immaleaf4964 I was going to use concrete retaining walls to hold the material in place, as well as not exceeding the natural angle of repose of the soil.

[@TreeManBen]

Apparently it doesn't SAND a chance against the hydraulic press channel. Sub'd anyway. :)

[@TheBanjoShowOfficial]

Dude everyone has made that joke you're not original.

[@herbderbler1585]

Sure it was an obvious pun. There's no reason to be so coarse about it.

[@Osama_Abbas]

One of the best channels on youtube. Thank you.

[@lukestratakos156]

"Dirt is cheaper than just about anything else out there" *Shows sand*

[@tamerlane9889]

air

[@MehediHasan-dl7le]

earth, water, fire, air. what element to master next.

[@daniel_sinaga1978]

@@MehediHasan-dl7le you must be avatar to master all the element

Earth, wind and fire.