Earth Pressures &

Retaining Walls

Technical University of Kenya

Department of civil engineering
Dr. Eng. Alphonce A. Owayo.
Rankine Active Earth Pressure for Inclined Backfill
If the backfill of a frictionless retaining wall is a granular soil
(c' =0) and rises at an angle 𝛼 with respect to the horizontal
(see Fig. 1), the active earth-pressure coefficient may be
expressed in the form

(1)

Fig. 1 Notations for active pressure—Eq.

(1),
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Table 1 Values of Ka Eq. (1),

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Rankine Passive Earth Pressure for Inclined Backfill
For a frictionless vertical retaining wall (Fig.1) with a
granular backfill (c’=0), the Rankine passive pressure at any
depth can be determined in a manner similar to that done in
the case of active pressure. The pressure is

(2)

Table2 Passive Earth Pressure Coefficient [from Eq.

(2)]

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Coulomb's Active Earth Pressure

(3)

Fig. 2 Coulomb’s active pressure

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Coulomb's Active Earth Pressure

Table 3Values of Ka Eq(3) for β= 90° and 𝛼=0°

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Coulomb's Active Earth Pressure
Table 4 Values of Ka Eq(3) for 𝛿 ′ = 2/3 𝜙 ′ '

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Coulomb's Active Earth Pressure
Table 4 continued Values of Ka Eq(3) for 𝛿 ′ = 2/3 𝜙 ′ '

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Coulomb's Active Earth Pressure
Table 5 values of Ka Eq(3) for 𝛿 ′ = 1/2 𝜙 ′ '

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Coulomb's Active Earth Pressure
Table 5 continued Values of Ka Eq(3) for 𝛿 ′ = 1/2 𝜙 ′ '

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Coulomb’s Passive Earth Pressure

(4)

Fig. 3 Coulomb’s passive pressure

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Table 3Values of Kp Eq(4) for β= 90° and 𝛼=0°

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Retaining walls
A retaining wall is a wall that provides lateral support for a
vertical or near-vertical slope of soil. It is a common
structure used in many construction projects. The most
common types of retaining wall may be classified as follows:
1. Gravity retaining walls
2. Semigravity retaining walls
3. Cantilever retaining walls
4. Counterfort retaining walls
5. Sheet piles
Gravity retaining walls (Fig. 4a) are constructed
with plain concrete or stone masonry. They depend
for stability on their own weight and any soil resting
on the
masonry. This type of construction is not
economical for high walls.
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In many cases, a small amount of steel may be
used for the construction of gravity walls, thereby
minimizing the size of wall sections. Such walls are
generally referred
to as semigravity walls (Fig. 4b).
Cantilever retaining walls (Fig. 4c) are made of
reinforced concrete that consists of a thin stem and
a base slab. This type of wall is economical to a
height of
about 8 m.
Counterfort retaining walls (Fig. 4d) are similar
to cantilever walls. At regular intervals, however,
they have thin vertical concrete slabs known as
counterforts that
tie the wall and the Jan-April
base 2023
slab together. The14
purpose of the counterforts is to reduce the shear
the unit weight, angle of friction, and cohesion—of
the soil retained behind the wall and the soil below
the base slab. Knowing the properties of the soil
behind the wall
enables the engineer to determine the lateral
pressure distribution that has to be designed for.
There are two phases in the design of a
conventional retaining wall. First, with the lateral
earth pressure known, the structure as a whole is
checked for stability. The structure is examined for
possible overturning, sliding, and bearing capacity
failures. Second, each component of the structure
is checked for strength, and the steel reinforcement
of each component is determined. This chapter
presents the procedures for determination of lateral
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 Fig. 4 Types of retaining walls
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Sheet pile walls(Figs. 5 & 6) These walls arc
made up from a series of interlocking piles
individually driven into the foundation soil. Most
modern sheet pile walls are made or steel but
earlier walls were also made from timber or
precast concrete sections and may still be
encountered. There are two main types of
sheet pile walls: cantilever and anchored.
Cantilever wall
This wall is held in the ground by the active
and passive pressures that act on its lower part
(Fig. 5).
Anchored wall This wall is fixed at its base as
is the cantilever wall hut it is also supported by a
row, or two rows. or Jan-April
tics2023 or struts placed near
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 Fig. 5 Pressure
distribution on sheet
pile wall.

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 Fig. 6 Anchorage
systems for sheet pile
walls.

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Sheet piles
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