Berm ... what's that ?

Very soon after acquiring the land for my home, I ran into this term. The first time I heard 'berm' I actually asked the engineer to spell it for me. The other term I came across is 'retaining wall'. So let me tell you what these terms mean , at least in this context.

Our home site is shaped roughly like is wedge laid sideways - it has the Channagiri hill on the north side and a concrete road on the southern side. So far, so good. Now the sloping site has been slightly levelled. So the northern edge bordering the hill is about 12 to 15 feet below the hill side. Similarly on the southern end, the plot edge is higher than the concrete road with the height difference varying from about 8 feet at the eastern end to about 4 feet at the western end.

So why does this matter ? Well if there is nothing to hold the soil in place, the hillside will erode onto my plot and the soil in the plot will erode onto the road every time there is any rain !

Example retaining wall (left) & berm (right)

And what I don't need is for one massive monsoon downpour to cause the soil and rocks to cover my home once Ive built it.

So a berm is a sloping retaining structure of soil or random rubble used to hold the soil at the higher level in place and deter erosion. However the greater the difference between the two levels the wider the berm needs to be. If one doesn't have the luxury of space for a berm, the better option is a concrete reinforcing wall ...

...Why This Specific Site ?

...Discovering The Tree on The Boulder