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Practical Applications
Highway and railroad projects where
the grade is above or below the adjacent
ground

Practical Applications

Bridge Abutments

Practical Applications (Cont)

Flood Control facilities

Practical
Applications (Cont)
Building sites on
sloping ground to
create level building
pads and basements

Unstable ground to
prevent landslides

Externally Stabilized Systems

In-Situ Walls Sheet Pile Walls

Sheet pile walls are made of a series of

thin, wide steel piles driven into the
ground using a pile hammer

Figure 22.9 Short sheet pile walls can often

cantilever, but taller walls usually require
bracing or tieback anchors.

Tension members drilled

into the ground behind
the wall

Externally Stabilized Systems

In-Situ Walls Soldier Pile Walls

It is a vertical wide flange steel

members with horizontal timber lagging
It is often used as temporary retaining
structures for construction excavations

Externally Stabilized Systems

Massive Gravity Walls

Externally Stabilized
Systems
Cantilever Gravity Walls

Internally Stabilized Systems

Reinforced Soils

Figure 22.14 A mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) wall

under construction using galvanized wire mesh as the
tensile reinforcement and rockrock-filled cages called
gabions for the facing.

Internally Stabilized Systems

In-situ Reinforcement
Soil Nailing
It consists of drilling hole into the ground, inserting steel tendons,
and grouting

A free body diagram for the design of a

cantilever gravity wall.

Failure mechanisms of a
cantilever gravity wall:
(a) sliding
(b) overturning
(c) tendency to overturn
(d) bearing capacity
(e) global failure
(deep(deep-seated shear failure)

(f) excessive settlement

Lateral earth pressures imparted by a soil onto

a vertical or near-vertical structure.

Nature of Lateral Earth Pressure

on a Retaining Wall

The wall is restrained

from movement

The wall tilt away from the

soil that is restrained.

The wall is pushed into

the soil.

With sufficient wall

movement, a triangular
soil wedge will fail

With sufficient wall

movement, a triangular
soil wedge will fail

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At-rest pressure acting on a retaining wall

Effect of wall movement on lateral earth

pressure.

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TABLE 17.1 Wall Movement

Required to Reach the Active
Condition

TABLE 17.2 Wall Movement

Required to Reach the Passive
Condition

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Development of shear failure surfaces in the soil

behind a wall as it reaches the active condition.

Changes in the stress state in a soil as it

transitions from the at-rest condition to the
active condition.

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Development of shear failure surfaces in the

soil behind a wall as it reaches the passive
condition.

Changes in the stress state in a soil as it

transitions from the at-rest condition to the
passive condition.

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Lateral Earth Pressures in

Cohesionless Soils
(c = 0 and > 0)
Rankine Theory
Active Condition
Passive Condition

Coulombs Theory
Active Condition
No passive condition

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For Cohesionless Soils (c = 0)

Ka = 0.2 - 0.9

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For Cohesion less Soils (c = 0)

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Groundwater Impact on
Lateral Pressure

h = Ko v

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Example:
Determine Rankine
active force per unit
length of wall and the
location of the
resultant force.

o = z = ( H ) - u

h Effective
u, pore water
Horizontal Stress
pressure

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Theoretical lateral earth pressure

distribution with shallow
groundwater table.

For Cohesionless soils

(c = 0, > 0)

The resultant of the normal and shear forces acting

on the wall is inclined at an angle w

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For Cohesionless soils

(c = 0, > 0)

The resultant of the normal and shear forces acting

on the wall is inclined at an angle w

Coulombs model produces

more precise values of the
active earth pressure as
compared to Rankines

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Figure 17.11 Results from

Example 17.2.
=0
Cohesionless Soil
c=0
(Sand)
?
?

For Cohesion less Soils (c = 0)

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Solution:
<

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Example 23.4

Solution:

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Lateral Earth Pressures in

Cohesion Soils
(c > 0 and > 0)
Rankine Theory
Active Condition
Passive Condition

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If H < Hc, the cohesion soil will

stand vertically without a wall

Rankine Theory
Active Condition

Passive Condition

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Comparison between (a) theoretical and (b)

observed distributions of earth pressures
acting behind retaining structures.
The differences are bigger in calyey soils
because the earth pressure theories do not
consider:
- Creep
- Expansiveness of clayey soil
- Poor Drainage

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