Geotechnical Assignment 1

Coulomb Wedge Method

Index
Introduction

p. 2, 3

Calculations

p. 4

Conclusion

p. 5

References

p. 6

Appendix
Problem
Drawing

p. 7
p. 8

INTRODUCTION

Charles Augustin de Coulomb

Born: 14 June 1736 in Angoulme, France
Died: 23 August 1806 in Paris, France
Coulomb presented the Coulomb-wedge theory(also known as the Limit Equilibrium
method) more than 200 years ago, while working as a structural engineer in the French army.
He was put in charge of the building of the new Fort Bourbon, because of his significant
engineering skills. He assumed that the failure surface of soil is a plane. He presented a
theory for active and passive earth pressures against retaining walls. He was one of the first to
take the friction of soil into consideration. The method is used mainly to calculate a
mechanism of failure in the soil against a retaining wall.

How the method works

1. Make an accurate drawing, to scale, of the proposed retaining wall, taking into
account for the angles of the soil working against the wall. Now draw the trail failure
planes, e.g. 20, 25, 30, 40 and 45.
2. If the drawing is finished then measure the lines and make use of equations to help
calculate the values for W and C.
3. Now, start with a common point and draw the calculated C-values at the specified
angles.
2

4. At the common point, draw a vertical line and mark the measurements for the Wvalues. Draw a horizontal line through each point.
5. At the c-value point, draw a line, at angle , until it cuts the horizontal line, and mark
the point. The distance of this line from C to the point, is the value for R. ( R =
reaction force between the soil mass and the wedge of soil, kN)
6. At an angle of , connect the end of R to the vertical line. The length of the line is the
value for T. (T = reaction force of retaining wall due to the wedge of the soil, kN)
7. Connect all the points at R with a polygon, and draw a tangent line against it. At an
angle of , connect the tangent point to the vertical line, to get the maximum value for
T.

Cross section through retaining wall:

Force diagram

(Braja M. Das

CALCULATIONS
3

Calculation for Area

A= 0.5 x AB x AD x sin = m
Calculation for W
W1 = Area x Density of soil = kN
Calculation for C
C1 = Length BD x c = 362 kN
Calculated values for W and C
ANGLE
20
25
30
40
45

AREA (m)
22,63
26,81
31,54
46,41
51,59

W (kN)
407,3
482,6
567,7
783,7
928,6

C (kN)
285,8
302,2
323,1
385,1
431,5

From figure 2 that will indicate the polygon forces, the following results were then calculated
by measuring lengths of the lines and then simply calculating the force according to scale of
the drawing.
Calculation of R
R1 = Measured distance x 100kN = kN
Calculation of T
T1 = Measured distance x 100kN = kN
Results for R and T from figure 2
R1
R2
R3
R4
R5

Reaction Force R
216 kN
290 kN
376 kN
570 kN
688 kN

Reaction Force T
T1
T2
T3
T4
T5

Maximum T = 88 kN

CONCLUSION
4

75 kN
82 kN
88 kN
50 kN
16 kN

It is very important to draw the drawings as accurate to scale as possible, because most of the
values are obtained by measuring the distances of the lines. If a lines to short, or to long, or
measured incorrectly, the calculations will be wrong, which could lead to expensive and even
fatal failures in the retaining wall. Accuracy is therefore vital in using the Coulomb Wedge
method when determining the reaction forces on a retaining wall.

References
1. Braja M. Das. 2004. Fundamentals of Geotechnical Engineering.
2. De Jager CJ. 2005. Solving problems in Geotechnical Engineering 3
3. http://www.gap-system.org/~history/Biographies/Coulomb.html