This example is intended to be readily calculated by hand although a lot of structural spreadsheets and

software such as Prokon are available. The purpose of this article is for the reader to fully understand the
principle behind it.

Worked Example:

27
Shares
Figure A.1-Retaining Wall Cross Section

Consider
27
the cantilever retaining wall with the cross-section shown in the above Figure A.1, which retains a 2m
depth of soil having the groundwater table at -1.0m level.

Design Parameters:
Soil Bearing Capacity, qall : 100 kPa

Coefficient of Soil Friction, ф: 30°

Unit Weight of Soil, ɣs: 18 kN/m3

Unit Weight of Water, ɣw: 10 kN/m3

Unit Weight of Concrete, ɣc: 25 kN/m3

Surcharge, ω: 12 kN/m2
Ground Water Level: -1m from 0.00 level
Height of Surcharge, h: 0.8m
Height of Wall: 2.0m
f’c: 32 Mpa
fy: 460 Mpa
concrete cover: 75mm