15 Retaining Walls, Basement Walls,

Slip Circles and Underpinning

15.1 Introduction Basements are relatively expensive to cons位uct 币Ie cost

per square metre is higher than for normal floor cons拉出­
The subject matter of 出is chaptel' is peripheral to the main
tion) so 仕Ie client should be advised to carry out a cost
workofthes位uctural foundation designer, but nonetheless
evaluation of, say, adding a further storey to the structure
demands consideration on certain sites.
and eliminating the basement. However, basements can
ηIe topics covered were touched upon in Chapter 4, where be made cost-effective when they are used as cellular
topography was related to proposed site development. buoyancy rafts or where increased height is res位icted by
τ'hey will be expanded further here, but not at great length, pI缸m趴g.
since they are covered 切 detail by many excellent text
τ'he walls are basically vertical can往levers， either free or
books where they are of prim町y ra也er than secondary
propped (at the top by a floor slab). Where the ground floor
concern.
slab can be made con由lUOUS with the top of the wall (and
not merely be propped) the basement can be designed as a
15.2 Retaining walls and basements
con由lUousbox.τ'he walls can be constructed with either a
In commercial developments occupying congested city base slab extending under 出e retained earth (see Fig. 15.1
centre sites it has b巴come common to utilize deep base- (a», which is generally 出e more economical form for
ments to provide accommodation for plant roow, c缸 P缸k­ m而且gs， or projec位19 forward (see Fig. 15.1 (b»，仕le more
ing and other areas.τhedep也 of 由ese basements requires economical form for basements.
careful consideration of 注Ie aspects of design and con-
While propped cantilevers (e.g. basement wall propped by
struction in order to achieve a satisfactory engineering
ground floor slab) have a maximum bending moment (for a
solution. For the engineer requiring a full explanation of
udl) of pH2j8 , compared t。由at of a free cantilever of
校Ie approach to design and 仕Ie methods of construction
pH2j2， 仕ley are not frequently us巴dinb时lding s位uctures.
of deep basements, reference should be made to 注leIS位uctE
吐吐s is because 位le wall must either be temporarily
publication(l) where 吐白 topic is dealt with in comprehens-
propped， ornotbackfilled， un位I the ground floor can act as
ive detail.
theprop.
Retaining walls and peripheral walls to basements 盯esub­
However, in 役Ie au出ors' experience it can be worth con-
ject to lateral (i. e. horizontal) pressure from retained ear血，
sideri吨位leuseof 仕le more economical propped can往lever，
liquids or a combination of soil and water.τ'hey are norm-
especially for design-and-build contracts, where a close
ally made, in structural work, of concrete or brick (pI创n，
relationship is developed with the contractor from an early
reinforced or prestressed).

soffit of
floor over
,,
达
retained retained
earth basement earth

toe heel wall face earth face

.叫咱一- nib if
base slab
LJ required

(a) (b)

Fig.15.1 Typical retaining walls.

 Retaining Walls, Basement Walls, Slip Ci rcles and Underpinning 305

--,--

P然~//

H
z

--'---'

同;叫
::l-v'
'J5dmm
bs

一干旧。
a啕 l忍
唰

『
'h
I - KYZ 3/6 - I

Z
i0·c
γ 、
qvm
冽
pressure free cellular

t
••
h

肉U
diag归 m cantilever (fixed)

Fig.15.2 Bending moment diagr汤ns for retaining walls.

stage, and construction methods can be programmed into
仕le design. It is 垃lportant to provide a clear route for
the propping force 仕lrough the substructure and to take
accou时 of any out-of.七alance lateral forces , such as those
resulting from sloping backfill on one side of the s位uc姐把.
四e bending moment diagrams for triangular pressure (i. e.
no surcharge) for the three cases: free cantilever, propped
cantilever and ce丑ular (fixed)，盯e shown in Fig. 15.2.
As derived in section 15.6.4, it can be seen 也at partially
filling a basement with water can equalize the external
earth press旧e on the basement wall. The authors' practice
has used this method of tempor缸y propping}2> r必sing 位le
water level as backfill is placed. Where the basement is con唰
5位ucted in waterlogged ground，创且ng 位lebasement坦吐白
way can also be utilized to avoid flotation before the weight
of the rest of 仕le building is added.
Walls to swimming pools are a special case since 仕ley can
be subject to reversal of stress. Wi也 the pool empty，注1巳
wallissubj巳cttoe缸出/water pressure on its earth face and
with 也e pool full and earth pressure absent (either due
to shrinkage of backfill or water tes技ng for leaks, before
backfil监19)，注le wall is subject to water pressure alone on
its water face (see Fig. 15.3).
Walls toαI1verts can similarly be subject to reversal of
stress under 吐le two conditions of earth pressure ac位19
alone or when the water press旧e is ac由19 alone. Service
ducts, boiler hous巴s， inspection chambers and s注illarexcav唰
ated subs拉山tures can unwittingly be su均 ect to internal
water pressure ac由19 alone, which needs to be designed
for.η让s has happened when heavy rainfall during con-
由uction has flooded and filled 出e substructures with
water before 也ebac凶11 has been placed.
15.3 Stability
Retaining walls are subject to forces other 出an ear也 or
waterpress旧e， as shown in Fig. 15.4.

water
pressure weight of wall
plus superstructure
surcharge

empty pool
earth
pressure

soilreaction

Fig.15.3 Pressures acting on swimming pool walls. Fig.15 .4 Additional forces on retaining walls.
306 Foundation Types: Selection and Design

tension crack '1 '1

skin friction plus

I _ own weight of structure
卡十γ (less than upwa向ressure) \I 1'-1
Ill--LM
'I t 二三二二之二二二ζ 二

u L帽

-- ~Zu 个个个个个
町m

water pressure

Fig.15.7 Uplift water pressure (flotation) on tank

structure.

Fig.15.5 Slip circle failure of retaining wal l.

tz

叶 刘咄
lEf
abo

创 mb
eseVHua

me 创
nh

一如 W
mbh

e 啤》
e
lnUMM&B

HY-

山
川川吼
口。
impermeable
floor paving

。
。
。
0
0

basement rubble drainage

layer 500 mm rod
wide or
proprietary
。
。
。
0
filter drain
0

drain to mains
in situ cement mortar
Fig.15.6 Drainage behind basement retaining wal l. or chemical grouting

Fig , 15.8 Measures to counteract flotation.

卫，venwhen 佼1e wall is designed to wi也stand the pressures

without being overstressed, a check must be taken to deter-
红白e its resistance to rotation with a possible slip circle (see
Fig. 15.5 and section 15.7).
τ'he press旧e of the retained earth can be considerably
increased if water pressure is allowed to b时ld up. Where
suitable drainage can be provided to prevent 吐白如αease
of pressure, it is advisable to drain 注1e earth face as shown
in Fig. 15.6, al社lOugh in many cases 位1e water-table cannot
be easily drained.τ'his problem is causing increasing con-
cern in London, Birmingham and other cities as 仕1e water-
table rises，归s being mainly due to 也e cessation of artesian
wellextrac往on.
15.4 Flotation
Sw挝盯由19 pools, large t缸水s， basements, pits and s坦ill缸
5位uctures can be subject to upward vertical press旧ein
waterlogged ground (see Fig. 15.7). To prevent flotation it
is necessary to anchor down 校也 S位ucture wi也 ground
anchors, or to extend the base (Fig. 15.8).
15.5 Buoyancy
A ship floating in the sea 也splaces a weight of water equal
to its own weight 鸡鸭 contents. If出e ship's contents ar哩
increased in weight then 位1eship 也splaces more wa怡rand
sinks a li时e. (狂仕1e contents 缸百 too hea叮注1e ship will be
S田lk since it cannot displace more 出an its volume.)
weight of ship
F(i ctor of safety , '.' -:1:,." _. ~:~r , , = 1.0
weight of water displaced
Exactly 佼1e same basic principle (with, of course, a higher
factor of safety 出an 1.0) applies to cellular basements. A
floor load (dead + imposed) is commonly about 10 kN/m2
and a roof load is generally about 6 kN/m2, so a five-storey
building over a basement exerts a pressure of 56 卧.J/m2 •
Soil of density 16 kN/m3 exerts a vertical pressure of
56 kN/m2 at a dep也 of3.5 m. The 且ve-storeyb叫1出丑gwith
a 3.5 m deep baseme时 would卢oatwitho时 exerting further
press旧eon 也e soil.
 Retaining Walls, Basement Walls, Slip Circles and Underpinning 307

15.6 Pressures ηledep出 below ground level is z, and 也e soil unit weight
is y. Therefore
The earth press旧e can, to a limited extent, be determined

z
J - z '一
JZ-6:

川剧

' ，m d

←2 泸 →
叫 tτ-
by soil mechanics.ηlereisn巴巴d for caution, for despite the bm

AUL
。。

一一吼

川川
内民

-γ'-qj
valuable advances in 注le last half centu巧， soil mech缸lics

、，
(狂ke much structural and civil engineering) is not an exact qr-8

m
m

r T晶
。

γa
6
3、
一一
且

G
science. It has been reported 出at world experts 让1 soil
mechanics, given the same detailed site investigation
reports, predicted 也elimi也19 heights of an earth embank-
ment on a soft clay ranging from 2.8 m to 9.2 m. 咀le 15.6.3 Surcharge
emb臼水ment actually failed at a height of 5.2 m.
If a uniform surcharge load , 7.0, per unit area is applied over
the whole of 也e ground surface adjacent to 也e retai世丑g
15.6.1 Liquid pressure wall, then the vertical stress is inαeased by the amount of
(While it may be simplistic to discu~s_·)iquid pressure before 也es旧charge.

soil pressure it can be helpful irl<1仕le applica技on of the

Lateral pressure on the wall = wKa ,,
p约丑ciples.)
Totallateralload on wall = wK_z
ηle pressure at any point in a 组quid (water, beer，。过， etc.) Totd moment ofloadzzuizx三
Q 2
is 仕lesame 担 all directions - horizontal, vertical, diagonal.
ka-2
z-

呵，户户
Hν­
ny--"
The lateral pressure on a vertical surface re国由19 位le

一一
liquid is equal to )飞vZw' where yw = unit weight of 也e
liquid and Zw = depth of liquid above 注le point considered
(see Fig. 15.9). 15.7 Slip circle example
The total pressure per unit leng也 of the wall equals the area Slip circles have been mentioned in Chapter 4 and 仕le
ofthepress旧ediagram following example, showing 吐le calculation process for
.. _2
7γγ

z 呗 z..x 二~=-!立二.lY. deriving 位le factor of safety for a single slip circle wi也
飞 w 2 2 m 缸-bitr盯过y selected radius, is included here for com-

刀让s acts at the centroid of the diagram, z ,)3 above the base pleteness. In order to find 仕le most αitical condition,
γ z~. z i.e. 吐le minimum factor of safety, a number of slip circle
and moment of the press旧eabout吐lebase=半L」ZX 」EL calculations should be carried out using different radii.ηle
2 3
en回neer e呼e垃enced in 也is 豆eld is able to iden均r the
内，即 3
t、、，句、v
most 狂kely mode of failure based on a knowledge of soil
6 parameters and boundary conditions and hence reduce the
15.6.2 Earth pressure computational effort required.τ'his iterative calαJ1ation
process is time-consuming and can be more cost-effec岳飞rely
As stated above, the pressure in a liquid is isotropic. carried out by one of the commercial software packages for
However, the press旧e 如 retained earth is anisotropic, slip circle analysis 出at 缸e available.
and should be adjusted by the coefficient for ear也 press旧e
(凡)， commonly quoted for a typical soil as 0.33 =专. The A detached house, 9 m x 9 m on plan, is to be constructed on
coefficient can be calculated more accurately from 也e a sloping site; a section 仕lrough the proposal is as shown
expresslO丑
inFig.15.10.
v _ l-sin tjJ Assuming an average value of Cu = 50 kN/m2, consider
a l+sin tjJ a one metre wide s位ip for 役le case where 中u = 0, i. e. the
undr挝ned condition immediately following construction.

FactorofBahty=-Jι
Fldl 十 Pd2 -F3 d3

wherecu=u丑dr创ned cohesion
la=arclen供
r = arc radius
FI = weight of ground causing slip
Zw
吨，也， d3 = lever arms
Z山
孔 zw x P = weight of house
zw 言
F3 = weight of ground resis出gslip.
3
Next set up a circular arc using compas s.es, to pass 注lrough
位le edge of the excavation for the basement of slab/foo出g
代71 and close to the bottom of the new embankment. Measure
the radius, and compute也earden供， r=12.5m.τneangle
Fig. 15.9 Lateral pressure from retained liquid. subtended by 吐learc=α=90°.τnerefore
 308 Foundation 丁ypes: Selection and Design

line of original
ground approximates
to arc chord

飞飞『、

\
4m
P
\

face of excavation
cut in benches
叫
slip circle

Fig.15.10 Slip circle design example.

l 一旦旦旦 By simple geometry，出e centroids of the areas are located,

a 3600 andscaling 也由 leverarms

90 0 F1d1 =720x3 .2 =2304 kNm

L 口 2π 12.5 x 一一-=19.6m
" 360。 叫 =170x4 =680 kNm
凡d3 = 114 x 1.7 = 194 kNm
Deduct a len阱(的itra可) disturbed by excavation and
subsequent filling, i. e. 19.6 - 3.6 = 16 m. Combining these gives
Weight of ground is 町， assurr由g 仕Ie small area of fill above 2304 + 680 - 194 = 2790 kNm
the chord line equals the area omitted wi仕lin the house.
叮ta r 2 sinα τherefore
Areaofseg宜
m淀ent ←ιμ
」ιLιιιι'
叩一…白啕响 叩.响"叩.唰
掏m

,,
2x 180 0
2 factor of safety 50x16x12.5
vv " ~V ~_.v
" 3.6
12.52.n: 90 0
12.52 2790
~f't，

360 0 2 Since 3.6 is greater 出自 2，注Ie factor of safety commonly

=122.7-78.1 adopted for slope failures involving buildings，出en 注lere
口 45m2 is an adequa枪 factor of safety against slip circle fail哑巴­
However, as mentioned above, other circles should be
Us让19 16 kN /m 3 for existing ground and compacted fill
checkedin order to find 出e critical case.
weight, F1=45x16=720 kN /m
ηIe weight of a detached house of two storeys, including 15.8 Continuous underpinning
external and internal load-bearing walls, when averaged h 吐让s chapter 泣Ie authors have considered only under-
per metre run, equates to 170 时.JIm. τherefore p出由gofexis出g buildings adjacent to new developments
.P=170 kN /m and not underpinning required due to structural settlement
weight, F3 = 16 x Area of fill F3 or subsidence, which is a separate subject beyond the scope
of 也isbook.
9.5
F咽口 16x 一一 x1.5
以 2
All foundation types may reqωre underpinning when
=114 卧.JIm development takes place alongside or under an e对5出g
 Retaining Walls, BasementWalls, Slip Circles and Underpinning 309

existing proposed developme nt

building / v site requiring
reduced ground
4 level
2
/ v
stiff
5 clay
excavated and cast 晶

3 I as numbered sequence 4
嘈‘
• 问_ mass concrete
‘、

4
r

plan section

Fig. 15.11 Typical continuous underpinning.

5位ucture.τ'he possible combinations of ground conditions,
foundation details and levels is endless and complex.τ'he
basic methods and principles are quite simple. Where a
new foundation or s位ucture is to be cons位ucted wi注1
its foundation so伍t below that of an adjoining foundation,
underp如丑ing is usually necess盯y.η1e exception to 泣让sis
where the adjoining building is built upon a substantial
ground strata such as hard rock.
The 'traditional' me仕lOd of underpinning described below
has been used extensively and effectively 坦白e past and
is included here for completeness. However, the risks to
site personnel 泣lVolved in working beneath a temporarily
supported section of supers位ucture of some悦mes dubious
integri勾r must be weighed against other unde叩加ning
options such as the use of mini-piles and needle beams
(see Fig. 15.1日， which are now easily available and equally
effective.
Traditional u且derpinr让ng is generally carried out in
sequenced cons位uction and in short leng役18 (commonly
1.0 to 1.2 m). 刀把 sequence is arranged to allow limited
undermining of the s位ucture at anyone 挝me.τ'he limit
of 副s undem由也19 is dependent upon the s位uc阳re's
capab也可 of spanning 0\哑也eundem由1edsec悦onand the
stab血ty of the short section of unrestrained earth. In some
cases beam unde甲in时ng may be provided to help 出E
S位ucture to span over greater distances. Typical under伊
p泣在让ng is shown in Fig. 15.11.
刀1e s加1plest and most common form of underpinning is
to remove a series of short leng注1S of sub-so出 frombelow
加 adjoining building in a sequenced operation. As each
section is excavated it is replaced immediately with mass
conαete， which is allowed adequate 往me for curing prior
to the construction of 加 adjoining section. The top of the
concrete is ei也er cast with a pressure head so 也at it rises
to the und,erside of the foundation, or is cast low to allow
wed伊19wi出世y pack or slate. Figure 15.12 gives a 可pical
example of mass concrete underp加ning.
In theau世lOrs' opinion 也e preferred me也od of construction
is to cast whenever possible with a pressure head. Concrete
shrinks, and so theoretically 也s method encourages some
slight settlement as 也e building above follows 出issh到nk­
age downwards. However, in 泣leau吐10币， experience such

wet concrete
discharged and

/…hutter
.
电 4-
‘,
-一一_ dry pack
A、

4
letterbox to
‘' A ‘ provide head
"' ‘h mass concrete
4·

pressure under underpin

footing … cut off
after construction

、、\\、咄咄er
pressure head system alternative dry pack system

Fig.15.12 Construction methods for mass concrete underpinning.

 310 Foundation Types: Selection and Design

. ..
-...
I_·A'"'

mass concrete
underpinning
I ...
/ ~.A" f

..
.."-'..."'
...
瞿-..

Fig.15.13 Typical discontinuous underpinning.

settlement is usually negligible and is offset by the follow- r.c. beam cast existing structure
ing advantages of 吐lepress旧e head method: in sections over

(1)ηle underpinning is completed in one operation, rather

位lan wai出g up to seven days before dry packing. Also
since concrete con垣nues to shrink for weeks, even 甲一「 俨由 "四 "四

months, the logic of dry packing is inconsistent.

(2) Thewor油田lS hip of the dry packing process is often of
poor quality due t。由edif且c吐ty of the techniqu巳古让s
req凶res increased supervision, and slows the whole
sequence down even further.
It始 rarely necessary to mechanically key mass concrete
underpinning across 也e joints and the m司 ori勺T of mass
concrete underpinning will perform successfully without
akey.ηle need for keying depends upon the requirement
for vertical shear and/or tensile s位朋阱1 across the face ,
neither of which is usually necessary.
15.9 Discontinuous underpinning
Wher巳 the existing foundation has reasonable spanning
capability it is sometimes possible to excavate and 社lStall
piers in mass concrete or concrete and brick at a spacing
to suit 注le spanning capability of the original foundation.
τhe 缸ea of 役le base of 副s underpinning needs to be
capable of distribu世ng 仕le ground pressure from vertical
and horizontalloading into 甘le sub-strata wi校lout allowable
:. limits being exceeded (see Fig. 15.13 for 吵picaldet司Is).
In other situations where good ground exists but the founda-
tion is not capable of spannir吧， a pier and underpinned
beam can be used, the beam being inserted 加 sections 加 a
simi!町 mannerto 出at of the mass concrete underpinning.
τhis operation tends to be more tedious and more time
consumir吧， but where excavations are deep it can prove
economic (see Fig. 15.14). As with continuous unde甲 in­
ning, the engineer must carefully consider the risk to site
personnel before speci马ring these techniques.
It is particula丘y useful for foundation jac挝ng where sub-
sidence or settlement requires re-levelling，仕1e jacks being
inserted between 仕1e so出t of the beam and the top of 仕le
piers. In some cases, particularly where 仕le building to be
underpinned forms part of the new cons位uctio丑， p丑escan
be inserted on either side of the structure to support needle
brick or mass
concrete piers
Fig.15.14 Typical pier and beam underpinning.
beams 让lSerted 吐lIough 仕le existing structure to bear onto
出e piles.τhis is parti'αilarly useful where a basement
extension is to be added to an existing buildi丑g; 仕le piles
form 仕1e basement columns and 也ebea虹15 仕1e framework
for 位le ground floor s位ucture. Typical pile beam under-
pinning is shown in Fig. 15.15.
Temporary lowering of the water-table by sump-pumping
forunde币M吨 op褂技ons requires ca时ilcor副eration
relative to the effect on new and existing foundations. As
previously discussed, there is a danger that soils such as fine
sands may suffer from loss of fines and may cause se忧1e­
ment of adjoining struc恒res.ηlere is also the possibility
也at in"certain soils when the dewatering process stops,
running sand or clay softening may occur. It is therefore
important under 仕lese circumstances 由at the effects of
位le temporary works and methods of construction are con-
sidered at design stage.
ηlere are numerous ingenious piling systems available
which 览山让g让ze disruption of 注le existing s位ucture， while
maximizing economy and practicality of construction and a
reputable specialist contractor should be approached at an
early stage where appropriate.
 Retaining Walls, Basement Walls, Slip Circles and Underpinning 311

向一下
n-γ//
呻(了
- m - - - - -气
W nHM nuve rl

'i'-f

··J///

L}
[G
FJ
F一
ili-­
jil--

ι 与/\ 时/♂
underpin ground pile/new basement
beams column

Fig.15.15 Typical pile and beam underpinning.

15.10 Spread underpinning 仕lfough 吐le holes, and cast 注1e whole of the cellar floor
area
as a reinforced concrete raft slab.τ'his proved a ve可 cosι
Occasionally, due to site constraints, underpinning is effective and practical way of enhancing 也e load唰bearing
achieved by spreading the foundation load over a greater capacity of the premises and providing a basement slab at
area of ground, rather 出antr缸lSfeη加g to a bearing strata 位1esame 悦江le.
at a lower level.
An example undertaken by the authors' practice was in 仕le 15.11 References
res位icted cellars of a series of large Victorian properties
being redeveloped as office accommodation.ηle load唰 1. Institution of Structural Engineers (2004) Design a1l d
bearing walls sat on stepped brick foo出1萨， just beneath' a C0 1lSh'llcti0 1l ofDeep Baseme1l ts. ISE.
cellar floor of compacted earth. In仕让s case it was possible 2. Adams, S. (1989) Practical Bllildabilittj . C职工A， Building design
to cut pockets out of these footings , run reinforcement report, Butterwor址毡， London.