ជញជ ង

ំ ទប់ដីខនតតូច

Retaining walls
Why need it?
 Where building on sloping ground cannot
be avoided, particularly where the ground
is potentially unstable, there are a number
of techniques that can be used to improve
the stability of the slope.
Classification of slope
1. Natural slope – in various conditions,
including rock slope
2. Man-made slope - including cut-back
slope or slope formed by filled material
with adequate compaction, usually
provided with surface and surface
drainage or retaining structures
How a slope fail?
 Slope can collapse easily by shear if the soil is
nearly saturated and high pore pressure can be
built up rapidly. The falling debris carried by its
potential and momentum can rush down the
slope at very high speed and travel a long
distance causing huge damages.

 Besides, highly decomposed rock in a slope may

behave very similar to soil.
Components on a well-design and
maintained man-made slope
1. Surface protection such as vegetation, rigid
cover (retaining wall)
2. Surface drainage (including surface channels,
catch pits and sand traps)
3. Subsurface drainage (including weepholes and
subsoil drain etc.)
4. Other protective provision such as prestressed
ground anchors
Note – try to avoid the placing of water-carrying
services onto a slope
1. Surface protection such as vegetation
2. Surface drainage
4 ground anchors
Slope protection: small
retaining walls
 for gardens or access paths. Small
 typically up to 2 m, or occasionally up to
3 m.
 Retaining walls are generally constructed
from masonry or concrete and may be
reinforced or unreinforced
Type of retaining wall
 gravity walls
 reinforced walls on spread foundations
 embedded walls
 anchored or propped walls
 piled or cantilevered retaining walls
 sheet pile walls
 Gravity walls
 depend on the weight of the material (stone,
concrete or other heavy material) to stop
pressures from behind and improve stability
by leaning back into the retained soil. For
short landscaping walls, they are often made
from dry-stacked stone or segmental
concrete units. Dry-stacked gravity walls are
somewhat flexible and do not require a rigid
footing.
Reinforced walls on spread
foundations
 By using spread foundations, the weight of
some of the retained soil contributes to
the stability of walls.
 reinforced concrete that the vertical stem
can be relatively thin.
 In a cantilevered wall the stem is
supported solely by its connection to the
base.
 Embedded walls
 penetrate into the
ground and rely to a
significant extent or
even completely on the
passive resistance of
the ground for their
support
 Anchored or propped walls
 Most commonly used with embedded walls.
 Props are generally only used as temporary
supports in applications where there are two
retaining walls opposite each other.
 Anchors, are usually installed on a
permanent basis. use cables or other stays
stuck in the rock or soil behind it.
 useful where high loads are expected or
where the wall has to be thin.
Prop wall
Anchor wall
 Piled or cantilevered retaining walls
 made from a thin stem of
steel-reinforced, cast-in-
place concrete or mortared
masonry.
 are supported from the
back or front to improve
stability against high loads.
 These walls require rigid
concrete footings. This type
of wall uses much less
material than a traditional
gravity wall.
Sheet pile walls
 often used in soft soils and tight spaces.
 made out of steel, vinyl, fiberglass or plastic
sheet piles, or wood planks in the ground.

 sheets are to be 1/3 third above ground, 2/3

below ground. Taller sheet pile walls usually
require a tie-back anchor in the soil a ways
behind the wall face, tied to the face usually by a
cable or a rod. Anchors must be placed behind
the potential failure plane in the soil., but in the
 Too small to provide permanent support.
 Retaining wall failure
 There are three primary
modes of intact failure for
a small retaining wall
● overturning about the toe
● sliding
● bearing failure
Additionally, the wall may
crack,
 usually by a horizontal
shear failure in
 the brickwork.
 to generate the sliding frictional resistance at
the base of a wall’s foundations requires
some lateral movement.
 This movement can be limited by placing
loose granular backfill between the wall and
the retained soil or by using a proprietary
compressible material such as lightweight
expanded polystyrene which compresses
slowly under pressure.
Retaining wall construction
Backfilling and drainage
 free-draining material such as coarse aggregate,
clean gravel or crushed stone should be
incorporated next to the wall.
 at least 12 inches.
 Third, since most retaining walls are impervious,
which means water cannot pass through the wall
itself, efficient drainage is crucial. When drainage
goes unaddressed hydrostatic pressure will build
up behind the wall and cause damage such as
bulging or cracking. This leads to saturation of
the brick or stone facings, and in turn to a greater
risk of frost action.
 At least 50 mm diameter (even 75 mm diameter holes
may not be excessive)
 spaced horizontally at not more
than 1 m intervals.
 Weep holes should be incorporated near the base of
the
 wall below, or within, the low-level Damp Proof Course
(DPC).
 To prevent water from reaching
the foundations, concrete should be
placed behind the wall below the weep holes
 n

ep holes or pipes are an important feature of the design of retaining walls