SOIL MECHANICS - II

Lateral Earth Pressure

Lecture No. 12

Muhammad Usman Arshid

Department of Civil Engineering
University of Engineering & Technology Taxila
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 EARTH PRESSURE DISTRIBUTION
- in granular soils
[h’]active
PA and PP are the
resultant active
and passive
thrusts on the
wall
[h’]passive H

PA=0.5 KAH2

h PP=0.5 KPh2

KPh KAH
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RANKINE'S EARTH PRESSURE CO EFFICIENT

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 EXAMPLE 1

• What are the limiting values of the lateral

earth pressure at a depth of 3 meters in a
uniform sand fill with a unit weight of 20
KN/m 3 and a friction angle of 35°? The ground
surface is level. If a retaining wall with a
vertical back face is interposed, determine the
total active thrust and the total passive
resistance which will act on the wall.

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 EAMPLE 2

• A gravity retaining wall retains 12 m of a

backfill, γ = 17.7 KN/m 3 φ = 25° with a
uniform horizontal surface. Assume the
wall interface to be vertical, determine the
magnitude and point of application of the
total active pressure. If the water table is at
the height of 6 m, how far do the magnitude
and the point of application of active pressure
changes?

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 EXAMPLE 3

• A smooth backed vertical wall is 6.3 m high

and retains a soil with a bulk unit weight of
18 KN/m 3 and φ = 18°. The top of the soil is
level with the top of the wall and is
horizontal. If the soil surface carries a
uniformly distributed load of 4.5 KN/m 2 ,
determine the total active thrust on the wall
per lineal meter of the wall and its point of
application.

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 COULOMB'S EARTH PRESSURE THEORY

The Coulomb’s Theory is Similar to Rankine Except for

• There is friction between the wall and soil and takes this
into account by using a soil-wall friction angle of δ. Note
that δ ranges from ø /2 to 2 ø /3 and δ = 2 ø /3 is
commonly used.

• Lateral pressure is not limited to vertical walls

• The resultant force is not necessarily parallel to the

backfill surface because of the soil -wall friction value δ.

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COULOMB'S EARTH PRESSURE THEORY

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COULOMB'S EARTH PRESSURE THEORY

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COULOMB'S EARTH PRESSURE THEORY

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COULOMB'S EARTH PRESSURE THEORY

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 STABILITY OF RETAINING WALLS
1. Check for sliding
2. Check for overturning
3. Check for bearing capacity failure
4. Check for base shear failure
The minimum factors of safety for the stability of the
wall are:
1. Factor of safety against sliding = 1.5
2. Factor of safety against overturning = 2.0
3. Factor of safety against bearing capacity failure =
3.0

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RETAINING WALLS - APPLICATIONS

Road
Train

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RETAINING WALLS - APPLICATIONS

highway

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RETAINING WALLS - APPLICATIONS

High-rise building

basement wall

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 DESIGN OF RETAINING WALL
- in granular soils

2 2
Block no.

3 3
1
1

toe
toe

Wi = weight of block i
Analyse the stability of this rigid body with
xi = horizontal distance of centroid of block i from toe
vertical walls (Rankine theory valid)
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Safety against sliding along the base
PP  {Wi }. tan 
soil-concrete friction
angle  0.5 – 0.7 
Fsliding 
PA

to be greater
than 1.5

2 2
PA H
3 3 PA
1
PP 1
S h PP
toe S
R
toe
y R
y

PP= 0.5 KPh2 PA= 0.5 KAH2

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Safety against overturning about toe
PP h / 3  {Wi xi }
Foverturning 
PA H/3

to be greater
than 2.0

2 2
PA H
3 3 PA
1
PP 1
S h PP
toe S
R
toe
y R
y

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RETAINING WALL EXAMPLE

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