LATERAL

EARTH
PRESSURE
 LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE
What is
Lateral
Earth
Pressure????

Lateral earth pressure is the pressure

that soil exerts in the horizontal direction.
 LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE

Why we need to study Lateral Earth Pressure????

Lateral Earth pressure is an important parameter for the

design of bridge abutment, different types of retaining walls
(Such as gravity retaining walls, cantilever walls, buttresses),
sheet piles and other retaining structures.
It is important because it affects the consolidation behavior and
strength of the soil. Also, because it is considered in the design
of retaining walls, basements, tunnels, etc.
 LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE
Vertical or near-vertical slopes of soil are supported by retaining
walls, cantilever sheet pile walls, sheet-pile bulkheads, braced cuts,
and other, similar structures.

The proper design of those structures requires an estimation of lateral

earth pressure, which is a function of several factors, such as:
(a) the type and amount of wall movement,
(b) the shear strength parameters of the soil,
(c) the unit weight of the soil, and
(d) the drainage conditions in the backfill.
 LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE

Lateral Supports
 LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE

Retaining Walls - Applications

 LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE

Retaining Walls - Applications

 LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE

Retaining Walls - Applications

 LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE

Lateral Earth Pressure and Wall Movement

Lateral earth pressure are the direct result of horizontal

stresses in the soil.

In order to understand the lateral earth pressure we have to

define the Coefficient of lateral earth pressure, K.
 LATERAL EARTH
PRESSURE
What is Coefficient of lateral earth pressure, K??

It is defined as the
ratio of the horizontal
effective stress, σh to
the vertical effective
stress σv. K = σh /σv
 LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE

Total Stress
σ = Уsat (h)

Pore Water Pressure

u = Уw (h)

Effective stress
σ' = σ - u
σ' = Уsat (h) - Уw (h)
σ’ = (Уsat – Уw) (h)
σ' = У’(h)
Submerged Unit Weight
LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE

Total Stress

Pore Water Pressure

Effective Stress
 LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE

Total Stress

Pore Water Pressure

Effective Stress
 LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE
SAMPLE PROBLEM #1

Figure 1: Soil Profile

 LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE
SAMPLE PROBLEM #1

Figure 1: Soil Profile

 LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE
Theories behind……………………..
 LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE

Assumptions;
The backfill is a dry, cohesionless, homogeneous, isotropic soil.
The backfill surface is planar and can be inclined.
The back of the wall can be inclined to the vertical.
The failure surface is a plane surface which passes through the
heel of the wall.
The position and the line of action of the earth pressure are known.
The sliding wedge is considered to be a rigid body and the earth
pressure is obtained by considering the limiting equilibrium of the
sliding wedge as a whole.
 LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE

Assumptions;
 Soil is non-cohesive (c = 0) dry, isotropic and homogenous
Backfill is horizontal
Wall is vertical
Wall friction is neglected
Failure is a plain strain problem
 LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE
Different types of lateral earth pressure
Lateral earth pressure can be grouped into 3 categories, depending
upon the movement of the retaining wall with respect to the soil
retained.

1. The wall may be restrained

form moving. The lateral
earth pressure on the wall
at any depth is called
at-rest earth pressure.
 LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE
Different types of lateral earth pressure
Lateral earth pressure can be grouped into 3 categories, depending
upon the movement of the retaining wall with respect to the soil
retained.
2. The wall may tilt away from the
soil that is retained. With sufficient
wall tilt, a triangular soil wedge
behind the wall will fail. The
lateral pressure for this condition is
referred to as
active earth pressure.
 LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE
Different types of lateral earth pressure
Lateral earth pressure can be grouped into 3 categories, depending
upon the movement of the retaining wall with respect to the soil
retained.

3. The wall may be pushed into the

soil that is retained. With sufficient
wall movement, a soil wedge will
fail. The lateral pressure for this
condition is referred to as
passive earth pressure.
 LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE
Comparison of 3 states of lateral earth pressure

Active Case At-rest Case Passive Case

Wall moves away No movement Wall moves into the
from the soil soil
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Variation of Pressure
Point B: At-rest Case
Point A: Active Case
 As the wall moves away from the soil backfill
the active condition develops and the lateral
pressure against the wall decreases with
wall movement until the minimum active
earth pressure force (Pa) is reached. The
lateral earth pressure exerted on the wall is
a minimum.
 According to Lambe and Whitman (1969),
for dense sand, the horizontal strain is about
0.05%.
Example: For a wall of 5m height, a movement
of 0.025m would develop active earth
pressure.
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Variation of Pressure
Point C: Passive Case
 As the wall moves towards
(into) the soil backfill, the
passive condition develops
and the lateral pressure
against the wall increases
with wall movement until the
maximum passive earth
pressure (Pp) is reached.
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