BFC21002

CONSTRUCTION
ENGINEERING
CHAPTER 4

INFRASTRUCTURE
Infrastructure
Infrastructure can be defined as the basic
facilities and systems serving a city or a
country. It is all the services and facilities
needed for the operation of a society.
Infrastructure
In construction industry, infrastructure is
included but not limited to:

•Retaining walls
•Roads
•Drainage
•Sewerage
•Water Supply
•Solid Waste
•Power Supply
•Telecommunication
Infrastructure
Retaining Walls
Retaining wall is an earth retaining structure
that retains earth behind it.
Retaining walls are designed to hold soil to a
slope that is not natural for construction
purpose
 During Design Retaining Walls

The retaining wall when designed must be able to

ensure the following :
 No overturning should occur
 Sliding doesn’t happen
 The soil on which the wall rests mustn’t be
overloaded
 The material used in construction are not
overstressed.
 Types of Retaining Walls
There are many types and ways to construct retaining walls
for example:
- Gravity walls
- Pre-cast crib walls
- Gabion walls
- Reinforced concrete walls
- Sheet pile walls
- MS walls (mechanically stabilized)
- Slurry and Secant Walls
- Soil nailing

Crib walls Gabion walls RC walls

 Reinforced Concrete Walls
RC retaining walls are gravity structures in
which the stability against overturning is
provided by the weight of the wall and
reinforcement bars in the wall.
Reinforced concrete walls

Stem
Soil Reinforced
concrete

Foundation

CANTILEVER RETAINING
RC Wall Method of Construction
Basic steps of construction are:
1.Setting out and preparation of the base (place stakes, use a string line
or paint for marking).
2.Excavate the area by removing all surface vegetation/organic materials
from the area.
3.Formwork preparation
4.Rebar installation
These steps to be
5.Inspection followed for the
construction of
6.Concreting work foundation and the
7.Formwork Removal stem.

8.Curing of concrete
9.Drain pipe should be installed as required.
10.Perform backfilling and compaction of soil accordingly.
 Crib Retaining Wall
• Crib retaining walls are a form of gravity wall.
• They are constructed of interlocking individual boxes
of pre-cast concrete.
• Then, the boxes are filled with crushed stone or other
coarse granular materials to create a free draining
structure.
 Crib Wall Construction process

Base footing installation Building the wall

course by course Backfill courses with
Gravel infill

vegetative crib wall Crib wall completion Retaining Wall Drainage

 Gabion Retaining walls
Gabion retaining wall walls are multi-celled
rectangular wire mesh boxes, which are filled with
rocks or other suitable materials. It is used for
erosion control and to stabilize steep slopes.
 Gabion Retaining walls
Construction Method
1. • Level the bed on which gabion cages are to be laid

2. • The lower gabion basket will be excavated into the channel bottom a
minimum of 1/3 the height of the gabion.

3. • The gabion will be stretched to remove any kinks and to gain a

straight alignment.

4. Gabion baskets shall be wired together

5. • The baskets shall be filled carefully filled with rock in layers and in
stages

6. • Internal cross-tie wires shall be placed in each gabion.

7. Membrane is used to cover the rear of the basket

8. Backfilling can take place as last step before grass laying.

Gabion Retaining walls Construction Process

Site excavation Sub Base preparation

And clearance and compaction

Stones inserted carefully Baskets placed & tied

Backfilling take place Gabion wall completed

Extra Notes on Retaining Walls
EARTH RETAINING
STRUCTURE
Introduction

 Earth retaining walls are very common and

important geotechnical engineering structures.

 Retaining walls provide lateral support to

vertical slopes of soil.

 They retain soil which would otherwise

collapse into a more natural shape.
DESIGN
The designed retaining wall must be able to
ensure the following :
 Overturning doesn’t occur
 Sliding doesn’t occur
 The soil on which the wall rests mustn’t be
overloaded
 The material used in construction are not
overstressed.
DESIGN CONSIDERATION
In order to calculate the pressure exerted at
any point on the wall, the following must be
taken in account:
 height of water table
 nature & type of soil
 subsoil water movements
 type of wall
 material used in the construction of wall
The effect of 2 forms of earth pressure need to be
considered during the process of designing
the retaining wall that is:
a) Active Earth Pressure
“ It is the pressure that at all times are tending to
move or overturn the retaining wall”
a) Passive Earth Pressure
“It is reactionary pressures that will react in
the form of a resistance to movement of the wall.
Active Earth Pressure
It is composed of the earth wedge being retained
together with any hydrostatic pressure caused by
the presence of groundwater.
This pressure can be reduced by:
i) The use of subsoil drainage behind the wall
ii) Inserting drainage openings called weep holes
through the thickness of the stem to enable the
water to drain away.
Passive Earth Pressure

 This pressure build up in front of the toe to resist the

movement of the wall if it tries to move forward.

 This pressure can be increased by enlarging the

depth of the toe or by forming a rib on the underside
of the base.
GROUNDWATER BEHIND A
RETAINING WALL
 Groundwater - water that occurs within the soil
 Sources include surface infiltration, water table fluctuation
and layers of permeable soils.
EFFECT OF GROUNDWATER TO RETAINING WALL
 have adverse effect to the design and stability
 water behind the wall could increase the active
pressure on the back of the wall
 It will reduce the soil shear strength that would lead
to reduction of soil bearing capacity
 The water will reduce the frictional resistance
between the base and the soil and also reduce the
possible passive pressure in front of the wall
 It can be concluded that the existence of
groundwater behind the retaining wall could
lead to failure of retaining wall.
 Therefore, ways must be found to drain the
groundwater out from behind the wall.
 Normally, weep hole will be installed in the
retaining wall where it will penetrate the
retaining wall and drain the area immediately
behind the wall.
 Adequate spacing between the weepholes
allow uniform drainage from behind the wall.
 Weep holes should have filter material
between the wall and the backfill to prevent
fines migration, weephole clogging, loss of
backfill and caving
Weep hole to drain the groundwater out
 TYPES
OF
RETAINING WALL
GRAVITY WALL
Gravity Retaining Wall

 Gravity retaining walls depend on their own

weight and any soil resting on the concrete in
resisting lateral earth forces.
 generally economical up to 10 feet in height for
cast concrete structures.
 Gravity walls are widely used as earth retaining
systems supporting fill slopes adjacent to roads
and residential areas
 Usually are sufficiently massive to be
unreinforced.
 Can be constructed from concrete, stone or brick
masonry
 Monolithic cast walls are generally formed on site
 These walls are very thick, so the flexural
stresses are minimal and no reinforcement
is needed.
 It’s construction only need simple materials
and moderately skilled labor
 But the required volume of material is very
large because there’s no steel reinforcement used.
 Eventhough it need moderately skilled
labor but the construction process is very
labor extensive.
CRIB WALL
Crib Wall
 Another type of gravity retaining structure
 It consists of precast concrete members
linked together to form a crib
 The zone between the member is filled with
compacted soil
 Can be economically designed and built for
wide range of wall heights
 Wall aesthetic can be enhanced
GABION WALL
Gabion Wall

 Made up of row upon of orthogonal cages or

baskets (gabions) which are filled with rock
fragments and tied together.
 Relatively simple to construct
 Where suitable rock is available, use of gabion
walls is particularly attractive for economic
reason and speed of construction.
 Cantilever Retaining Wall

Stem
Soil

Reinforced
concrete
Foundation
Cantilever Retaining Wall
 It is a refinement of the massive gravity wall
concept
 consists primarily of the design of the stem and
foundation.
 Have a large flexural stresses which requires the use
of reinforced concrete or reinforced masonry
 Can be precast in a factory or formed on site.
 have much thinner stem and utilize the weight of
the backfill soil to provide most of the resistance
to sliding and overturning.
 Use much less construction material than
monolithic gravity walls because the cross
section of this wall is much smaller.
 Require more care careful design and
construction compared to gravity walls
 less expensive than mass gravity walls
Counterfort Retaining Wall

Counterfort
Counterfort Retaining Wall

 Similar to cantilever walls

 At regular intervals, however they have thin,
vertical concrete slabs known as counterforts that
tie the wall and the base slab together.
 Counterforts plays the role to reduce the shear
and the bending moments
IN-SITU WALL

 Different from gravity walls

 There are many types of In-Situ wall such
as the followings:
a) Sheet Pile Walls
b) Soldier Pile Walls
c) Slurry Pile Walls
SHEET PILE WALLS
Sheet Pile Walls
 Sheet piles are tine, wide steel piles
 Driven to the ground using pile hammer
 Series of sheet piles in a row form a sheet pile wall
 It’s usually necessary to provide lateral
support at 1 or more levels above the
ground that can be done using 2 ways that
is internal braces or tieback anchor
 Tieback Anchors are tension members
drilled into the ground behind the wall
 The most common type is a grouted anchor
with a steel tendon

Sheet Piles
Retaining Wall Failure

 May fail in any of the following ways:

a) overturn about its toe
b) slide along its base
c) fail due to the loss of bearing capacity of
the soil supporting the base
d)undergo deep-seated shear failure
e)go through excessive settlement
Retaining Wall Failure