MANILA: Room 206, JPD Building, CM Recto Avenue, Manila

CEBU: 4/F J. Martinez Bldg., Osmeña Blvd., Cebu City

Telephone Number: (02) 516 7559 (Manila) E-Mail: buksmarquez1 @yahoo.com
(032) 254-9967 (Cebu)
Review MODULE – GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING (Lateral Earth Pressure)

LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE - Horizontal Soil Stress Coulomb’s Theory, 1857

Vertical Earth Pressure, 𝒑𝒗 = 𝜸𝒉 Active Earth Pressure Coefficient:

Lateral Earth Pressure, 𝒑𝒉 = 𝒌𝜸𝒉 𝑠𝑖𝑛2 (𝛽 + ∅)

𝑘𝑎 = 2
where: 𝑠𝑖𝑛2 𝛽 sin(𝛽 − 𝛿) [1 + √
sin(∅+𝛿) sin(∅−𝛼)
]
sin(𝛽−𝛿) sin(𝛽+𝛼)
k – lateral earth pressure coefficient
𝛾 – effective unit weight of soil
h – height of soil

Three Categories
1. At Rest – soil pressure which causes no wall movement
2. Active – soil pressure which causes wall to move away from soil
3. Passive – soil pressure which causes wall to move toward soil

At Rest Condition
𝒑𝒉 = 𝒌𝒐 𝜸𝒉
where: 𝑘𝑜 – at-rest earth pressure coefficient

At-Rest Earth Pressure Coefficient

Jacky, 1944: 𝒌𝒐 = 𝟏 − 𝐬𝐢𝐧 ∅
𝜸𝒅𝒓𝒚
Passive Earth Pressure Coefficient:
Sherif, Fang and Sherif, 1984: 𝒌𝒐 = (𝟏 − 𝐬𝐢𝐧 ∅) + 𝟓. 𝟓 (𝜸 − 𝟏)
𝒅𝒓𝒚(𝐦𝐢𝐧) 𝑠𝑖𝑛2 (𝛽 − ∅)
𝑘𝑝 =
Massarsch, 1979: 𝒌𝒐 = 𝟎. 𝟒𝟒 + 𝟎. 𝟒𝟐𝑷𝑰 sin(∅+𝛿) sin(∅+𝛼)
2
𝑠𝑖𝑛2 𝛽 sin(𝛽 + 𝛿) [1 − √ ]
OCR: 𝒌𝒐(𝑶𝑪) = (𝟏 − 𝐬𝐢𝐧 ∅)√𝑶𝑪𝑹 sin(𝛽+𝛿) sin(𝛽+𝛼)

Active Condition
𝒑𝒂 = 𝒌𝒂 𝜸𝒉
where: 𝑘𝑎 – active earth pressure coefficient

Passive Condition
𝒑𝒑 = 𝒌𝒑 𝜸𝒉
where: 𝑘𝑝 – passive earth pressure coefficient

Rankine Theory, 1857

Active Earth Pressure Coefficient: When 𝜷 = 𝟎°
𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜷−√𝒄𝒐𝒔𝟐 𝜷−𝒄𝒐𝒔𝟐 ∅ 𝟏−𝒔𝒊𝒏 ∅
𝒌𝒂 = 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜷 [ ] 𝒌𝒂 =
𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜷+√𝒄𝒐𝒔𝟐 𝜷−𝒄𝒐𝒔𝟐 ∅ 𝟏+𝒔𝒊𝒏 ∅
Where: ∅ – angle of internal friction (or angle of shearing resistance)
Passive Earth Pressure Coefficient: When 𝜷 = 𝟎° 𝛽 – angle of back face inclined with the horizontal
𝛿 – wall friction angle
𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜷+√𝒄𝒐𝒔𝟐 𝜷−𝒄𝒐𝒔𝟐 ∅
𝒌𝒑 = 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜷 [ ] 𝒌𝒑 = 𝟏+𝒔𝒊𝒏 ∅
𝟏−𝒔𝒊𝒏 ∅
𝛼 – slope of backfill (soil mass)
𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜷−√𝒄𝒐𝒔𝟐 𝜷−𝒄𝒐𝒔𝟐 ∅ ___________________________________________________________

Where: ∅ – angle of internal friction (or angle of shearing resistance) SITUATION 1. A cohesionless 6 m high retaining wall supports a soil
𝛽 – slope of backfill (soil mass) with unit weight 18 kN/m3, angle of internal friction of 35⁰. Determine the
force per unit length of the wall and the location of the resultant on:
1. At rest condition.
Additional Earth Pressure Parameters 2. Rankine active condition.
Water: 𝒑𝒘 = 𝜸𝒘 𝒉 3. Ranking passive condition.

Cohesion: 𝒑𝒄 = −𝟐𝒄√𝒌 (Active) SITUATION 2. A vertical retaining wall 8 m high is supporting a horizontal
backfill having a moist unit weight of 17 kN/m3 and a saturated unit weight
𝒑𝒄 = 𝟐𝒄√𝒌 (Passive) of 20kN/m3. Angle of internal friction above and below the water table are
30° and 25° respectively with OCR = 2 below the water table. Ground
Surcharge: 𝒑𝒒 = 𝒌𝒒 water table is located 3 m below the ground surface.
4. Determine the at rest lateral earth force per meter length of the
wall.
5. Determine the location of the resultant force.
 MANILA: Room 206, JPD Building, CM Recto Avenue, Manila
CEBU: 4/F J. Martinez Bldg., Osmeña Blvd., Cebu City
Telephone Number: (02) 516 7559 (Manila) E-Mail: buksmarquez1 @yahoo.com
(032) 254-9967 (Cebu)

6. Determine the at rest lateral earth force per meter length of the wall Combination of Rankine Active and Passive
and location if it carries a surcharge of 100 KPa. Condition
SITUATION 1. A smooth concrete retaining wall is embedded 2 m in the
SITUATION 3. A gravity retaining wall retains 12 m of backfill having a ground. It retains horizontal sand 5 m high. If the soil mass on the right
unit weight of 19.0 KN/m3 and an angle of internal friction of 25⁰ with a produced enough force to have an active condition:
uniform horizontal surface. Assume that the wall interface to be vertical.
7. Compute the magnitude of the total active force
8. Compute the magnitude of the total active pressure at the base of
the wall if the water table is at a height of 7 m with a submerged
unit weight of 12 kN/m3.
9. By how much is the location of the active force gets lowered due
to the presence of the water table?

SITUATION 4. A retaining wall has a vertical back and is 10 m high. The

soil is a sandy loam of 16 kN/m3. It shows cohesion of 15 KPa and an
angle of internal friction of 20°. The upper surface of the fill is horizontal.
10. Determine the critical depth of the wall.
11. Determine the total thrust on the wall.
12. Determine the resultant thrust on the wall if drains are locked and
water builds up behind the wall until the water table is 5 m above
the bottom of the wall. Saturated unit weight of soil is 20 kN/m3.

SITUATION 5. A vertical retaining wall 7 m high retains a soil with the 1. What is the active thrust on the wall?
following properties. Unit weight of cohesionless soil = 21.0 kN/m3, angle 2. What moment is produced by the active force on the wall?
of internal friction = 28°. The ground surface behind the wall is inclined 3. What is the distance of the resultant active force measured from the
at a slope of 5H:1V and the wall has moved sufficiently to develop active bottom?
condition.
4. What is the passive thrust on the wall?
13. Determine Rankine’s coefficient of active earth pressure
5. Neglecting the frictional force at the base of the wall, what is the
14. Determine the moment develop by active force in KN-m.
factor of safety against sliding?
15. Determine the force acting perpendicular on the back of the wall.
16. Determine the force acting parallel on the back of the wall
SITUATION 2. A cantilevered retaining wall has a based width of 4.0 m.
From the given figure below.

6. Compute the total active force acting on the wall.

7. Compute the total passive force acting on the wall.
17. Determine the location of the resultant passive force 8. Compute the factor of safety against sliding. (Assume angle of friction
at the base is 10° and the unit weight of concrete is 24 kN/m3)
9. Compute the factor of safety against overturning.
 MANILA: Room 206, JPD Building, CM Recto Avenue, Manila
CEBU: 4/F J. Martinez Bldg., Osmeña Blvd., Cebu City
Telephone Number: (02) 516 7559 (Manila) E-Mail: buksmarquez1 @yahoo.com
(032) 254-9967 (Cebu)

SITUATION 3. A tied back wall is shown below. Dry and saturated unit
weights are 18 kN/m3 and 19.2 kN/m3 respectively. The active earth
pressure coefficient is 0.40 and the passive is 2.5. The tie rod is placed
1 m below the ground surface.

10. Solve the embedment depth for the tied back wall.
11. Solve for the anchor force on the tie rod.

Introduction to Coulomb’s Theory

SITUATION 1. A 4-m high gravity retaining wall retains a granular backfill

where the ground is inclined to the horizontal at 10°. The friction angle
and bulk unit weight of the backfill are 25° and 18 kN/m3. The wall is
inclined at 70° to horizontal. Using Coulomb’s theory and assuming a
wall friction angle of 15°.
1. Find the active earth pressure coefficient.
2. Find the passive earth pressure coefficient
3. Find the magnitude of the of the active thrust on wall.
4. Find the location (from bottom) of the of the active thrust on wall.

SITUATION 2. A smooth vertical wall 3-m high is used to retain a

horizontal backfill with unit weight of 19 kN/m3. The angle of internal
friction is 30°.
5. What is the active earth pressure coefficient using Coulomb’s
theory?
6. Determine the magnitude of force acting on the wall.