NC Civil Engineering

Unit:

F3J7 12

Title:

Civil Engineering Technology

COURSE NOTES
Outcome 4

Retaining Walls
Retaining walls are required where a soil slope would not be stable on its own and additional
support is required, or where there is insufficient space to form a stable slope. Retaining
walls are used to increase the level space available and to create cuttings and embankments
for roads etc. in undulating ground. The unstable soil pushes against the retaining wall.
Failure is the excessive movement of the wall due to the force of the soil, and can be
catastrophic. There are two main categories of retaining wall; gravity and cantilever. Gravity
walls are preferred where the change in height is small, cantilever walls require less space but
can be more expensive to construct.
The choice of wall type is influenced by site topography, the working space available and the
requirements for the final layout. Ideally for construction, the site can be cut back to a safe
slope starting from the formation level of the wall. Cantilever walls such as steel sheet piling
are used where this is not possible.

This Civil Engineering Technology unit considers only a limited number of types of gravity
retaining walls constructed in mass (i.e., unreinforced) concrete, masonry, reinforced earth
and gabions. Cantilever retaining walls in reinforced concrete and steel are introduced.
Other types of structures and materials are not included. Failure of retaining structures due to
ground instability is also not part of this unit.
Failure is avoided by the use of Factors of Safety in design. The factor of safety in general
terms, is the ratio between the failure condition due to excessive stress and the condition
expected in practice. A factor of safety of 2 would ensure that the stress is kept to the
value that would cause failure. The allowable bearing pressures (ABP) used in calculating
foundation sizes have factors of safety incorporated in them.
The downward action of gravity gives Weight to structures. Some structures depend on their
weight to resist failure. Examples include tall chimneys, some dams and retaining walls.
If gravity could be switched off (!) or reduced, such structures would fail by:
1. overturning, (figure 11.1 below)
2. tension, (figure 11.2)
3. or sliding, (figure 11.4)
Sufficient weight must exist to resist these failure modes. However weight adds another
possible way for a gravity structure to fail:
4. bearing on the ground, (figure 11.3)
These failure modes are illustrated in the figure below.

R. Whitlow, Materials and Structures, Pearson Longman, 2nd Edition 1991

Overturning
The horizontal force of soil behind a retaining wall may cause the wall to rotate about a point
at the toe of the wall (refer to figure 11.1) This moment is increased if the soil behind the
wall is waterlogged. Overturning is prevented if there is a restoring moment acting in the
opposite direction. The restoring force is the weight of wall acting downwards.
Tension in the joints
The horizontal force of soil behind a retaining wall may cause bending in the wall allowing
tension cracks to open at the back of the wall. The cracking will occur at the joints of a
masonry or brickwork wall and will cause deterioration of the wall leading to failure (refer to
figure 11.2) It is the weight of masonry above that effectively closes the cracks protecting
the integrity of the wall. Tension cracking need not be considered for mass concrete walls
where again the mass of concrete avoids the development of tension in the wall.
Bearing on the ground
The combination of downward acting weight and overturning moment causes bearing
pressure on the ground under the wall. This pressure is not uniform and is smallest at the
heel of the wall and greatest at the toe (refer to figure 11.3) In design, the pressure at the toe
should not be allowed to exceed the allowable bearing pressure giving a factor of safety of
around 3.
Bearing on the ground
If the underside of the wall were smooth, the force of the soil behind the wall would cause the
wall to slide (refer to figure 11.4) Friction between the normally rough base and the soil
resists movement.
Gravity dependent structures
The traditional materials for gravity retaining walls are mass concrete (ie concrete without
steel reinforcement) and brickwork. These walls are simple and cheap to build provided
sufficient working space is available and the wall height is small, typically 3m or less.
Although they remain structurally sound for a long time, their appearance deteriorates
quickly particularly concrete walls. Other types of walls are now more commonly used
because of their more attractive appearance. These walls may actually look better with age as
vegetation grows and softens the appearance.
Gabions
Gabions are stone filled baskets stacked upon each other is such a way as to form a gravity
structure which retains the slope behind. The stone is brought to site from local quarries and
therefore blends in with the surroundings. As with other gravity retaining walls, the bulk of
the resulting wall makes it unsuitable for sites where space is at a premium, but it is often

A93 Craighall Gorge realignment project, Perth and Kinross

used for river bank reconstruction, features alongside major roads and around housing areas
where a natural attractive appearance is preferred.
Reinforced Earth
Reinforced earth structures improve slope stability by reducing the likelihood of movements
within the soil mass. Often the material being retained is suitable imported material to raise
up an embankment for example to carry a road over a river valley in poor ground. The basic
concept is to include reinforcing straps or geotextiles in the ground to prevent shear or sliding
failures thereby improving the load carrying ability of the ground. Vertical side faces can be
produced using prefabricated modules.
Reinforced earth structures are generally used to create a platform at the higher level for
infrastructure or low rise housing.

Refer to data attached to the end of the notes.

The important difference between gravity and cantilever walls is tension. A gravity wall is a
purely compressive structure . The weight of the structure ensures that all parts of the
structure are being squeezed (compressed) by the loads. Thinner structural elements can
bend and therefore experience tension (a force stretching or pulling the element apart). At the
least, cracks caused by tension let in water and damage the structure. Excessive bending will
cause movement and failure of the retained material or the destruction of the retaining wall
itself. Design of cantilever retaining walls is more complex than design of gravity walls and
they tend to be expensive to construct. Their advantage is that some types can be constructed
at the boundary of the site maximising ground for development and that they can be
incorporated into the design of the project reaching much greater heights than would be
possible using gravity alone.

Cantilever Walls on Footings

A cantilever retaining wall is one that consists of a uniform thickness wall which is tied to a
footing. A simple example of a cantilever retaining wall is a basement wall of a house.
The width of the footing for a cantilever wall is very important. The footing is designed to
resist tipping or sliding forces which the earth exerts upon the wall. Also, the wide area of the
footing allows the weight of the earth to actually keep the wall from tipping in some
instances.
A cantilever is a beam supported at one end. A diving board is anchored at one end and hangs
out over the pool.
Cantilever walls or stem walls of reinforced concrete are the commonest type of gravity wall.
They are composed of a vertical or inclined slab monolithic with a slab base. Simple forms of
cantilever wall utilise the weight of the earth or backfill on the heel. This weight is added to
the concrete weight to provide resistance against active thrust. Such cantilever wall types are
known as T shaped. Most cantilever walls are economical for heights up to 8 m. This is
because of the necessity to provide adequate strength in the stem to base connection. For
greater heights, counterfort or buttressed walls are used otherwise the thickness of the stem of
the cantilever wall becomes excessive.
Reverse cantilever walls or L shape walls exist, which are composed of a vertical or inclined
slab monolithic with a slab base that projects in front of the wall slab.

Counterfort Retaining Walls

A counterfort retaining wall is very similar to a cantilever wall, except that it has one
additional feature. This wall has a triangular shaped wall which connects the top of the wall
5

to the back of the footer. This added support wall is hidden within the earthen or gravel
backfill of the wall. The footer, retaining wall and support wall must be tied to one another
with reinforcing steel.
If the structure is poured, often the retaining wall section and the support walls are poured as
one unit at the same time. The support walls add a great deal of strength to the retaining wall.
The supports make it virtually impossible for the wall to become detached from the footing.
As with cantilever walls, a counterfort wall should be designed by a competent structural
engineer.
Buttressed Retaining Walls
A buttressed retaining wall is basically identical to a counterfort wall except for one thing.
The support wall is on the outside of the retaining wall. They are visible. The buttresses add
incredible strength to the wall system. For the retaining wall to fail or tip over, the buttresses
would have to be crushed. The buttress concept was widely used in the construction of many
cathedrals in Europe. Because of the height of the cathedral walls, the buttresses helped to
stabilize them. They do the exact same thing in a retaining wall.

Source: BS 8002 1994

Vertical Retaining Walls (cantilever)

Another type of cantilever retaining wall derives its stability from embedment into undisturbed
ground below the reduced level:

Rigid retaining
wall
Soil forces
Reduced surface
Interlocking piles ref.: Evans Piling

Anchorage in ground
provides stability

Driven: Interlocking steel (or

vibrated)
sheet piles.
Reinforced concrete
cast insitu: Piled walls and
diaphragm walls.

Interlocking concrete piles (secant) ref.: Keller Ground Engineering

Steel sheet piles being pushed into the ground

Elevation of secant piled walls

http://www.hammersteel.com/applications.html

Why push sheets instead of vibrate?

Pushing sheets instead of vibrating has become a very common practice in areas where
keeping ground and noise disturbance to a minimum is required. Some of the concerns with
vibrating sheet pile in certain areas are that:

It is often ineffective in ground conditions such as plastic, dense clay or compacting

sands/gravels.
It can cause damage to surrounding structures resulting in litigation and repair costs.
It is often noisy.
It can cause settlement under existing structures such as roads, buildings, or adjacent
property.
The procedure is environmentally friendly, safe and allows future reuse of the piles.

References:
R. Whitlow, Materials and Structures, Pearson Longman, 2nd Edition 1991
D. Warren, Civil Engineering Construction, Design and Management
A93 Craighall Gorge realignment project, Perth and Kinross
http://www.maccaferri.co.uk/PAGES00538.html?id=R8gPLtE8
http://www.askthebuilder.com/B37_Retaining_Walls_-_Types.shtml
http://www.fusseypiling.com/Projects/pastprojects-6.html
http://www.civl.port.ac.uk/design_thread/Level%204/Structural%20Design%20in%20Practic
e/Foundations/Earth%20Retaining%20Structures.pdf
http://www.sbe.napier.ac.uk/projects/retwall/help/conccant.htm
http://www.nbnnews.com/NBN/issues/2005-03-28/Builder's+Engineer/
http://www.evanspiling.co.uk/
8