CEE209 – Geotechnical & Foundation Engineering

Lecture – 05 (Lateral Earth Pressure)

 Content 2

1. At Rest, Active and Passive Pressures 2

2. Earth Pressure at Rest 2
3. Earth Pressure at Rest for Partially Submerged Soil 2

1) Geotechnical Engineering – Principles and Practices by D.P. Coduto

2) Principles of Geotechnical Engineering by B.M. DAS
3) Soil and Foundations by Liu & Evett
4) Foundation Analysis and Design by J.E. Bowles
5) Foundation Design – Principles and Practices by D.P. Coduto
6) Principles of Foundation Engineering by B.M. DAS
 1) At Rest, Active and Passive Pressures

Earth retaining structures experience

pressure from the retained soil mass.
Typical example of such structures is
retaining wall

Three Cases of Earth Pressure

① Pressure at Rest

② Active Pressure

③ Passive Pressure
 1) At Rest, Active and Passive Pressures
Consider a soil mass. The mass is
bounded by a frictionless wall.

The soil element located at a depth

z is subjected to a vertical effective
pressure 𝜎 ′ o and horizontal
effective pressure 𝜎 ′ h.

𝜎 ′𝑜 = 𝛾 × 𝑧
𝜎 ′ ℎ = 𝐾𝜎 ′ 𝑜 = 𝐾𝛾𝑧

Where K is a nondimensional
coefficient of lateral pressure, given
as
𝜎 ′ℎ
𝐾= ′
𝜎𝑜
 1) At Rest, Active and Passive Pressures
Case-I
If the wall AB is static, i.e., if it does
not move either to right or to left of
its initial position – the soil mass
will be in a state of static
equilibrium.

In such a case, σ’h is referred to as

the at-rest earth pressure, or

𝜎 ′ℎ
𝐾 = 𝐾𝑜 = ′
𝜎𝑜

where Ko = at-rest earth pressure

coefficient.
 1) At Rest, Active and Passive Pressures
Case-II
If frictionless wall rotates
sufficiently about its bottom to a
position of A’B, then triangular
mass ABC’ adjacent to the wall
will reach a state of plastic
equilibrium and will fail sliding
down the plane BC’.

At this time, σ’h is referred to as

active pressure, or
𝜎 ′ℎ 𝜎 ′𝑎
𝐾 = 𝐾𝑎 = ′ = ′
𝜎𝑜 𝜎𝑜

where Ka = active earth pressure

coefficient
 1) At Rest, Active and Passive Pressures
Case-III
If the wall rotates sufficiently
about its bottom to a position
A”B, then a triangular mass
ABC” will reach a state of
plastic equilibrium and will
fail sliding upward along the
plane BC”.
At this time, σ’h is referred to
as passive pressure, or
𝜎 ′ℎ 𝜎 ′𝑝
𝐾 = 𝐾𝑝 = ′ = ′
𝜎𝑜 𝜎𝑜

where Kp = passive earth

pressure coefficient
 1) At Rest, Active and Passive Pressures
Lateral Earth Pressure with
Wall Tilt
 2) Earth Pressure at Rest
Vertical effective stress = s’o = gz
Horizontal effective stress = s’h = Kogz
For coarse-grained soils, the coeff. of
earth pressure at rest is estimated by
using empirical relationship (Jaky 1944)
𝐾𝑜 = 1 − 𝑠𝑖𝑛∅
where f’ = drained friction angle
Jaky’s Eq. is good for loose sand
backfill. For dense sand backfill, this Eq.
may underestimate the lateral earth
pressure at rest.
This underestimation is due to the
process of compaction of backfill.
 2) Earth Pressure at Rest
For normally consolidated Clays
(Brooker & Ireland, 1965)

𝐾𝑜 = 0.4 + 0.007 𝑃𝐼
(for PI between 0 to 40)

𝐾𝑜 = 0.64 + 0.001 𝑃𝐼
(for PI between 40 to 90)

Where PI is Plasticity Index

For Overconsolidated Clays,

𝐾𝑜(𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑)
= 𝐾𝑜(𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑) 𝑂𝐶𝑅

Where OCR is Overconsolidation Ratio

2) Earth Pressure at Rest

𝜎 ′ 𝑜 = 𝛾𝑧
𝜎 ′ ℎ = 𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝑧

1
𝑃𝑜 = 𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻 2
2
𝐻
3

𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻
 2) Earth Pressure at Rest

𝜎 ′ 𝑜 = 𝑞 + 𝛾𝑧
𝜎 ′ ℎ = 𝐾𝑜 (𝑞 + 𝛾𝑧)

𝑃1
𝑃2
𝐻
𝐻
2
3
𝑃𝑜 = 𝑃1 + 𝑃2
1 𝐾𝑜 𝑞 𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻
𝑃𝑜 = 𝐾𝑜 𝑞𝐻 + 𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻 2
2
 2) Earth Pressure at Rest

𝜎 ′ 𝑜 = 𝑞 + 𝛾𝑧
𝜎 ′ ℎ = 𝐾𝑜 (𝑞 + 𝛾𝑧)
𝑃1
𝑃𝑜
𝑃2
𝐻
𝐻 𝒛
2
3
𝑃𝑜 = 𝑃1 + 𝑃2
1 𝐾𝑜 𝑞 𝐾𝑜 𝛾 𝐻
𝑃𝑜 = 𝐾𝑜 𝑞 𝐻 + 𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻 2 𝐻 𝐻
2 𝑃𝑜 𝑧 = 𝑃1 + 𝑃2
2 3
𝐻 𝐻
𝑃1 + 𝑃2
𝑧= 2 3
𝑃𝑜
3) Earth Pressure at Rest for Partially Submerged Soil

𝜎 ′ 𝑜 = 𝛾𝑧1
𝑧1 𝜎 ′ ℎ = 𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝑧1

𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻1 𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻1
𝑧2
+ =

𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻1 𝐾𝑜 𝛾 ′ 𝐻2 𝛾𝑤 𝐻2 𝐾𝑜 (𝛾𝐻1 + 𝛾 ′ 𝐻2 )+𝛾𝑤 𝐻2

𝐾𝑜 (𝛾𝐻1 + 𝛾 ′ 𝐻2 )
𝜎 ′ ℎ = 𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻1 + 𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝑠𝑎𝑡 − 𝛾𝑤 𝑧2
𝛾 ′ = 𝛾𝑠𝑎𝑡 − 𝛾𝑤
3) Earth Pressure at Rest for Partially Submerged Soil

A
𝜎 ′ 𝑜 = 𝛾𝑧1
𝑧1 𝜎 ′ ℎ = 𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝑧1
B C I
𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻1 𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻1
𝑧2
+ =

D E F J K
𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻1 𝐾𝑜 𝛾 ′ 𝐻2 𝛾𝑤 𝐻2
𝐾𝑜 (𝛾𝐻1 + 𝛾 ′ 𝐻2 )+𝛾𝑤 𝐻2
𝐾𝑜 (𝛾𝐻1 + 𝛾 ′ 𝐻2 )
1 1 1
𝑃𝑜 = 𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻1 + 𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻1 𝐻2 + 𝐾𝑜 𝛾 𝐻2 + 𝛾𝑤 𝐻2 2
2 ′ 2
2 2 2
ABC BCDE CEF IJK
3) Earth Pressure at Rest for Partially Submerged Soil
Example 1: Following figure shows a 15-ft retaining wall. The wall is
restrained from yielding. Calculate the lateral force Po per unit
length of the wall. Also, determine the location of the resultant
force.
3) Earth Pressure at Rest for Partially Submerged Soil
Example 1: Following figure shows a 15-ft retaining wall. The wall is
restrained from yielding. Calculate the lateral force Po per unit
length of the wall. Also, determine the location of the resultant
force.

P1 = 2500

Po = 6155

8.33
P2 = 2500
𝒛
P3 = 375 P4 = 780
2.5 1.67 1.67

𝟔𝟏𝟓𝟓 × 𝒛 = 𝟐𝟓𝟎𝟎 × 𝟖. 𝟑𝟑 + 𝟐𝟓𝟎𝟎 × 𝟐. 𝟓 + 𝟑𝟕𝟓 × 𝟏. 𝟔𝟕 + 𝟕𝟖𝟎 × 𝟏. 𝟔𝟕

𝒛 = 𝟒. 𝟕𝟏 𝒇𝒕
 Thank you

Questions ?