GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING: Module 1

LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE

Vertical or near vertical slopes of soil are supported by retaining walls, cantilever sheetpile walls, sheet-pile bulkheads, braced
cuts, and other similar structures. The proper design of those structures required estimation of lateral earth pressure, which is a
function of several factors, such as

(a) type and amount of wall movement,

(b) shear strength parameters of the soil,
(c) unit weight of the soil, and
(d) drainage conditions in the backfill.

A soil sample at any point under the surface is subjected by a horizontal effective pressure, 𝜎ℎ′ , and a vertical effective pressure,
𝜎𝑜′ , whose ratio is given as lateral earth pressure coefficient.

𝝈′𝒉
𝑲=
𝝈′𝒐

Now, three possible cases may arise concerning the retaining wall; they are described as follows:

Case 1 If the wall is static—that is, if it does not move either to the right or to the left of its initial position—the soil mass will be
in a state of static equilibrium. In that case, is referred to as the at-rest earth pressure, or

𝝈′𝒉
𝑲 = 𝑲𝒐 =
𝝈′𝒐

Case 2 If the frictionless wall rotates sufficiently about its bottom to a position like second figure, then a triangular soil mass
adjacent to the wall will reach a state of plastic equilibrium and will fail sliding down the failure wedge. At this time, the
horizontal effective stress, will be referred to as active pressure. Now,

𝝈′𝒉 𝝈′𝒂
𝑲 = 𝑲𝒂 = =
𝝈′𝒐 𝝈′𝒐

Case 3 If the frictionless wall rotates sufficiently about its bottom to a position like the third figure, then a triangular soil mass
will reach a state of plastic equilibrium and will fail sliding upward along the failure wedge. The horizontal effective stress at this
time will be the so-called passive pressure. In this case,

𝝈′𝒉 𝝈′𝒑
𝑲 = 𝑲𝒑 = =
𝝈′𝒐 𝝈′𝒐
LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE AT REST: (At rest condition: Lateral earth pressure for cohesion is 0)
For coarse-grained soils, the coefficient of earth pressure at rest can be estimated by using the empirical relationship (Jaky,
1944)
′
𝑲𝒐 = 𝟏 − 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝝓′(𝑶𝑪𝑹)𝒔𝒊𝒏𝝓
Where
𝜙′= is the drained angle of friction.
OCR = Overconsolidation ratio

Sample Problems
1.) For the retaining wall shown, determine the lateral earth force at rest per unit length of
the wall. Also determine the location of the resultant force.

𝐻 = 7𝑚
𝑘𝑁
𝛾 = 17.8
𝑚3
𝜙 = 34𝑜

2.) For the retaining wall shown, determine the lateral earth force per unit length and its
location from the surface if the groundwater table is located 3m below the surface.

𝐻 = 8𝑚
𝑘𝑁 𝑘𝑁
𝛾 = 16 3 𝛾𝑠𝑎𝑡 = 22
𝑚 𝑚3
𝜙 = 25𝑜

3.) For the retaining wall shown, determine the lateral earth force per unit length and its
location from the water surface if the groundwater table is located 4m below the surface
and the surcharge is equal to 15kpa.

𝐻 = 9𝑚, 𝜙 = 300
𝑘𝑁
𝐴𝑏𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑔. 𝑤. 𝑡. 𝛾 = 18
𝑚3
𝐵𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑔. 𝑤. 𝑡. 𝑒 = 0.80, 𝐺𝑠 = 3.3

“Balang araw magiging engineer din kayong lahat, tiwala lang.” – Engr. AJ L. Guanzon