Small gravity

retaining walls
Portland Cement Association tables
simplify design
BY FRANK A. RANDALL, JR.
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER

mall gravity retaining walls are relatively simple

structures that can be built with unskilled labor and
locally available materials. Very little reinforcing steel is
needed because the walls dont have to resist bending
and shear stresses like those developed in thinner cantilever walls. Weight of the concrete in a gravity wall provides stability against overturning.
Gravity retaining wall design can be greatly simplified
through the use of a series of sample designs developed
recently by the Portland Cement Association (PCA). Presented in tabular form, the designs are for wall heights

TABLE 1. TYPES OF BACKFILL SOIL

Type 1. Backfill of coarse-grained, very permeable soil
without admixture of fine particles; examples
are clean sand or gravel.
Type 2. Backfill of coarse-grained soil of low permeability due to admixture of silt-size particles.
Type 3. Backfill of fine silty sand, granular materials with
conspicuous clay content and residual soil with
stones.

Figure 1. Construction details for a gravity retaining wall

with vertical back.

Type 4. Backfill of very soft clay or soft clay, organic

silt, or silty clay.

In using this design method it is important to recognize that the four soil-type descriptions in Table 1 are
for backfill soils. Backfill soil can be different from the
soil under the wall and it is not unusual for a select or
higher quality backfill to be used instead of the native
soil that is present where the wall is to be built. The PCA
designs are keyed to specific types of backfill but not to
specific types of soil under the wall. Instead, the design
tables tell what pressure a wall exerts on the underlying
soil and the designer then determines whether that pressure is safe for the soil at his site. The method for doing
this is described in the example design that follows. Descriptions of bearing soils and allowable bearing pressures on these soils are given in Tables 2 and 3.

up to 10 feet, and for walls with vertical backs or with

nearly vertical faces. Walls with vertical backs require
less concrete but ones with stepped backs and nearly
vertical faces are desirable in some cases. If the designer
wants maximum surface area at the top of the backfill,
walls with stepped backs are preferred. This might be the
case if a parking lot were to be built on the backfill.

Backfill soil type affects pressures

Four broad types of backfill soil are described in Table
1. A Type 1 soil exerts the smallest ove rt u rning pressure
and Type 4 the largest. Gravity walls arent feasible when
Type 4 backfill soils are used because the lateral or overturning pressures are too large. The base of the wall
would have to be so wide to resist this pressure that the
amount of concrete required would make the design uneconomical.

Backfill slope and surcharge

Tables have been developed for two backfill surface
slope conditions: a slope of zero (level backfill) and a
surface slope of 1 vertical to 2 horizontal (1:2). If the user
wants to select a wall for a backfill slope of less than 1:2,
he still uses the table for backfill slope of 1:2.

The lateral pressure on a wall is increased by any load (surcharge) placed

on top of the backfill. In developing the
PCA tables a surcharge of 200 pounds
per square foot (psf ) was assumed for
level backfills and 80 psf for sloping
backfills. These are reasonable assumptions for most designs.
If the backfill slope is greater than 1:2
or if heavier surcharges than those assumed are expected, the tables can still
be used for a preliminary design but
further modifications would be necessary.

Lugs provide sliding resistance

TABLE 2. DESCRIPTION OF BEARING SOILS

Organic Soil. Soil containing significant percentage of partly or wholly decomposed organic
matter. According to the character of the constituents, the term organic clay, organic silt, or
peat is used.
Inorganic Silt. Cohesionless aggregate of grains ranging in size from 0.002 mm to 0.66 mm.
Aggregate is nonplastic and consists of grains not distinguishable by the naked eye. Deposits
of inorganic silt are described as loose or compact. A lump of the air-dried material has very
little resistance to crushing.
Sand. Cohesionless aggregate of rock fragments or grains ranging in size from 0.06 mm to 1/4
inch. Deposits of sand are described as loose or compact.
Clay. Cohesive soil, plastic within wide range of water content. The consistency of a clay is defined by the strength of a fairly undisturbed cylinder whose length is from 1.5 to 2 times its diameter, as follows:
Consistency
Field identification
Unconfined compressive
strength, psf
Very soft
Easily penetrated a couple of inches
Less than 700
by fist
Soft
Easily penetrated a couple of inches
700 to 1,199
by thumb
Stiff
Penetrated several inches by thumb with
1,200 to 1,999
moderate effort
Tough
Readily indented by thumb but penetrated
2,000 to 3,999
only with great effort
Very tough
Readily indented by thumbnail
4,000 to 7,999
Hard
Indented with difficulty by thumbnail
8,000 to 16,000

Footings for gravity walls illustrated

with the tables dont have level bases
because more resistance to sliding is
needed than would be provided by a
level base. To increase the sliding resistance, shear lugs are placed at the heel
of the wall as shown in Figure 1. A shear
lug is a deepened section of the footing
Gravel. Cohesionless aggregate of rounded to angular rock fragments ranging in size from 14
that is keyed into the bearing soil. It is
to 8 inches.
placed at the heel of the footing for
Hardpan. Cohesive or cemented material that offers great resistance to hand-excavating tools.
Solid Rock. Sound, unweathered rock without visible voids.
maximum effect. The heel side of the
lug is formed vertically. The other side
will transmit the lateral pressure to the subsoil, but
rather than have the lug bear against a vertical surface
of the soil (which would probably be weakened during
excavation), the excavation is tapered up to meet the rest
of the footing. If the contractor prefers, he can excavate
the earth in a continuous straight line from one side of
the footing to the other as shown in Figure 2. This incorTABLE 3. ALLOWABLE BEARING PRESSURES ON SOILS
porates the shear lug in a triangular base section and effectively develops sliding resistance.
Type of soil
Maximum pressure, psf

What the design tables include

The sample designs included in PCA publications are
tabulated for three backfill soils (Types 1, 2 and 3), two
styles of wall (either the face or the back is vertical), and
two surface conditions of the backfill (level or 1:2 slope).
The different combinations of these variables are given
in 12 tables. PCAs Table 4, shown below, is one of the
twelve and is used in designing walls with vertical backs
and sloped backfill of Type 3 soil. The column headings
can be further described as follows.
Wall dimensions listed refer to the dimensions shown
on sketches included with the tables.
The overturning safety factor should be at least 2.0.
The lateral force of the backfill soil acts on the wall and
tends to rotate it about the toe (counterclockwise in
the figure illustrating Table 4). This rotation must be
resisted by the restoring force (weight of the wall plus
any vertical part of the backfill pressure) which tends
to rotate the wall about the toe in the opposite direc-

Organic soil
Filled ground or loam
Inorganic siltcompact
Sandsilty and compact
Sandcompact and clean
Clayvery soft
Claysoft
Claystiff
Claytough
Clayvery tough
Clayhard
Gravel
Hardpan
Solid rock

0
500
2,500
3,000
5,000
500
1,500
2,500
3,500
4,500
6,000
6,000
12,000
200,000

Source: Chicago Building Code.

Note: Where the bearing materials directly under a foundation overlie a stratum having lower allowable bearing values, these lower values shall not be exceeded at the level of such stratum. Computation of
the vertical pressure in the bearing materials at any depth below a
foundation shall be made on the assumption that the load is spread
uniformly at an angle of 60 degrees with the horizontal.

grained soil without silt it shouldnt exceed 0.37, for

coarse-grained soil with silt it shouldnt exceed 0.30
and for silty soils it shouldnt exceed 0.23. These values
are based upon providing a factor of safety of 1.5
against sliding and using assumed values for coefficient of friction between the concrete and soil.
The other column under the heading of sliding friction, labeled shear stress, gives the horizontal force on
the wall per lineal foot of wall divided by the footing
width. This value is used when the wall is built on clay;
the value should be no greater than half of the unconfined compressive strength for the clay subsoil. Typical
ranges for unconfined compressive strengths of clay
soils are given in Table 2.
Soil pressure is the vertical pressure under the footing
caused by the weight of the wall. It varies uniformly
between the toe and the heel of the footing and should
not exceed the allowable bearing pressures for the soil
on which the footing is built. Allowable bearing pressures for different types of soil are given in Table 3.
The volume of concrete in cubic yards per lineal foot
of wall is the last item listed in the table and is self explanatory.
A general procedure for using the tables is given in the
box and an example problem is worked.

Construction details

Figure 3. A stepped instead of an inclined face makes

placement of concrete easier and avoids problems with
form flotation.
tion (clockwise in the figure). A factor of safety of 2.0
means that the product of the restoring force and distance to the toe is twice the product of the overturning
lateral force and distance to the toe.
Sliding friction values are checked to ensure that the
wall doesnt move in a horizontal direction as a result
of lateral pressure caused by the backfill. Two values
are listed. H/V is the total horizontal force on the wall
divided by the total vertical force on the bottom of the
footing. The maximum recommended value for this
factor depends on the type of subsoil. For coarse-

Decisions concerning several construction details are

needed before working drawings are prepared. The
depth below grade to the bottom of the footing is determined by the depth of excavation necessary to reach soil
with suitable bearing capacity. The bottom of the footing
does not necessarily have to be below the frost line since
the consequences of frost heave are not as severe as they
would be for a building.
Weep holes or backdrains are essential to prevent excessive hydrostatic pressures from building up. A graded
filter at the back of the weep hole is needed to keep backfill soil from washing out.
Keys are needed in the top of the footing and rebar
dowels should be placed at the heel of the wall. Use No.
4 bars, 4 feet long and spaced 2 feet apart on centers. If

TABLE 4. GRAVITY RETAINING WALLS WITH SLOPED BACKFILL OF TYPE 3 SOIL

Wall dimensions
h
911
90
81
72
63
54
45
36

Overturning
safety factor

19.5
18
16.5
15
13.5
12
10.5
9

66
60
56
50
46
40
36
30

24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24

2.5
2.5
2.6
2.6
2.6
2.7
2.7
2.7

Sliding friction
Shear
H/V
stress,
psf

Soil
pressure,
psf
Toe,
Heel

0.18
0.17
0.17
0.16
0.15
0.15
0.14
0.13

2300
2100
1950
800
1600
1500
1400
1200

Reprinted with permission of the Portland Cement Association

310
280
250
2201
190
170
140
110

1100
1100
1000
900
800
700
600
500

Volume of
concrete,
yd3/ft
1.81
1.55
1.31
1.09
0.89
0.71
0.55
0.41

To illustrate the use of the PCA design tables, assume that

a gravity retaining wall is to be built for the conditions illustrated in the sketch above. Steps in the precess are as follows:
1. Enter the appropriate table. In this case it is Table 4 (the
only PCA sample design table illustrated in this article) because the backfill is most like Type 3 in Table 1. If in doubt
about which of two types to use, choose the higher number.
Note also that the backfill is sloped, but less than 1:2, that the
surcharge is less than 80 psf and that a vertical back is acceptable.
2. Choose height (H) value. In the example use 7-2, the
value next higher than the 6-8 needed.
3. Examine sliding friction. Since the bearing soil is a stiff
clay, use the shear stress value of 220 psf. This is compared
with the allowable shear stress in the bearing soil which is
half of the unconfined compressive strength. From Table 2,
for stiff clay, 1200 psf is a conservative estimate of the unconfined compressive strength and 0.5x1200=600 psf which is
greater than 220 psf. Sliding friction is acceptable. If the bearing soil were not a clay, the H/V value would be used for
the sliding friction check as described in the article.
4. Examine the soil bearing pressure. The maximum
pressure shown in the table is 1800 psf and from Table 3, the
allowable pressure is 2500 psf. Bearing pressure is acceptable.
Note: If, in either steps 3 or 4, values in the tables exceed the allowable values, several options would be available to the designer:
change to a backfill having a lower type number, modify the bearing
soil to increase its bearing capacity or use a wider and thicker footing.
5. Determine the volume of concrete required. The table
shows that 1.09 cubic yards of concrete will be needed per
lineal foot of 7-2-high wall but since the height actually
needed is only 6-8, this value can be adjusted as follows:
1.09x6.67/7.17=1.01 cubic yards per lineal foot of wall. The
height can be reduced to 6-8, leaving the a, b and c dimensions in Table 4 the same.
6. Determine the construction details and prepare working drawings. This requires decisions to be made about placing the footing at the required depth, stepping the face, providing weep holes, specifying concrete properties and
similar details. These are discussed in more detail in the discussion of the PCA design tables.

h o ri zontal construction joints are needed at any level

above the top of the footing, dowels and keys are needed there also.
To minimize random cracking which would mar the
appearance of the wall, vertical control joints can be provided at about a 15-foot spacing. Grooves used to form
the control joints can be filled with a joint sealant so that
groundwater doesnt stain the wall face.
If walls are built with sloping faces, upward hydrostatic pressure of the fresh concrete may cause flotation of
the forms unless they are securely anchored to the base.
An alternate method of building the non-vertical face is
to create steps with vertical forms. The stepped wall, as
shown in Figure 3 on page 981, makes placement of concrete easier and avoids problems with form flotation. Dimensions for the steps can be chosen to keep the weight
of the wall, the safety factor against ove rt u rning or sliding and the bearing pressure the same as for a wall with
a sloping face.

Engineer may have to prepare

and refine the design
Because allowable bearing pressures on soils vary
from one building code jurisdiction to another, the typical designs should be adapted to local conditions and
should conform with any legal requirements. The sample designs are intended to be helpful in the preparation
of complete plans. If the wall construction is controlled
by a governing body, working drawings may have to be
prepared and approved by a qualified engineer or architect.
Editors note:
The sample designs described are found in two separate
publications: Small Concrete Gravity Retaining Walls (IS
222), and More Design Tables for Small Concrete Gravity
Retaining Walls (Comments on Concrete No. 20). Single
copies of both are available free of charge while the supply
lasts. Request them from the Building Design and Construction Department, Portland Cement Association, 5420 Old
Orchard Road, Skokie, Illinois 60077.

PUBLICATION #C840977
Copyright 1984, The Aberdeen Group
All rights reserved