Earth Retaining Structures

An earth retaining structure can be considered as one of four

types:

• gravity walls
• embedded walls
• reinforced soil walls
• hybrid systems
Earth Retaining Structures
Concrete Gravity Walls

Mass concrete walls are

suitable for retained heights
up to 3 m. The cross section
shape of the wall is affected
by stability, the use of space
in front of the wall, the
required wall appearance and
method of construction.
Gravity Walls
Reinforced Earth
Geosynthetic (geogrid) Reinforced Wall
 Gabions
• Gabions are free-draining
walls constructed by
filling large baskets with
broken stone.
• Retention is achieved
from a combination of
the stones weight, and its
interlocking and
frictional strength. The
wall face is battered at
approximately 6 degrees
from the vertical. The
maximum height is
approximately 10 m.
 Crib Walls

Crib walls are constructed by

interlocking individual boxes
made from timber, pre-cast
concrete or metal members.
The boxes are filled with
crushed stone or other coarse
granular materials to create a
free-draining structure.
 Semi-mass construction

Semi-mass construction is a compromise between

simplicity of mass concrete and low material
content of reinforced concrete. Can be cost
effective if reinforcement details are kept simple.
 Reinforced construction

Reinforced concrete and reinforced masonry walls on spread

foundations are gravity structures in which the stability
against overturning is provided by the weight of the wall
together with the weight of the retained material which rests
on the slab

The following are the main types of wall:

• concrete cantilever
• counterfort/buttressed
• precast
• masonry
• prestressed
Reinforced construction

Cantilever walls or stem walls

of reinforced concrete are the
commonest type of gravity wall.
They are composed of a vertical
or inclined slab monolithic with
a slab base. Simple forms of
cantilever wall utilize the weight
of the earth or backfill on the
heel. This weight is added to the
concrete weight to provide
resistance against active thrust.
Counterfort/buttressed

Counterfort walls are

cantilever walls strengthened
with counterforts monolithic
with the back of the wall slab
and base slab. The
counterforts act as tension
stiffeners and connect the
wall slab and the base to
reduce the bending and
shearing stresses.
Counterforts are used for
high walls with heights
greater than 8 to 12 m.
 Retaining Wall Design

It involves consideration of:

• Ultimate limit states - the collapse and instability of
the structure as a whole or failure of one of its
components.
• Serviceability limit states - the excessive deformation
of the structure
The earth retaining structure must not:
• collapse or suffer major damage
• be subject to unacceptable deformations in relation to
its location and function
• suffer minor damage which would necessitate
excessive maintenance, render it unsightly or reduce
its anticipated life.
 Gravity retaining wall

Forces acting on retaining wall

 Stability of Gravity retaining wall

Factors of safety must be calculated for the following

separate modes of failure and should apply to the 1 in 10
years groundwater conditions:

• Foundation bearing failure

• Sliding of wall outwards from retaining soil
• Overturning of retaining wall about its toe
• Larger scale slope or other failure in the surrounding
soil.
Design of Gravity retaining wall
 Design of Gravity retaining wall

• Determine all forces acting on the wall, from which the horizontal and
vertical components of R ( Rh and Rv respectively) acting on the base of
the wall are obtained.

• Determine the point of application of R. Check to ensure that the pressure

remains compressive over the entire base width. If R act within the
middle third of the base, this condition will be satisfied. Thus the
eccentricity e of the base resultant must not exceed B/6 .

• The maximum and minimum base pressures are given by:

Rv  6e 
σ= 1 ± 
B  B
 Design of Gravity retaining wall

Design should consider the following:

(a) This pressure must not exceed the allowable bearing capacity.
(b) The FS against overturning:
sum of stabilizing moments
FOT =
sum of overtunrin g moments

(c) The FS against sliding:

Rv tan δ
Fs =
Rh
 Other Design Considerations

• Some form of filter or drainage layer behind the wall is

desirable to prevent the buildup of pore water
pressures.

• Avoid using clay materials which are sensitive to

changes in moisture content in the backfill.

• Swelling and shrinkage of the clay will cause

unpredictable pressures on, and movements of the
wall.
 Other Design Considerations (cont’d)

• If the wall is constructed on a compressible soil,

progressive tilting may occur with consolidation. Thus it
must be designed to ensure R acts close to the midpoint
of the base.

• If the wall is restrained by rigid supports such as bridge

deck, K0 or at-rest value of lateral pressure, or pressures
taken between the at-rest and active values, should be
used in design.

• Larger scale slope or other failure in the surrounding

soil.
 Embedded retaining wall

Before After
 Embedded retaining wall
Embedded walls can be formed from:
driven sheet-piles
Soldier pile and timber lagging
secant piles
contiguous piles
diaphragm wall.
 Embedded retaining wall

• Embedded walls may be cantilever, anchored

or propped.
• Cantilever walls derive their equilibrium from
the lower embedded depth of the wall. They rely
on the passive resistance of the soil in front of
the lower part of the wall to provide stability.
• Anchored or Propped walls derive their
equilibrium partly from the embedded portion of
the wall and partly from an anchorage or prop
system which support the upper part of the wall.
Embedded retaining wall
 Sheet Piles

Hydraulic Hammers Vibratory Pile Drivers Typical Z-sections

 Embedded retaining wall

Steel sheet pile walls are

constructed by driving steel
sheets into a slope or
excavation. Their most
common use is within
temporary deep excavations.
They are considered to be
most economical where
retention of higher earth
pressures of soft soils is
required.
Sheet-pile retaining wall
 Soldier-pile retaining wall

• Soldier piles, also known

as Berlin Walls, are
constructed of wide flange
steel H sections spaced
about 2 - 3 m apart, driven
prior to excavation. As the
excavation proceeds,
horizontal timber sheeting
(lagging) is inserted
behind the H pile flanges.
• The horizontal earth
pressures are concentrated
on the soldier piles
because of their relative
rigidity compared to the
lagging.
Contiguous bored piles
Contiguous bored piles
Contiguous bored piles
Contiguous bored piles
Contiguous bored piles
Secant bored piles
Secant bored piles
Secant bored piles
Secant bored piles
Secant bored piles
Construction of Diaphragm wall

• Panel is excavated as
slurry is pumped in.
• Prefabricated reinforcing
cage is lowered into the
excavation.
• Bentonite slurry is
replaced by tremie
concrete
 Diaphragm wall

• They formed from reinforced concrete and are constructed

as normal cast-in-place walls with support which become
part of the main structure.
• The slurry trench method is commonly used which
involves the excavation of alternating panels along the
proposed wall using bentonite slurry to prevent the sides of
the excavation collapsing.
• The panel dimensions are approximately 50 to 100 cm
thick and up to 7m height, extending to the excavation
bottom.
 Diaphragm wall

Diaphragm wall excavation

 Diaphragm wall

Diaphragm wall reinforcement and concreting

Modes of Failures in embedded walls

• Forward rotation
• Rotation about anchor point
• Excessive bending in stem
• Excessive settlement behind wall
• piping
• Bottom heave
• Overall slip
 Design of Cantilever Sheet Pile Walls

• Used only when retained height of soil is relatively small

• Generally used for temporary support
 Design of Cantilever Sheet Pile Walls (Cont’d)

• Stability is due to passive resistance developed below lower soil

surface. It fails by rotation about a point O near lower end of the wall.
• Pressure distribution shown in Figure above is an idealisation.
• For design, distribution in (c) is assumed, where net passive resistance
below O is represented by point force R acting at C, a point slightly
below O, at depth d below lower soil surface.
• Taking moments about C, then applying a FS to the stabilizing
moment (where passive resistance in front of wall, Pp , is divided by
F ), the depth d can be determined.
• Increase d by 20% to allow for simplification involved in method.
• Evaluate R (by equating horizontal forces to zero). Check that passive
resistance over additional 20% embedment depth is at least R
Design of Anchored or Propped Sheet Pile Walls (Free
Earth Support Method)

Anchored or propped sheet pile walls are used extensively in

waterfront construction and in support of deep excavations. The
tiebacks are normally high tensile steel cables or rods anchored in
the soil some distance behind the wall
Design of Anchored or Propped Sheet Pile Walls (Free
Earth Support Method)
• It is assumed that the depth of embedment below excavation
level is insufficient to produce fixity at the lower end of the
wall.
• The wall is free to rotate at its lower end, the bending moment
being of the form shown in the figure above.
• The mode of failure is assumed to be by rotation about A (point
of tieback).
• The required depth of embedment d can be determined from the
condition that algebraic sum of factored moments about A = 0.
This results in a cubic equation in d which can be solved by
substitution of trial values.
• After determining d , the force T is found by equating horizontal
forces. Note that T is the force per unit length of the wall.
• Draw the bending moment and determine the maximum moment
governing the pile section.
 Design of Anchored or Propped Sheet Pile Walls

• For quay walls, the depth of embedment d is increased by 20%

to guard against excess dredging, scour or presence of weak
pockets of soil.
• Traditionally, the factor of safety is defined in terms of passive
resistance available in front of the wall (i.e. either

available passive resistance (due to Rankine or Coulomb theory)

F=
required passive resistance to produce limiting equilibrium

or
availableshear strength
F=
average shear strength to produce limiting equilibrium

The later is the “ c F ,tan −1 (tan φ F ) ” approach, which is applied to

both active and passive pressures (unlike gross passive resistance
approach)
 Effects of flexibility and K0

The transfer of pressure from a yielding part to adjacent non

yielding parts of a soil mass is known as the arching effect
 Pore water pressure distribution
Sheet pile and diaphragm walls are normally analysed in terms of
effective stress. It is necessary therefore to determine the values of the
pore water pressures.

W.T. the same on both sides

 Pore water pressure distribution

2ba
uc = γw
2b + a

W.T different on both sides of wall

 Pore water pressure distribution

uG =
(2b + c )a γw
(2b + c + a )

Water in front, W.T. behind wall

 Pore water pressure distribution

Wall constructed in soil of low permeability

 Pore water pressure distribution

Wall constructed in clayey soil with thin sand layers

Possibility of blow-out
 Pore water pressure due to seepage
Under conditions of steady seepage, use of the approximation that total
head is dissipated uniformly along the wall has the advantage that the
seepage pressure is constant. For example, in Figure below, the seepage
pressure at any depth is:

2ba
uc = γw
2b + a

a
j= γw
2b + a

b
Pore water pressure due to seepage

The effective unit weight of

the soil behind wall is:

γ ′+ j

The effective unit weight of

b the soil in front of wall is:
γ ′− j
 Tie-back anchorage
q

Tie rods are normally anchored in beams, plates or concrete blocks

some distance behind the wall.
The anchor must be situated beyond YX, so that passive wedge does
not encroach on active wedge.
Tie-back anchorage
Tie-back anchorage
 Tie-back anchorage

γd 2 l
Ts = (K p − Ka )
2F d da
b
K aγd K pγd
T = tie force per unit length of wall
s = spacing of tie rod
F = FS, factor of safety
l
l = length of anchor per tie

d if b > d a s
d = a
b otherwise
l

plan
 Braced Excavations

Deformation of the wall will be greater towards the bottom

of the excavation than it is at near the top. It is clear that
deformation does not satisfy Rankine’s theory and
Rankine’s theory cannot be used.
 Braced Excavations

Assumed pressure distribution in strutted walls

Soft to firm cohesive soil Stiff-fissured clay

Sand:
cu = average cohesion of clay
Ka = active pressure coefficient
m = unity for most clay σ max = 0.2γH to 0.4γH
γ = bulk density of soil
σ max = 1.0 K a γH
σ max = 0.65 K aγH m4c u
Ka = 1−
γH
Excavations – Settlement in Braced Excavations
Excavations – Base heave-Lateral wall displacement
Excavations – Max settlement-lateral wall
displacement
Excavations – FOS against piping

0.94 m

1.88 m
Excavations – FOS against piping
Excavations – FOS against piping
Excavations – FOS against piping
 Excavations – FOS against Blow-in

Shear or wall adhesion along the sides of “block” neglected

Excavations – FOS against Base Heave
Excavations – FOS against Base Heave