ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF

RETAINING STRUCTURES

ASTU
Abda B.
April 2020
 RETAINING WALL
 Retaining walls are structures designed to
restrain soil to unnatural slopes.
 They are used to bound soils between two
different elevation often in area of terrain
possessing undesirable slopes or in areas where
the landscape needs to be shaped severely and
engineered for more specific purposes.
 A retaining wall is a structure designed and
constructed to resist the lateral pressure of soil
when there is a desired change in ground
elevation that exceeds the angle of repose of the
soil.
Foundation Engineering I ASTU 2
 … Retaining Wall
 Retaining walls are usually built to hold back
soil mass.
 RWs can also be constructed for aesthetic
landscaping purposes.

GravityEngineering
Foundation retainingI wall
ASTU 3
 Classification of Retaining walls
There are two general classes of retaining walls:
1. One class is rigid and consists of concrete walls
relying on gravity for stability. These are called
cast-in-place (CIP) gravity and semi-gravity walls.
2. The other class is flexible and consists of long,
slender members of either steel or concrete or
wood or plastic and relies on passive soil
resistance and anchors for stability.

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 Types of Rigid Retaining walls
1. Gravity wall-Masonry or Plain concrete
2. Cantilever retaining wall-RCC (Inverted T & L)
3. Counterfort retaining wall-RCC
4. Buttress wall-RCC

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Types of Rigid Retaining walls

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 … Retaining Wall
Cantilever Retaining wall with shear key

Batter

Drainage Hole
Toe

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Types of Rigid Retaining walls

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… Classification of Retaining walls
Backfill Backfill

Gravity RW L-Shaped RW
T-Shaped RW

Backfill
Counterfort Buttress

Counterfort RW Buttress RW

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Types of Flexible Retaining walls

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 1.Gravity walls
 made of plain concrete or stone masonry.
 depends upon its weight for stability.
 trapezoidal in section with the base projecting
beyond the face and back of the wall.
 no tensile stress in any portion of the wall.
 economically used for walls less than 6m high.

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 … Gravity walls

Gravity Walls

12
 2. Cantilever walls
 made of reinforced concrete material.
 inverted T-shaped or L-shaped in section with each
projecting acts as a cantilever.
 economically used for walls 6 to 7.5m high.

Toe Vertical stem

Heel

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… Cantilever walls

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 3. Counterfort walls
 made of reinforced concrete materials
 consists of cantilever wall with vertical brackets known
as counterfort placed behind face of wall
 ordinarily used for walls height greater than 6.0m
 The purpose of counterfort is to reduce shear and
bending moment

Counterfort

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 4. Buttress walls
same as counterfort except that the vertical brackets
are on the opposite side of the backfill

Vertical stem

Toe

Heel

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Counterfort and Buttress walls

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 Proportioning
 In designing retaining walls, an engineer must
assume some of their dimensions →Proportioning
 This allows to check trial sections for stability
 If the stability checks yield undesirable results, the
sections can be changed and rechecked.

Foundation Engineering I ASTU 18

 … Proportioning
i) Gravity Wall
30cm to H/2

50

lh = 10 to 15cm H
lt = Df/2 to Df

Df = H/8 to H/6

B = H/2 to ⅔ H

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 … Proportioning
ii) Cantilever wall

Min. 30cm

1
50 H

bs = H/12 to H/10
lt = B/3

Df = H/12 to H/10
B = 0.5 to 0.7H

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 … Proportioning
iii) Counterfort wall
For counterfort retaining walls, the general proportions of the stem & the
base slab is the same as for cantilever walls. However, the counterfort slabs
may be about 0.3m thick & spaced at c/c distances of 0.3H to 0.7H

Min. 30cm

H 50

Df = H/14 to H/12 H/14 to H/12 Min. 30cm

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B = 0.4 to 0.7H
 Modes of Failure for Retaining Walls
The modes of failure for rigid retaining walls:
 translational failure,
 rotation and bearing capacity failure,
 deep-seated failure, and
 structural failure.
Flexible walls, also called sheet pile walls, fail by:
 deep-seated failure,
 rotation at the base,
 rotation about the anchor or prop,
 failure of the anchor,
 bending of the wall,
 seepage-induced failure.
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Modes of Failure for Rigid Retaining Walls

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Modes of Failure for Flexible Retaining Walls

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 FORCES ON RETAINING WALLS
The forces that should be considered in the
design of retaining walls include
 Active and passive earth pressures
 Dead weight including the weight of the wall and
portion of soil mass that is considered to act on the
retaining structure
 Surcharge including live loads, if any
 Water pressure, if any
 Contact pressure under the base of the structure

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… Forces On Retaining Walls

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 Active and Passive Lateral Earth Pressures

 Failure of the backfill soil occurs by two

mechanisms depending on the direction of wall
displacement.
 If the displacement of the wall is away from the
backfill soil the resulting failure is called active
and the lateral pressure exerted on the wall by
the backfill soil is called active lateral earth
pressure or simply active earth pressure.

ASTU/Soil Mechanics-II 27
Active and Passive Lateral Earth Pressures

ASTU/Soil Mechanics-II 28
 … Active and Passive Lateral Earth Pressures

 A passive failure occurs if the wall is displaced

towards the backfill soil until the limiting
displacement is achieved.
 In this case, the wall exerts a pressure on the
backfill soil, and the passive resistance provided
by the backfill soil against the wall displacement
is called passive earth pressure.

ASTU/Soil Mechanics-II 29
 Earth Pressure Theories

 There are two classical earth pressure

theories. They are:
1. Rankine's earth pressure theory.
2. Coulomb's earth pressure theory.
 These theories propose to estimate the
magnitudes of two pressures called active
earth pressure and passive earth pressure.

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 1. Rankine Lateral Earth Pressure Theory
 Rankine assumes the retaining wall is frictionless/smooth)
 The lateral earth pressures on retaining walls are related
directly to the vertical effective stress through two
coefficients Ka and Kp.

 Substantially more movement is required to mobilize the

full passive earth pressure than the full active earth
pressure.

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Failure planes within a soil mass near a retaining wall.

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 … Rankine Lateral Earth Pressure Theory
 A family of slip planes occurs in the Rankine
active and passive states. In the active state, the
slip planes are oriented at (450 + ϕ’/2) to the
horizontal, and while for the passive case they
are oriented at (450 - ϕ’/2) to the horizontal.
 The lateral earth pressure coefficients
(mentioned earlier) are only valid for a smooth,
vertical wall supporting a soil mass with a
horizontal surface; and must be applied to
effective stresses only.

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 Rankine Active & Passive Earth Pressure for
Inclined Granular Backfill
 If the backfill of a frictionless retaining wall is a
granular soil (c = 0, ϕ’) and rises at an angle β
(β≤ϕ’) with respect to the horizontal (Fig), the
Rankine active earth pressure coefficient ka is
expressed in the form:
cos   cos2   cos2  '
k a  cos 
cos   cos2   cos2  '
 The Rankine active stress on the wall is:

   zk a
'
a
'
(3
 and the Rankine active lateral force is:

Pa  k a  H
1
2
' 2
(3.30
ASTU/Soil Mechanics-II 34
Figure: Rankine Active Earth Pressure for
Inclined Granular Backfill

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 2. Coulomb’s Earth Pressure Theory
 The Rankine earth pressure theory:
1. assumes the retaining wall is frictionless (or smooth), &
2. considers stress states and uses such tools as the Mohr’s
circle of stress.
 Coulomb (1776) proposed a theory to determine
the lateral earth pressure on a retaining wall by
assuming a granular backfill (c = 0) and a plane
sliding surface.
 He did this in order to simplify somewhat the
mathematically complex problem introduced when
cohesion and nonplane sliding surfaces are
considered. ASTU/Soil Mechanics-II 36
 ... Coulomb’s Earth Pressure Theory
 He, however, account for the effects of friction (usually
expressed by angle δ) between the backfill and the wall.
 Besides, he considered the more general case of the sloped
face of a retaining wall, and in this respect, Coulomb’s
theory is a more general approach than the Rankine theory
described earlier.
 Coulomb assumed a wedge shape collapse mechanism
which is bounded by the face of the retaining wall, a
horizontal or inclined ground surface and a linear failure
plane.
 The wedge slides downwards on the failure plane in the
active state or upwards in the passive state.

ASTU/Soil Mechanics-II 37
 ... Coulomb’s Earth Pressure Theory
 Figure 9 illustrates direction of active and passive
forces when wall friction is present.
 Based on Coulomb’s theory, a condition of limit
equilibrium exists through which a wedge of a
soil mass behind a retaining wall will slip along a
plane inclined at an angle θ to the horizontal.
 Figure 10 illustrates a retaining wall with
slopping back, wall friction, and sloping soil
surface for use with Coulomb’s method for active
state

ASTU/Soil Mechanics-II 38
Figure: Direction of active and passive forces when wall
friction is present

ASTU/Soil Mechanics-II 39
Figure: Retaining wall with slopping back, wall friction, and sloping
soil surface for use with Coulomb’s method for active state

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 Based on the equilibrium of the forces acting on
the wedge (Fig.), Coulomb proposed the
following equation to determine the active
lateral force,
Pa  k ac ' H
1
2
2
(3.32)
 where kac is Coulomb’s active pressure
coefficient, which is determined by the following
expression: 2
sin (    ' )
k ac  2
(3.3
 sin( ' ) sin( ' ) 
sin  sin(   ) 1 
2

 sin(    ) sin(   ) 
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 Note that the line of action of the active force Pa
will act at a distance H/3 above the base of the
wall and will be inclined at angle δ to the normal
drawn to the back of the wall.
 In the actual design of retaining walls, the value of
the wall friction angle, δ, is assumed to be
between ϕ’/2 to 2/3ϕ’.
 Retaining walls are generally constructed of
masonry or mass concrete.

ASTU/Soil Mechanics-II 42
 Coulomb’s passive earth pressure is determined similarly,
except that passive pressure inclination at the wall and
direction of the forces acting on the wedge will be as
shown in Fig. above.
 Coulomb’s passive earth pressure is given by:
Pa  12 k ac ' H 2 (3.34)
 where kpc is Coulomb’s passive pressure coefficient, which
is determined by the following equation.
sin 2 (    ' )
k pc  2
(3.35)
 sin( ' ) sin( ' ) 
sin  sin(   ) 1 
2

 sin(    ) sin(   ) 

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STABILITY OF RIGID RETAINING WALLS
 CIP gravity retaining walls are massive concrete
walls. Their stability depends mainly on the self-
weight of the walls.
 Cantilever walls—CIP semi-gravity walls—utilize
the backfill to help mobilize stability and are
generally more economical than CIP gravity
retaining walls.
 A rigid retaining wall must have an adequate
factor of safety to prevent excessive translation,
rotation, bearing capacity failure, deep-seated
failure, and seepage-induced instability.
Foundation Engineering I ASTU 44
 Stability requirements of RW
The following conditions must be satisfied for
stability of wall:
 It should not overturn
 It should not slide
 It should not subside, i.e Max. pressure at the toe
should not exceed the safe bearing capacity of the soil
under working condition

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 … Stability of Rigid Retaining Walls
1. Translation
A rigid retaining wall must have adequate resistance
against translation. That is, the sliding resistance of the
base of the wall must be greater than the resultant
lateral force pushing against the wall. The factor of
safety against translation, (FS)T, is
Horizontal resisting force T
( FS )T  
Horizontal sliding force Pax
Factor of safety  1.5 for granular soils
(FS)T > 1.5
Factor of safety  2.0 for cohesive soils
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 … Stability of Rigid Retaining Walls
Where:
 T is the sliding resistance at the base and
 Pax is the lateral force pushing against the wall.
 The sliding resistance is T = Rz (tan φ’b).
 Rz is the resultant vertical force, φ’b is the interfacial
friction angle between the base of the wall and the
soil,

 B is the projected horizontal width of the base

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Typical sets Forces acting on Gravity & Cantilever RWs

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Typical sets Forces acting on Gravity & Cantilever RWs

Friction  W
SLIDING OF WALL
Foundation Engineering I ASTU 49
Typical sets Forces acting on Gravity & Cantilever RWs
Using statics, we obtain, for an ESA,

If φb = 0 (base is horizontal), then

where
• Ww is the weight of the wall,
• Ws is the weight of the soil wedge,
• Paz and Pax are the vertical and horizontal components of
the active lateral force, and
• φb is the inclination of the base to the horizontal
Foundation Engineering I ASTU 50
 The embedment of rigid retaining walls is generally
small and the passive lateral force is not taken into
account.
 If the base resistance is inadequate, the width B of
the wall can be increased.
 For cantilever walls, a shear key can be constructed
to provide additional base resistance against sliding.

Foundation Engineering I ASTU 51

 … Stability of Rigid Retaining Walls
2. Rotation
 A rigid RW must have adequate resistance against rotation.
 The rotation of the wall about its toe is satisfied if the resultant
vertical force lies within the middle third of the base.
 Taking moments about the toe of the base, the resultant
vertical force at the base is located at

 The wall is safe against rotation if

B/3 < x < 2B/3; that is, e = |(B/2 – x~)| < B/6
 If Øb = 0, then

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 … Stability of Rigid Retaining Walls
Check against overturning =»Rotation
Factor of safety against overturning
Sum of moments to resist overturning MR
( FS ) R  
Sum of overturning moments Mo
Where,
MR =Stabilizing moment or restoring moment
MO =overturning moment

Factor of safety  1.5 for granular soils

Factor of safety  2.0 for cohesive soils
If the line of action of the resultant force on wall
acts within the middle third width of the base,
wall is safe against overturning
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 … Stability of Rigid Retaining Walls
3. Bearing Capacity =» Foundation stability
 A rigid retaining wall must have a sufficient margin of safety
against soil bearing capacity failure.
 The maximum pressure imposed on the soil at the base of
the wall must not exceed the allowable soil bearing capacity;
that is,
Rv 6e
( z ) max  qa ; ( z ) max  (1  )
where B B
smax is the maximum vertical stress imposed
qa is the allowable soil bearing capacity
e= eccentricity of Rv
qt  qall , qall = qult/F.S

Factor of safety = 2 for granular and

Factor of safety = 3 for cohesive soils 54
Maximum pressure at the toe

W4 H
x1 W1
h
W
W2
x2 Pa

R
H/3
W3
T
e B/6
x B/2
B

smin. Pressure below the

smax Retaining Wall

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Let the resultant R due to W and Pa
lie at a distance x from the toe.
X = M/W,
M = sum of all moments about toe.

Eccentricity of the load = e = (b/2-x)  b/6

W  6e 
Minimum pressure at heel= Pmin  1  b  >Zero.
b
For zero pressure, e=b/6, resultant should cut the base within
the middle third.
Maximum pressure at toe= W  6e 
 SBC of soil. Pmax  1 
b  b

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Behaviour or structural action

Behaviour or structural action

and design of stem, heel and
toe slabs are same as that of
any cantilever slab.

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Deep foundation failure ( Overall stability)
• If layer of weak soil is located within a depth
of about 1 ½ times the height of the retaining
wall the overall stability of retaining wall
should be investigated.
E.g. using Swedish circle method.

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Foundation Engineering I ASTU 59
 `
1. Write the types of Rigid Retaining walls.
2. What are the factors that assist the stablity of
Gravity RWs and Sheet pile walls?
3. What are the forces that should be
considered in the design of retaining walls?

Foundation Engineering I ASTU 60