Concrete walls are commonly used to form retention structures, such as a tank used for retaining wastewater. Casting concrete structures in place can be expensive due to the equipment required and the transportation of the equipment to the build site. Each of the concrete walls of the tank can alternatively be precast at or away from the build site of the tank, shipped to or moved on the build site, and assembled at the build site at a reduced cost and increased quality compared to casting in place at the build site.
Each of the precast concrete walls is dimensioned as necessary to retain the retained material, such as the wastewater, in the particular application of the retention structure. A height of the precast concrete wall is dictated by a desired height of the retention structure. A thickness of the wall is dictated by a maximum necessary retention strength of the concrete wall.
As the thickness and height requirements of each concrete wall increase, more concrete is required to build the overall retention structure. Further, when the concrete is precast off-site and shipped to the build site, shipping costs to the build site are a significant barrier to production and efficiency for precast concrete walls and are limited by an overall weight. In shipment applications, a width of the concrete wall is limited by the maximum overall weight, requiring more concrete walls to construct the retention structure and requiring more shipments. Each of these factors increases the cost of building a retention structure with concrete walls.