Retaining Walls

Retaining Walls

Retaining walls are structures designed to restrain soil to a slope that it would not naturally keep to.

Types of Walls

Common Types

  • Gravity Wall: Relies on its own massive weight to resist overturning and sliding.
  • Cantilever Wall: Reinforced concrete wall (stem and base slab) using the weight of the backfill.
  • Sheet Pile Wall: Flexible steel sheets driven into the ground.

Stability Analysis

For gravity and cantilever walls, we check against three failure modes:

1. Overturning

Factor of Safety (FSotFS_{ot}) against rotation about the toe. FSot=MRMO2.0FS_{ot} = \frac{\sum M_R}{\sum M_O} \ge 2.0

  • MRM_R: Resisting moments (Weight of wall/soil).
  • MOM_O: Overturning moments (Lateral earth pressure).

2. Sliding

Factor of Safety (FSslidingFS_{sliding}) against horizontal sliding. FSsliding=FRFd1.5FS_{sliding} = \frac{\sum F_R}{\sum F_d} \ge 1.5

  • FRF_R: Resisting force (Rtanδ+caBR \tan \delta + c_a B).
  • FdF_d: Driving force (Horizontal component of PaP_a).

3. Bearing Capacity

The maximum pressure exerted by the base on the soil (qmaxq_{max}) must not exceed the allowable bearing capacity (qallq_{all}). Eccentricity check: Resultant must be within the middle third (e<B/6e < B/6) to avoid tension.

Step-by-Step Solution0 / 2 Problems

Start the practice problems to continue