THEORY OF

STRUCTURES
ASSIGNMENT- 2

RETAINING WALLS

SUBMITTED BY: KRITISH DUA

B.ARCH 3rd YEAR
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(A)
08159301618
1. Define briefly about retaining walls in structures.

• Retaining wall is a structure that are designed and constructed to

withstand lateral pressure of soil or hold back soil materials.
• Retaining walls are vertical or near-vertical structures designed to retain
material on one side, preventing it from collapsing or slipping or
preventing erosion.

• There are various types of loads and forces acting on retaining wall, which
are:
a) Lateral earth pressure
b) Surcharge loads
c) Axial loads
d) Wind on projecting stem
e) Impact forces
f) Adjacent footing loading

• Function of retaining wall:

o This wall prevents the soil or other material at places with sudden
elevation changes.
o Earth retaining structures are used to hold back the earth and
maintain the difference in the ground surface height.

Application of Retaining wall:

o Construction of basement below ground level in buildings.
o In the bridge, work consists of the wing walls and abutment.
o To maintain slopes in hilly areas.
o As side walls of bridge approach roads. 2
o Providing lateral support to the embankment.
2. Describe different types of retaining walls.

GRAVITY RETAINING WALL

• Gravity retaining wall depends on its self-weight only to resist lateral earth
pressure.
• Can be constructed from concrete, stone or even brick masonry.
• Geometry of these walls also help them to maintain the stability.
• Mass concrete walls are suitable for retained heights of up to 3 m.
• Sliding, overturning, and bearing forces shall be taken into consideration
while this type of retaining wall structure is designed.

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CANTILEVER RETAINING WALL
• A cantilever retaining wall is one that consists of a wall which is connected
to foundation.
• Cantilever retaining wall composed of stem and base slab.
• It is constructed from reinforced concrete, precast concrete, or prestress
concrete.
• Cantilever retaining wall is either constructed on site or prefabricated
offsite i.e. precast.
• The portion of the base slab beneath backfill material is termed as heel,
and the other part is called toe.
• Cantilever retaining wall is economical up to height of 10m.
• Similar to gravity wall, sliding, overturning, and bearing pressure shall be
taken into consideration during its design.

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COUNTER-FORT / BUTTRESSED RETAINING WALL
• The counterforts are triangular beams placed at suitable centres behind
the stem and above the base to enable the stem and base to act as slabs
spanning horizontally over or under the counterforts.
• Counter fort spacing is equal or slightly larger than half of the counter-fort
height.
• Counter-fort wall height ranges from 8-12m.

Common terminology

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ANCHORED RETAINING WALL
• This type of retaining wall is employed when the space is limited or thin
retaining wall is required.
• Suitable for loose soil over rocks.
• Considerably high retaining wall can be constructed using this type of
retaining wall structure system.
• Anchors (tiebacks) acts against overturning and sliding pressure.

Different configuration for anchored retaining wall

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PILED RETAINING WALL
• Pile retaining wall are constructed by driving reinforced concrete piles
adjacent to each other.
• Piles are forced into a depth that is sufficient to counter the force which tries
to push over the wall.
• Steel sheet pile walls are constructed by driving steel sheets into a slope or
excavation up to the required depth.
• Sheet pile retaining wall economical till height of 6m.

Steel piling retaining wall

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3. Describe the terminology related to retaining wall.

Retaining wall terminology

• Common Terminology includes :-

➢ Backfill: The soil placed behind a wall.
➢ Surcharge: Any loading from above the soil line upon earth being
supported by a retaining wall.
➢ Rear face: Side of the retaining wall which is in the direction of
the soil.
➢ Front face: Side of the retaining wall which is in opposite
direction of the soil.
➢ Stem: The inner part of retaining wall.
➢ Toe: That portion of footing which extends in front of the front
face of the stem.
➢ Heel: That portion of the footing extending behind the wall
➢ Battered face: The sloped face of retaining wall.
➢ Retained earth: The earth which retained on retaining wall.
➢ Straight or vertical face: The outer part of retaining wall which is
in the free.
➢ Drainage hole: Hole which mad in the retaining wall to drain
water.
➢ Angle of repose: The steepest angle at which a sloping surface
formed of loose material is stable.
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4. Define angle of repose.
• The angle of repose, or critical angle of repose, of a granular material is the
steepest angle of descent or dip relative to the horizontal plane to which a
material can be piled without slumping.
• At this angle, the material on the slope face is on the verge of sliding.
• The angle of repose can range from 0° to 90°.