Design Software

MANUAL
Table of contents
Introduction
□ About AnchorWall™ Version 5
□ Aim, Goals
□ New Features
□ Installation
□ Running
□ Licenses

Theory
□ Software Structure
□ Project Hierarchy
□ Interface
□ Trial design

Tutorials
□ Creating a new project
□ Grade line data
□ Saving projects
□ Opening projects
□ Trial designs
□ Editing
□ Creating Reports

Advanced Features

Extra

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 About AnchorWall™ Version 5.0
The AnchorWall™ software enables the designer to transfer a conceptual layout from
a site plan into a comprehensive wall solution including shop drawings, hand
calculations, material takeoffs, and cost calculations. This software program is
exclusively made to design, analyse and carry out the cost estimation of retaining
walls constructed with Anchor Wall Systems Segmental Wall Systems. This version
of software can be used for both reinforced and gravity wall designs under American
(National Concrete Masonry Association, NCMA), British (BS8006) Australian
(AS4678) and RTA NSW (R57) codes and guidelines.

The user uses the software to design the wall, adding features such as loads, back
slopes, toe slopes, impact loads, and bridge deck loads etc. The software can test,
analyse and automatically create the most rational design. As the user becomes more
familiar with the various tools within the software, more advanced designs with
maximum cost savings can be accomplished.

At the end of the design process, the user has the option of printing various reports
that can assist the contractor and client to efficiently price and install the retaining
wall.

AnchorWall™ Version 5 is equipped with DXF graphical exporting capabilities to

assist the designer in generating CAD drawings of selected cross sections and
elevations which, nearly eliminating the majority of the usual drafting work. The
AnchorWall™ program generates a summary report containing extracts of important
technical data and drawings which can be directly forwarded to the contractor in the
field.

AnchorWall™ Version 5 gives a distinct advantage to Anchor licensed manufacturers

and engineers throughout the world for designing segmental retaining walls
effectively. The software allows designers to select the most suitable Anchor Wall
Systems products and various geogrid types that are suitable for specific projects, in
effect reducing the overall cost of the wall.

The software is capable of designing segmental retaining walls with all major Anchor
Wall Systems engineered wall products, as well as over ten major geogrid brands (See
features, p-4) accepted around the world.

AnchorWall™ has a basic, user-friendly interface that is quick and easy to navigate.
The software comes with a fully functional and easy to use ‘New Project Wizard,’
which allows the user to create walls in a few simple steps. The software is designed
to take care of all calculations necessary (including unit conversions) to enable
designers to focus on getting the most out of the software program.

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Anchor Retaining Wall Systems:
ƒ Landmark® (Metric)
ƒ Landmark® (US)
ƒ Landmark® (Korea)
ƒ Diamond® (US)
ƒ Diamond® (UK)
ƒ Cut Diamond® (AUS)
ƒ Diamond® Pro™ 8" (US)
ƒ Diamond® Pro™ 7.5" (US)
ƒ Diamond® Pro™ (NZ)
ƒ Diamond® Pro™ (Philippines)
ƒ Vertica® (AUS)
ƒ Vertica® (UK)
ƒ Vertica® 8" (US)
ƒ Vertica® 7.5" (US)
ƒ Vertica Pro® 8" (US)
ƒ Vertica Pro® 7.5" (US)
ƒ Vertica Pro® (Korea)
ƒ Bayfield® (US)
ƒ Bayfield® (Ireland)
ƒ Hampton® (Metric)
ƒ Highland (US)
Design Systems
• AS4678
• BS8006
• NCMA (National Concrete
Masonry Association)
• RTA (R57), NSW
Unit Systems
• Metric Measurement System
• Imperial Measurement System
Software Features
• Quick and secure installation
• New user-friendly (and easy to
use) interface
• Quick Start-up screen
• Windows Shell file loading
• ‘New project’ wizard
• DXF graphical file exporting
• Summary, Costing and Full
Calculation Reports
• Advanced Grade Line Data
Editor
• Customizable panel generator
• Basic and Advanced Trial
Designer
• Trial Design Scripting support
• Bug Reporting feature
• Metric and Imperial unit
conversions
• Support for Dead Loads and
Live Loads
• Customizable license system
• Report PDF Exporting
• DXF Exporting Interface
• Advanced Results table
• Results Graph
• Seismic designs
• No-fines concrete designs

Geosynthetic Reinforcement Grids

• Polyfelt
• Huesker
• TC Mirafi
• Amoco
• Strata Systems Inc.
• Terram
• Luckenhaus
• Synteen Technologies Inc.
• Synthetic Industries Inc.
• Colbond

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 Anchor™ Version 5 Overview
To become more familiar with the AnchorWall™ Version 5.0, let’s run through the
software.

Loading the software

Launching the software can be done in 3 separate ways
Click Start Locate a previous project
that you created and
double click its icon

Select Programs
Double - Click the
AnchorWall™
logo on your
desktop Select AnchorWall™ from the
Anchor Wall menu

When the software is launched the license agreement screen will be shown. You must
click the “Accept” button to continue.

Registration
Information

Accept Button

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 If you have an error with your registration information please re-install the software
or contact Aloy Perera aperera@anchorwall.com

Loading progress

After clicking ‘Accept’ you should see the

loading splash screen, will followed by the
.
welcome screen

Calculation
Systems

Quick new project

Block Types

New Project Wizard

Open Project

Recent files list

Browse for project

Hide Background

Creating a New Project

You can create a new project in 2 ways:

• Select ‘New Project’, select a calculation system and select a
block type then click ok
• Select ‘Use New Project Wizard’ then click ok. (Using this
method launches a new project wizard which will walk you
through each component of the wall)

Opening a Existing Project

If you have already worked on the project you intend to open on the computer that you are
currently working on, the file should appear in the ‘Recent files list’ (See above diagram)

To open an existing project, select ‘Open existing project’ then

Select a file from the ‘Recent
6 files list’ and click ok
OR
Click the browse for project button and click ok
 After you click ok to create a new project or open an existing
file, you will see the loading screen. When this screen is
visible, the software is loading information from the database.
The screen should not be visible for more than 20 seconds.

The following shall demonstrate the ‘New Project Wizard’

Screen 1 Project Information

If you have selected the new project wizard, you should

initially see the screen to the left.

Enter the basic details of the project: (optional)

• Project Name, Project No., Description
• Client, Location, Owner, Designer
• Preparation Date, Revision No.
• Notes
The data that you input in this screen will be appeared in
the Summary Report.
Also, you can highlight the special conditions like “No
detailed soil report is available” under the “Notes” and
this will be appeared in the summary report.

Click Next to continue

Screen 2 Units of Measurement

You now have to select which

Preset Unit System units of measurement you want
List to use for the project that you
are creating.
Unit for You can either select the Unit
measurement type of measurement for each
measurement type or you can
Number of decimal select ‘Metric’ or ‘Imperial’
places for from the Preset Systems list,
measurement type
Depending on the required
accuracy, you can select the
number of decimal points for
the various units of
measurements.
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 Screen 3 Panel
Clickinformation
Next to continue

1. Select an Anchor
Wall Systems product

2. Select a calculation
system

3. Select a Mixed or
singular Product*

4. Select a
Geosynthetic grid
manufacturer
6. Tick which grids you want to use

Click Next to continue

5. Select a grid group

From the panel information screen you must choose the: Anchor Wall Systems Product, calculation
system (AS4678/BS8006/NCMA), Grid manufacturer, Grid type and which grids to use for the project.
* → Only available for Landmark Walling Systems

Screen 4 Screen 5 Soil Information

Screen 4 and 5 contain the soil

settings.

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Click Next to continue
 AS4678 Screen 5 NCMA Screen 5 Partial Factors

Depending on the calculation system you

chose in screen 4, you will be presented
with the appropriate partial factors
screen(s).

Please refer to your AS4678, BS8006 or

NCMA methodology manuals for
specific information.

Screen 6

Click Next to continue

BS8006 Screen 5 (1/2) BS8006 Screen 5 (2/2)

Screen 7 Click Next to continue

The next screen allows to select a static or seismic

Panels
calculation design as required. In default, the
“current status” button is set to a static design. The
seismic calculations can be carried out by switching
the On/Off button to “On” position.

The detailed description of Seismic calculations can

be viewed in the later sections.

Panel Diagram ‘Run trial design’ and ‘Conform

9 Rft grids during trial design’
Panel List check boxes
 Advanced Grade Line Editor

The new ‘Advanced Grade Line Editor’ is a powerful feature included in AnchorWall™ Version 5.0.
Before use, a good understanding is essential.

Click Finish button to continue.

The AnchorWall™ Version 5.0

Cap Block software uses ‘panels’ which form
the individual sections of a wall.
Soil
A Panel is a flat section of a wall,
Blocks consisting of one or more columns
and several rows of blocks.
Geogrid
Layers
Blocks (such as seen in figure 1:
the Anchor Landmark block) stack
on top of each other, sometimes
Foundation connected together by a ‘Locking
Block bar’.
Figure 1: A Basic Panel with 8 columns,
11 rows of ‘Landmark’ blocks Grids are Geosynthetic
reinforcement meshes that are
sandwiched between 2 blocks and
are buried into the soil behind the
panel.

If there is a change in soil level,

then several panels can be used in
the design instead of having one
large panel. (See figure 2). When
creating the Grade Line Data, you
are creating the soil that the wall
needs to be built for. (See figure 3)

To create grade line data, you have

to enter the positions of the
‘stations’ where the soil is
measured and then the program will
automatically generate panels to
match
Figure 2: 3 Panels of different heights with a sloping soil

Station

Soil

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Advanced Grade Line Editor Window

Auto-Build Panel Button Custom Build Panels Button

Figure 3: A 3D example of aCrest Elevation
soil grade line data

Wall Elevation

Toe Elevation

Drawing Status

Delete Station

Add Station
Vertical and Horizontal
Snap Settings

Number of stations

Maximum Elevation

Total Wall Length

Draw grade line Zoom Button
data button Snap cursor to stations

Show Snap grid

The Advanced Grade Line Editor has been designed specifically to ease the process of
entering the positional soil data. Grade line data is a list of soil stations that have a
horizontal position, Toe elevation, Wall elevation and Crest elevation.

You can input grade line data manually point by point or you can ‘draw’ the grade line Fig 1. Horizontal
data. Positions when
‘True Vectors’ box
Manually Input grade line data: is Checked
• Click the ‘Add’ button above the Grade Line Data table until you have enough
stations.
• ‘Use True Vectors’ is a toggle switch
o Checked: Horizontal Positions are the distance from the first station
(see Fig 1)
o not-Checked: Horizontal Positions are the distance from the previous Fig 2. Horizontal
station (see Fig 2) Positions when
• Enter the horizontal positions for each station ‘True Vectors’ box
• Enter the Toe Elevation for each station is un-Unchecked
• Enter the Crest Elevation for each station
• Enter the Wall Elevation for each station

After you have entered the grade line data, the graphical diagram should change to reflect
the new data. If it does not, re-check your input data for
11errors. You can also delete any
stations that you aren’t necessary by clicking the ‘Delete’ button.
Draw the grade line data
Drawing the grade line data is a very simple process and can be faster than manually inputting stations.
IMPORTANT:
To accurately draw grade line data to fit the Anchor Wall Systems Products you are using, it is essential that
you have selected the correct Product and Product group before drawing grade line data.

If you are using the ‘New Project Wizard,’ make sure you have already selected the appropriate Product and
Product group.

If you have already created a project and you are editing the grade line data, make sure that the FIRST panel
in the project has the correct Product and Product group that you want to use.

1. Set drawing settings

The Vertical and Horizontal snap should already be set to the height and width
of the Anchor Wall Systems Product that you will be using for your panels.

• Enter the ‘Number of stations’ to how many stations you need.

• Set the ‘Maximum Height of Second Upper Level’ to the highest
elevation that the grade data you intent to draw will reach.
• Make sure that the ‘Show Grid’ box has been Checked.

2. Click the Draw Grade Line Data button (Click cancel to abort)

3. Move your cursor over the graphical

diagram and point to the position of the
first station’s horizontal position and lower
soil level. Use the Positional panel to help
you:

Click to register the

position
Lower soil elevations

Repeat step 3 until all lower elevations and

horizontal positions have been registered.
4. Now you have to enter the wall
elevation points. The cursor should
Wall elevations
automatically snap to the horizontal
position of the first station. Use the
Positional panel to help you move your
cursor to the correct elevation. Click to
register and move on to the next station.

Repeat step 4 until all the wall elevations

have been registered.

5. The cursor should again automatically

snap to the horizontal position of the first
12 station. Use the positional panel to help
you move your cursor to the correct crest
elevations for each station. Click to register
an elevation and repeat until all crest
Modifying Grade line data
Crest Elevations

After drawing or manually inputting grade line data, you can make edits anytime by
modifying the values in the Grade Line Data Table.

You can also modify the grade line data by moving the cursor over a point on the
graphical diagram and dragging it to another elevation or position.

To drag a point, move the cursor until the blue dot (cursor) snaps to the red dot
(station). Press the left mouse button, move the cursor to the new position then
release the left mouse button.

After you have manually edited the grade When dragging points, make sure ‘Snap to
line data table, you may want to click the Points’ is checked so you can easily move
‘Auto SNAP’ button to adjust the points to your mouse to a grade line data point.
fit with the currently selected unit group.

Generating Panels

Generating panels is automatically done by the program but you should first give some instruction how to
do so. After you are satisfy with the grade line data, you can click the ‘Auto build panels’ button to
automatically generate panels to the default configuration or you can click the ‘Custom Build Panels…’
button.

Automatically generating panels will generate panels by starting a

new panel every time the height differs by 1 block.

Automatic generation of panels will bring the main display window showing the front
elevation of the wall with a cross section of a selected panel. In order to control the required
width of the panels (to have a more economic design with minimum grid wastage) Click the
‘Panel Generation” button in the main window. This will bring up the advanced panel
generator window. (See below)

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The width of the panels can be controlled by either the width of the geogrid roll or the
number of panel groups per station. In default, width of the geogrid roll is set to control
the width of panels.

The width of the selected grid roll make should be entered in the appropriate box. Once
it is completed, click the “Auto Group” button. The program will create wall profile
with group of panels. The number of panels in a given group is depending on the width
of the grid roll (approximately). This will facilitate to effectively utilise the grid rolls
with grater constructability.

Once you are comfortable with the panel generation design, click the “Accept” Button.

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 MAIN INTERFACE

Menu
Toolbars

Access List
Wall Elevation
diagram

Object
Inspector

Cross section
Object
diagram
Description

Status Bar

Cross section Progress indicator

Panel, Wall type Seismic indicator Panel, Wall Status Zoom Control

After you have created a new project, used the ‘New Project Wizard’ or opened an existing
project, you will see the main interface form. The main interface form will let you edit every aspect
of the project.

Menus

From the file menu, The edit menu From the panels menu, the The section menu allows
the user can create, allows you to user can add, delete, split and to add, delete, split or
open and save undo/redo merge panels. The user can merge the selected blocks
projects as well as actions as well also copy a panel design to
edit the options for a as refresh all the 15
selected panels, show the
project, edit costs, the diagrams.
current panel quantities, run a
generate reports and
export diagrams to trial design and analyse the
From the tools The help menu lets you access The report sub-menu (which is located inside the
menu, you can the help manual, submit bug file menu) enables to create a Full Report,
access the special reports and show the Summary Report, Quantity Report or costing
tools, singular and AnchorWall™ program report. It is also possible to generate a full report
trial design tools as details. or summary report for all the selected panels.
well as custom made
trial design scripts

The “Special Tools Sub-Menu” (located in the tools
menu) has a list of special operations that can run for
the project. The user can remove all the grids, copy a
panel design to other panels, snap the soil to the panel
design, optimise grid quantities, remove all Half-high
blocks, optimise the selected grids and level the panel
to cap height. (more explained in the trial design
section below)
The “Singular Trial Design Sub-Menu” (located in the
tools menu) has a list of trial design operations the
user can run for an individual panel. These include:
Split all units, reset all grids, and optimise vertical
spacing, uniform optimise grids, optimise all grids,
merge all units and conform the grid design. (more
explained in the trial design section below)

The “Grouped Trial Design Sub-Menu” (located in the

tools menu) has a list of trial design operations that
can run for a group of 2 or more panels. These
include: Split all units, reset all grids, and optimise
vertical spacing, uniform optimise grids, optimise all
grids, merge all units and conform the grid design.
16 section below)
(more explained in the trial design
 Access List

Through the Access List, the user can access various information pertaining to the
Project Setup, Wall Profile, Safety Factors, Soil parameters and the Geogrid Settings.

Properties: The user can acquire/change the names
of the project owner, name of the client, project
location, name of the designer, revised dates, the
revisers details and the revision number with special
notes on important issues.
Project Setup: Provides full details on the type and
manufacturer of the geogrid reinforcement. Also, provides
the Anchor block type, calculation engine, and the
maximum vertical spacing between grid layers. The user
can change these factors as it is required.

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 Project Options: In order to insert the stronger (or
similar strength) geogrids in the lower elevations
comparing to the grids of the higher elevations (as
requested by some codes), “Conform Grid Design” box
should be clicked.

Under Project options, it is possible to insert a pad

reinforcement grid for selected panels. This function is
very important for tall walls where the allowable design
strength of the grid is the major controlling factor. If the
panel can be designed safely (under specified criteria)
without the pad grid, then the program will not insert a
pad grid. In the case of inserting a pad grid, it is important
to embed an appropriate Anchor block unit in the
levelling pad in order to maintain the required connection
strength properties. This additional block does not show
up in the quantities report at this stage and should be
accounted for as part of the overall design.

Under the “Grid length accuracy” the user can control the
accuracy of the grids by sliding the accuracy bar from left
to right. The left most position provides the most accurate
length. However, this will drastically reduce the speed of
the trial design.

Analysis: The “Analysis” window provides various

options for the user to analyse the design under different
design criteria. The user can select the most appropriate
analysis functions by ticking the appropriate box. This can
be carried out separately for the gravity and reinforced
walls.

The “Analysis” window provides option to select the

static or dynamic calculations. In order to carry out a
seismic calculation click the red button under the “seismic
calculations”. Then it will become green and the “on” sign
will appear (the default seismic setting is “off”). Once the
seismic calculations are switched on, enter the value for
“peak ground acceleration ratio” in the dialog box. Also,
enter the value for “lateral wall displacement ratio” (the
value must be between 25 (1 inch) and 200mm (8 inches).

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 In addition to the above functions the user can select the required units of
measurements by clicking the “Unit Setup” tab in the “Project Setup” window.

Soil Properties: After selecting the “Soil Properties” in the access list, The the soil properties window
will appear. This window displays the current properties of foundation, retained, reinforced and
leveling pad soils. The user can change the properties and the names of the soils.

Default Interface friction angle of the retained soil was set to equal the internal friction angle. Default
Interface friction angle of the reinforced soil was set as the 2/3 of its internal friction angle. However,
the user can change these values according to the requirements of the project. For the BS 8006
calculation engine, the default interface friction angles for both reinforced and retained soils were set to
zero.

For the BS8006 calculation engine, the user can either enter the bearing capacity value and or as with
the NCMA and AS4678 methods the bearing capacity of the soil is automatically calculated by the
program using the classical Bearing Capacity equation of Terzaghi.

In this window, there is an option to make the soil properties uniform by clicking the appropriate box.
In this case, all the soil properties (except for the interface friction angle) will be changed to the same
values for all three soil types, except for the levelling pad soils.

Wall Profie: In order to edit the grade line data, select the “Wall Profile from the “Access
List”, and change the grade line data as described in the “Advanced Grade Line Data
Editor” section.

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 Selection of wall type: In order to select the type of gravity wall
it is necessary to click the space in front of the “gravity type” and
select the required type. The default setting is “normal” which
can be used to design both gravity walls and reinforced walls.
However, if it is necessary to design a no-fine concrete wall, it is
necessary to select “no-fines” from the drop down list.

Back slope: If the user has entered the higher elevation for the
second soil level comparing to the level of the crest of the panel,
then it is possible to create a back slope. In default, this will be an
infinitely long slope. In this case the program has a default setting
of 100m as break point from the crest of the slope. The user may
enter the distance to back slope if the back slope intersects the
crest level of the wall from some distance.

Broken Back Slope: In the case that the length of the slope
above the top of the wall is less than two times the height of the
wall then it creates a “Broken Back Slope”. In this case, the user
has to enter the distance to the breakpoint from crest to calculate
the effective back slope angle.

Toe slope: The slope in front of the panels can be entered under
the “Toe Slopes” textbox. The magnitude of the toe slope angle is
important in calculating the embedment depth of the panel.

External Loadings: Under the “External Loadings”, it is possible to enter the live and
dead loads applied on the walls or on the bridge abutments. Before entering the loads
on the bridge abutments, it is necessary to select the panel type by clicking the
appropriate text box under the general properties of the panel window.

Line Loads: It is possible to enter the vertical and horizontal strip loads applied on
the walls/abutments. In addition to the magnitude of the loads, it is necessary to enter
the width of the strip contact area, offsets and the load eccentricities (for vertical strip
loads).

Embedment Depth: The required length of the wall beneath the finish grade can be
entered in the “Embedment Depth” textbox. The different codes require different
minimum embedment depths and the program had set the default of the embedment
depths in accordance with the recommendations of the codes. The magnitude of the
embedment depths can be locked or unlocked depending on the specific nature of the
project.

Panel Base Offset: Panel base offset is the elevation of the panel in relating to the
lowest grade line data point. This is automatically calculated after the entering of the
embedment depth.
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 Elevation Diagram

The elevation diagram

shows all the panels and soil
levels from a ‘Frontal’
view.

To edit a panel’s properties, click a panel on the elevation diagram and the object inspector will
display its properties. More than one panel can be selected by holding the ctrl button and clicking the
panels or by clicking the first panel, holding shift and clicking the last panel.

Status Bar

At the bottom of the Main interface window, the program shows the status of the selected panels or
wall. Reinforced panel and the Reinforced wall indicate that the entire wall is a Geosynthetic
reinforced wall. In the case of a gravity wall, these will change in to gravity panel/wall.

Visual display of the stability status of the panel or the entire wall can be viewed from the two
green buttons as shown above. If they are both green (as in this case) it indicates that the internal
and external stability of the selected panels and the entire wall is okay. If the button/s is red, there is
an internal stability failure. The orange button/s indicates the external stability failure. This is only
for a quick reference. The detailed analysis can be viewed from the analysis button at the main tool
bar. The panel cross section can be zoomed by clicking the relevant arrows upwards.

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 Basic/Advanced Mode Undo / Redo,
Trial Design (Basic Mode) Close

Trial Design Type

SRW Block Settings

Trial Design Settings Grouped Design

Settings

Trial Design (Advanced Mode)

Trial Design Type

Current Design List

Procedures List
Run Button

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 Trial Design
Settings

Trial Design
Progress Details

Errors, Issues
Current Procedure
Progress

Trial Design
Position

Grouped Trial
Design Progress

Resume Button Pause Button

Abort Button

Trial Designs

A Trial design is a set of procedures that the software runs to use the ‘trial and error’ method to create
the most effective grid design for a panel and the wall. The trial and error method is more effective
than a direct approach because it takes into consideration all factors affecting walls, also (with today’s
high-speed computers), it is very quick. For this reason, it is highly recommended to have a high-end
computer if you intend to create trial-designs for extremely large walls with Tall panels or Many
panels. The height and amount of panels is the primary slow-down to the trial design process.

AnchorWall™ Version 5.0s trial design tool comes with some very powerful tools; the engine is
designed to work on singular panels as well as ‘grouped’ panels. Grouped panels are a selection of
panels that vary in height or elevation but share a single grid design. Using grouped designs simplifies
the overall wall grid design, creating a realistic design that can be easy to build in reality. Instead of
having a complex grid design for each panel, several panels can ‘share’ a grid design that is both
effective and efficient. Grouped trial designs also reduce the workload on the designer.

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 Design Example

This design example is specially made to demonstrate the design capacity of the AnchorWall™
Version 5.0 program. The example creates a 10m long complex reinforced Anchor Landmark wall
with different panel heights. For this example, we will use NCMA calculation method. Prior to
starting design example, please familiarize yourself with the program as explained in the earlier
chapters.

Procedure:

1. Click the AnchorWall™ Version 5.0 icon in your desktop and open the program

24
 4. Select NCMA system
5. Check use new project wizard
and click OK

25
 6. Enter the relevant project
Information and click Next.

7. Select the metric unit system and click

Next

26
 8. Select Landmark (Metric)
9. Check use Cap unit (if not checcked)
10.Select Landmark (Metric) Full only
11. Select TC Mirafi
12. Select Miragrid Landmark (Metric)
13. Check allow use of pad RFT grid and
Click Next
The next two screens refer to the soil
properties. In this example, we will take
the default values. Click Next twice

After two soil properties screens,

“NCMA Partial Factors” screen will
appear

14. We will leave the factors of safety as

displayed on the screen. (Most of
these values are extracted from the
NCMA design manual)
Click Next
15. In the next screen click “create grade
line data” (please refer to the
previous relevant chapter to know
more about entering grade line data).

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In the “Advanced Grade Line Editor” window, there are two methods of drawing the
wall profile. You can either enter the coordinates of each station as given above or
you can draw the wall profile by running the mouse point over the drawing palate
and selecting the appropriate station coordinates.

If you are using the first method:

16. Enter the station coordinates as given in the example. Do not forget to click the
add button after entering coordinates of the second station (to enter coordinates of
the third station).

17. After entering the coordinates for all four stations click the “Auto Snap” button.
This will slightly change the elevations (if required) to match with the block heights.

If you are using the second method:

18. Change the number of stations to 4 under the drawing column.

19. Change the maximum height of second upper level to 10.07.
20. Change Total wall length to 10.00 meters.
21. Click the “Draw grade line” button.
22. Now the program will ask you to draw the toe level of the wall in each four
stations. Drag the mouse pointer and click at the X,Y coordinates (0,7.03), (3,0),
(7,0) and (10,7.03).
23. Next the program will ask you to draw the crest level of the wall in all four
stations. Drag the mouse pointer and click at the X,Y coordinates (0,7.98), (3,7.98),
(7,7.98), (10,7.98).

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24. Next, the program will ask you to draw the second upper soil level in all four
stations. Drag the mouse pointer and click at the coordinates (0.10.07), (3, 10.07),
(7, 9.88) and (10, 9.88).
25. After entering these stations, the program will indicate that it is ready for the
building of panels. Click the “Auto Build Panels” button.
26. The above screen will appear. Please refer to the previous chapters for more
information about the elements of the main display screen.
27. If you wish to have a quick design for the whole wall Click the trial design in the
main menu bar.
28. Select “Automatically create a trial design for a panel”. In the next window,
select “Group Design” and click “Run”

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Depending on the complexity, number of panels, height of panels and the speed of your
computer, the program will carry out a full design for the wall as shown in the diagram
below:
29. Click the “Wall Status” button in the status bar. The green light will appear and
indicate that the entire wall is stable. Also, the panel status button will glow in green. If
the red light is still showing, there is a panel that requires further design work.
30. You can check the designs of individual panels by clicking each panel. In the above
diagram, the design of panel 15 is shown.
31. In order to check the External stability of the selected panel, click the “Analyze the
current panel” button at the main menu bar and select “External Stability”
32. In order to check the Internal stability of the selected panel, click the “Analyze the
Current Panel” button at the main menu bar and select “Internal stability” and click the
desired grid layer to see the results.
33. To check the full reinforcement results, select “Reinforcement Results”.
34. All three result screens are shown in the next three diagrams.

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31
35. To obtain a DXF file of the front elevation of the wall and a selected cross
section, select the “DXF Export” button from the main menu. The program will
prompt you to save the file in a selected folder. Once saved, this file can be
directly imported to AutoCAD and opened as a DWG file.
36. To obtain a direct summary report click “Report” button in the main menu bar.
Then click “Summary report”. This will generate two page summary report
consisting of a full summary of the project, quantities, front elevation diagram and
a cross section of a selected panel. The summary report is a very important
document and it can be directly forwarded to the project contractor.
37. Click “Full Report” and this will generate a full report showing the hand
calculations of the stability analysis, assumptions, partial and safety factors etc.
38. To obtain a quantity report, click “Quantity Report” button.
39. To obtain a costing report, click “Costing Report”

Summary report, Full report, Quantity report and Costing reports are shown
below.

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The first report shows the summary of the project details including a cross
section of a selected panel, quantities, stability analysis etc.
The second report shows a section of the first page full report.

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The quantity report shows the amount of block, grid, locking bar and soil
required for the project. The Costing report shows the price of a square unit of
the surface of the wall within a given profit margin. The default values of a price
of a single unit/unit length/area are taken as a one monetary unit.

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 Special Applications

The Anchor 5.0 design software is specially designed to accommodate the various design
requests from the Anchor licensees throughout the world. As the first step towards this
direction, the following applications were added:

● No-fines concrete applications

● Seismic calculations

No-fines Concrete Applications

No –fines concrete applications are limited for the gravity walls not exceeding 3 meters (10
feet) of the total wall height. This application is highly desirable when there is not enough
space behind the wall to lay the geogrids to reinforce the soils. Also, in some cases, it may
be economically viable to use a column of no-fines concrete instead of using geogrids.

In order to carryout a no-fines concrete design, first select the Anchor block type,
calculation engine, surcharges and design a wall profile as described in the previous
sections. Once in the main window, click the space in front of the “gravity type” and select
the “No fines” (the default is “Normal”) from the drop down list. Next, click the space in
front of the “Density” and change the density of the no-fines concrete as required (the
default density is 20 kN/m3).

Selection of the no-fines

concrete applications

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In prior to carryout the trial design, it is necessary to select the panels required for no-fines
concrete designs. As described in the previous sectors, first select the required panels and
change the “normal” to “no-fines” under the “gravity type”. Then click the “Trial Design”
icon and generate a trial design. If the trial design is successful, the indicator light will glow
green when click a panel. In order to check the overall design, now click the indicator light
in front of the “Wall Status” at the bottom of the main window. If the entire design is
successful, then the wall status indicator light will glow green.

Anchor 5.0 design software provides summary report, full report and quantity report for no-
fines concrete designs. The summary report will show the total volume of no-fines concrete
required for the wall. The full report will show the hand calculations and the brief
explanation of the theory behind the design.

The Anchor 5.0 design software allows to carryout a combination of gravity, no-fines
concrete and geogrid designs for selected panels in a wall. However, it is not possible to
obtain combined reports separately.

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 Seismic Designs

Anchor 5.0 design software enables user to carryout both statice and dynamic designs using
the anchor segmental retaining blocks.

In order to provide a more economic seismic design, the software uses displacement method
approach which allows small tolerable horizontal wall movements in contrast to the pseudo-
static seismic analysis based on the Mononobe-Okabe (M-O) method which does not allow
displacements. As a result M-O earth pressure is reduced to a residual seismic earth
pressure behind the wall due to the outward lateral movement of the wall. Accordingly,
reduced acceleration coefficient is used throughout the seismic designs under the following
assumptions:

● The Anchor wall can tolerate small lateral movements resulting from sliding of the
structure. The displacement should not be less than 25 mm (1 inch) or not greater than 200
mm (8 inches).
● The passive earth pressure is ignored and the wall is restrained only by the friction of the
soil against the sliding.
● For bridge abutments, the top of the wall must not be restrained.

In order to carryout a seismic design, click the “project setup” icon at the upper left corner
of the main window. Then click “Analysis” tab at the top of the setup window.

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Then click the red button under the “seismic calculations” and it will become green and the
“on” sign will appear (the default seismic setting is “off”). Once the seismic calculations are
switched on, enter the value for “peak ground acceleration ratio” in the dialog box. Also,
enter the value for “lateral wall displacement ratio” (this must be between 25 (1 inch) and
200mm (8 inches).

After entering the seismic values, click the “OK” button and this will open the main
window. Now, the seismic trial design can be carried out as the same way as the static
designs, described in the previous sections.

Seismic forces have significant effect on the internal overturning of the blocks. Except, for
the Anchor Landmark system (which has very high resistance to the overturning) all the
other systems might experience internal overturning depending on the strength of the
seismic force. If the internal overturning happened then the seismic trial design will fail. In
this case, it is advisable to switch off the “internal overturning” from the “Project setup”
screen (un-tick the box) in the above picture. During the construction of the wall, (for any
seismic design conducted without the internal overturning analysis) the upper block layers
should be strongly bonded with the lower layers by synthetic epoxy or cement.

During the seismic designs, the “seismic on” button will glow showing that the program is
in the seismic mode (as shown below).

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