Lateral Earth Pressure

Course: CE-821 Soil & Site Improvement

DR. USAMA KHALID
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
PH.D. CIVIL ENGINEERING
SPECIALIZED IN GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
[email protected]
Lateral Earth Pressure - Contents

1. Introduction
2. Definitions
3. Lateral Earth Pressure( At Rest, Active And
Passive)
4. Rankine’s Lateral Earth Pressure theory
5. Coulomb’s Lateral Earth Pressure theory
 1. Introduction
ØVertical slopes of soil are supported by retaining walls, cantilever sheet pile walls,,
braced cuts, and other, similar structures.

ØLateral earth pressure is lateral stress from soil laterally on soil retaining
structures.

ØRetaining structures may be classified as :

ØRetaining walls

ØSheet-pile walls
ØBasement walls

ØThe proper design of these structures requires estimation of lateral earth pressure
(LEP).
 1. Introduction

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(R.P. Weber)

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(R.P. Weber)
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1. Introduction

5
Types of RC
Gravity Walls
 1. Introduction

ØA retaining wall is a structure that is used to support a vertical or near

vertical slopes of soil. The resulting horizontal stress from the soil on the

wall is called lateral earth pressure.

ØTo determine the magnitude of the lateral earth pressure, a geotechnical

engineer must know the basic soil parameters – that is, unit weight , angle

of friction , and cohesion c – for the soil retained behind the wall.

ØIn the evaluation of the magnitude of this lateral earth pressure, it is

assumed that the soil behind the wall (called backfill soil) is on the verge of

failure and obeys some failure criterion, for example, the Mohr-Coulomb

failure criterion. 7
 1. Introduction

ØLEP is a function of several factors, including the following:

ØThe type & amount of wall movement
ØType of backfill used

ØThe effective unit weight of the backfill soil,

ØGround water position
ØThe drainage condition in the backfill
ØGround Surcharge

ØSurcharge application

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 2. Definations
ØBackfill: is soil at back of retaining structures, which can develop LEP. This
soil in practically, granular, but sometimes may be c- soil.

ØAt rest earth pressure coefficient (K0) is the ratio between the lateral and
vertical principal effective stresses when an earth retaining structure is at rest (or
is not allowed to move at all).

ØActive earth pressure coefficient (Ka) is the ratio between the lateral and
vertical principal effective stresses when an earth retaining structure moves away
from the retained soil.

ØPassive earth pressure coefficient (Kp) is the ratio between the lateral and
vertical principal effective stresses when an earth retaining structure is forced to
move against a soil mass.
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3 Lateral Earth Pressure ( At Rest, Active And Passive)

Three Types of LEP

i. PRESSURE AT REST-If the wall restrained/Fixed from moving – the

LEP at any depth is referred to as earth pressure at-rest

ii. ACTIVE EARTH PRESSURE-If the wall tilts away from the retained

soil –Active earth pressure.

iii. PASSIVE EARTH PRESSURE- If the wall is pushed into the

retained soil –Passive earth pressure.

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 3 Lateral Earth Pressure ( At Rest, Active And Passive)
Type of lateral Earth pressure developed on retaining walls :(a) at
rest,(b) active &(c) passive

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 3.1 Lateral Earth Pressure At Rest
ØIf the wall is rigid and does not move with the pressure exerted on the wall, the soil
behind the wall will be in a state of elastic equilibrium. Consider a prismatic
element E in the backfill at depth z shown in Fig.
ü The total force Po, per unit length of the wall can be calculated from the pressure
diagram as:
sh sh
= = constant = K
sv g z

Where: Ko is the “at rest” earth

pressure coefficient
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 3.1 Lateral Earth Pressure At Rest
If the wall is at rest and is not allowed to move at all, either from the
soil mass or into the soil mass (i.e., there is zero horizontal strain), the
lateral pressure at a depth Z is:

But for s h = K os ' Without GWT

soils; o

If GWT is
But for C- soils; s h = K os + u
'
o there

sho = Ko γH – 2 c (Ko)1/2 Where

u = pore water pressure
Ko = Coefficient of at-rest
earth pressure 13
 3.1 Lateral Earth Pressure At Rest
Jacky eqn-For coarse material/NC soils K o » 1 - sin f '

For overconsolidated
( )
K o = 1 - sin f ' OCR sin f '
ü The total force Po, per unit length of the wall can be
calculated from the pressure diagram as:

üBased on experiments, the typical value of K0 is about 0.40 – 0.50 for sand, 0.35
– 0.70 for normally consolidated clay, and 0.50 – 3.00 for over-consolidated soil.

ü Where ϕ’ is the effective angle of internal friction of the soil. another formula is
proposed by Brooker and Ireland (1965) for normally consolidated clay:

K0 = 0.95 - sin f '

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 3.2 Lateral Earth Pressure At Active and Passive

üFailure of the backfill soil occurs by two mechanisms depending on the direction of

wall displacement.

üIf the displacement of the wall is away from the backfill soil the resulting failure is

called active and the lateral pressure exerted on the wall by the backfill soil is called

active lateral earth pressure.

üA passive failure occurs if the wall is displaced towards the backfill soil until the

limiting displacement is achieved. the passive resistance provided by the backfill soil

against the wall displacement is called passive earth pressure.

 3.2 Lateral Earth Pressure At Active and Passive
Active case
sz > sx

Soil expand which decreases the sx

Passive Case
sx > sz

Soil shrink which increases the sx

Problems for Practice (Assignment#3)
1. A retaining wall, 7.5 m high, retains a cohsionless backfill. The top 3 m of the fill
has a unit weight of 18 kN/m3 and φ = 30° and the rest has unit weight of 24
kN/m3 and φ = 20°. Determine the pressure distribution on the wall.
2. A retaining wall with a smooth vertical back retains a purely cohesive fill. Height of
wall is 12 m. Unit weight of fill is 20 kN/m3. Cohesion is 1 N/cm2. What is the total
active Rankine thrust on the wall? At what depth is the intensity of pressure zero
and where does the resultant thrust act?
3. A smooth vertical wall 5 m high retains a soil with c = 2.5 N/cm2, φ = 30°, and γ =
18 kN/m3. Show the Rankine passive pressure distribution and determine the
magnitude and point of application of the passive resistance.
4. A retaining wall 9 m high retains granular fill weighing 18 kN/m3 with level surface.
The active thrust on the wall is 180 kN per metre length of the wall. The height of
the wall is to be increased and to keep the force on the wall within allowable limits,
the backfill in the top-half of the depth is removed and replaced by cinders. If
cinders are used as backfill even in the additional height, what additional height
may be allowed if the thrust on the wall is to be limited to its initial value? The unit
weight of the cinders is 9 kN/m3. Assume the friction angle for cinders the same as
that for the soil.

Submission date:24/05023