4.

Analysis and Proportioning

of Retaining walls

1
 Retaining walls are structures used to provide
stability of earth or other material where conditions
disallow the mass to assume its natural slope.
 Retaining walls are generally used for roads in hilly

areas, swimming pools, underground water tanks,

basement of building, constructing a building on a
site where filling is required and at the ends of the
bridges in the form of abutments.
 Common Types of retaining walls

2
1.Gravity walls:
made of plain concrete or stone masonry.
depends upon its weight for stability.
trapezoidal in section with the base projecting
beyond the face and back of the wall.
no tensile stress in any portion of the wall.
economically used for walls less than 6m high.

3
Gravity Walls

4
 Cantilever walls
◦ made of reinforced concrete material.
◦ inverted T-shaped in section with each projecting acts as
a cantilever.
◦ economically used for walls 6 to 7.5m high.

Toe Vertical stem

Heel

5
Terms related to retaining wall

6
 Counterfort walls:
◦ made of reinforced concrete materials
◦ consists of cantilever wall with vertical brackets known as
counterfort placed behind face of wall
◦ ordinarily used for walls height greater than 6.0m

Counterfort

7
 Buttress walls
◦ same as counterfort except that the vertical brackets are on the
opposite side of the backfill

Vertical stem

Toe

Heel

8
Common Proportions of Retaining walls
 The usual practice in the design of retaining walls is to
assign tentative dimensions and then check for the
overall stability of the structure.

i) Gravity Wall 30cm to H/2

50
lh = 10 to 15cm H
lt = Df/2 to Df

Df = H/8 to H/6

B = H/2 to ⅔ H

9
ii) Cantilever wall

Min. 30cm

1
50

bs = H/12 to H/10 H
lt = B/3

Df = H/12 to H/10
B = 0.4 to 0.7H

10
 iii) Counterfort wall

Min. 30cm

50
H

bs = H/14 to H/12
Df = H/14 to H/12
Min. 30cm
B = 0.4 to 0.7H

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Forces on Retaining Walls
 The forces that should be considered in the design of
retaining walls include
◦ Active and passive earth pressures
◦ Dead weight including the weight of the wall and portion of
soil mass that is considered to act on the retaining structure
◦ Surcharge including live loads, if any
◦ Water pressure, if any
◦ Contact pressure under the base of the structure

12
 BASIC CONCEPTS OF LATERAL EARTH PRESSURES
the lateral earth pressures on a vertical wall
that retains a soil mass
two theories: one proposed by Coulomb (1776)
and the other by Rankine (1857).

13 Foundation Engineering I
 … Basic Concepts Of Lateral Earth Pressures
Assumptions:Rankine
1.The earth-retaining wall is vertical.
2.The interface between the wall and soil is frictionless.
3.The soil surface is horizontal and no shear stress acts
on horizontal and vertical boundaries.
4.The wall is rigid and extends to an infinite depth in a
dry, homogeneous, isotropic soil mass.
5.The soil is loose and initially in an at-rest state.

14 Foundation Engineering I
 … Basic Concepts Of Lateral Earth Pressures

FIGURE 1 : Stresses on soil

elements in front of and
behind a retaining wall

15 Foundation Engineering I
 … Basic Concepts Of Lateral Earth Pressures
Consider the wall shown in Figure 1. If the wall
remains rigid and no movement occurs, then
the vertical and horizontal effective stresses at
rest on elements A, at the back wall, and B, at
the front wall, are

16 Foundation Engineering I
 … Basic Concepts Of Lateral Earth Pressures

FIGURE 2: Mohr’s circles at rest, active and passive states.

17 Foundation Engineering I
 … Basic Concepts Of Lateral Earth Pressures
The lateral earth pressure for the Rankine active
state is

and for the Rankine passive state it is

The above equations indicate that, for a homogeneous

soil layer, the lateral earth pressure varies linearly with
depth, as shown in Figure 4.
The lateral active and passive coefficients are applied
only to effective stresses.
For soils above the groundwater level, g’ = g, while for
18
soils below
Foundation the Igroundwater level, g’=(gsat-gw).
Engineering
 … Basic Concepts Of Lateral Earth Pressures

FIGURE 4: Variation of active and passive lateral earth pressures,

hydrostatic pressure, and a uniform surface stress with depth.
19 Foundation Engineering I
 … Basic Concepts Of Lateral Earth Pressures
The lateral earth force is the area of the lateral
stress diagram.
For the Rankine active state

and for the Rankine passive state

These lateral forces, Pa and Pp, are located at the

20 centroid of the Ilateral earth pressure distribution
Foundation Engineering
 … Basic Concepts Of Lateral Earth Pressures
If groundwater is present, you need to add the
hydrostatic pressure (pore water pressure) to the
lateral earth pressure.
If the groundwater level is at distance hw from the
base of the wall (Figure 4c), the hydrostatic
pressure is and the hydrostatic force is

21 Foundation Engineering I
 … Basic Concepts Of Lateral Earth Pressures
Surface stresses also impose lateral earth pressures
on retaining walls. A uniform surface stress, qs, will
transmit a uniform active lateral earth pressure of
Ka qs (Figure 4d) and a uniform passive lateral earth
pressure of Kp qs.
The active and passive lateral earth pressures due
to the soil, groundwater, and the uniform surface
stresses are then

22 Foundation Engineering I
23
24
25
Stability checks

26
Stability checks

27
Cont…

28
Cont..

29
Deep foundation failure ( Overall stability)
 If layer of weak soil is located within a depth of about 1 ½
times the height of the retaining wall the overall stability
of retaining wall should be investigated.
 E.g. using Swedish circle method.

30
LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE
Stability Analysis
Worked example :
Figure below shows the cross-section of a reinforced concrete
retaining structure. The retained soil behind the structure and
the soil in front of it are cohesion less and has the following
properties:

SOIL 1 : u = 35o, d = 17 kN/m3,

SOIL 2 : u = 30o,  = 25o , d = 18 kN/m3,

sat = 20 kN/m3

The unit weight of concrete is 24 kN/m3. Taking into account the

passive resistance in front of the wall, determine a minimum value
for the width of the wall to satisfy the following design criteria:

Factor of safety against overturning > 2.5

Factor of safety against sliding > 1.5
Maximum base pressure should not exceed 150 kPa
LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE
Stability Analysis
THE PROBLEM 30 kN/m2

0.5 m

SOIL 1
2.0 m

4.0 m GWT

SOIL 2
2.9 m

SOIL 2

0.6 m

4.5 m

2.0 m
LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE
Stability Analysis
30 kN/m2
THE SOLUTION
0.5 m

SOIL 1
W1 2.0 m P1 P3
W3 GWT
4.0 m

SOIL 2
W41
2.9 m
W2 P2 P4
SOIL 2
PP P5 P6
0.6 m
4.5 m
2.0 m
LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE
Stability Analysis
Determination of the Earth Pressure Coefficients

1  sin  1 - sin 35 o
K a1    0.271
1  sin  1  sin 35 o

1  sin  1 - sin 30
o
K a2    0.333
1  sin  1  sin 30 o

1  sin  1  sin 30 o
K p2    3.00
1  sin  1  sin 30 o
LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE L. ARM MOMENT
ELEM. FORCE (kN/m) TOTAL
(m) (kNm/m)
Stability Analysis
HORIZONTAL
Active
P1 0.271 x 30 x 2 16.26 4.5 73.17
P2 0.333 x 30 x 3.5 34.97 1.75 61.20
P3 0.5 x 0.271 x 17 x 2 x 2 9.21 4.17 38.41
P4 0.333 x 17 x 2 x 3.5 39.63 1.75 69.35
P5 0.5 x .333 x (20-9.81) x 3.5 x 3.5 20.78 1.167 24.25
P6 0.5 x 9.81 x 3.5 x 3.5 60.09 1.167 70.13

SUM 180.94 336.50

Passive
Pp 0.5 x 3 x 18 x 1.5 x 1.5 60.75 0.5 30.38

VERTICAL
W1 0.5 x 4.9 x 24 58.8 1.75 102.90
W2 0.6 x 4.5 x 24 64.8 2.25 145.80
W3 2 x 2.5 x 17 + 2.9 x 2.5 x 20 + 30 x 2.5 305 3.25 991.25
W4 0.9 x 1.5 x 18 24.3 0.75 18.23

SUM 452.9 1288.55

LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE
Stability Analysis

To check for stability of the retaining wall

(i) FOS against overturning > 2.5

Resisting moment 1288.55

FOS    3.83  2.5, thus it is OK
Disturbing moment 336.50

(ii) FOS against sliding > 1.5

FOS 
 v tan  2  0.5 P
p

452.9 tan 30o  0.5 x 60.75
 1.61  1.5
RH 180.94

Thus it is OK
LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE
Stability Analysis

(iii) For base pressure

 V  6e 
qb  1  
B  B
Now, Lever arm of base resultant

 Moment 1288.55 - 336.5

x   2.10
V 452.9
B
Thus eccentricity e  - x  2.25 - 2.10  0.15
2

452.9  6 x 0.15 
Therefore qb  1  
4.5  4.5 
LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE
Stability Analysis
qb = 120.8 and 80.5 kPa

Since maximum base pressure is less than the bearing pressure of

the soil, the foundation is stable against base pressure failure.

DISTRIBUTION OF BASE PRESSURE

80.5 kPa
120.8 kPa