Lateral Earth Pressures
What is Lateral Earth Pressure?
Designing any retaining wall requires knowledge of lateral earth pressure, the pressure developed by the backfill. It is the force generated by the lateral earth pressure that constitutes a large part of the load that the wall must carry.
represents pressures that are to the side (horizontal) rather than vertical
Lateral Support
In geotechnical engineering, it is often necessary to prevent lateral soil movements.
Tie rod Anchor
Sheet pile
Cantilever retaining wall
Braced excavation
Anchored sheet pile
Lateral Support
We have to estimate the lateral soil pressures acting on these structures, to be able to design them.
Gravity Retaining wall
Soil nailing
Reinforced earth wall
Lateral Support
Reinforced earth walls are increasingly becoming popular.
geosynthetics
Lateral Support
Crib walls have been used in Queensland.
Good drainage & allow plant growth. Looks good.
Interlocking stretchers and headers filled with soil
Categories of Lateral Earth Pressure
Active/Passive Earth Pressures
- in granular soils Wall moves away from soil Wall moves towards soil
B
smooth wall
Lets look at the soil elements A and B during the wall movement.
Active Earth Pressure
- in granular soils v = z v z h A Initially, there is no lateral movement. h = K0 v = K0 z As the wall moves away from the soil, v remains the same; and
h decreases till failure occurs.
Active state
Active Earth Pressure
- in granular soils
As the wall moves away from the soil,
Initially (K0 state)
Failure (Active state)
v
active earth pressure
decreasing h
Active Earth Pressure
- in granular soils
[h]active v
WJM Rankine (1820-1872)
Rankines coefficient of active earth pressure
Active Earth Pressure
- in granular soils
Failure plane is at 45 + /2 to horizontal
45 + /2
v
h A
[h]active
90+
Active Earth Pressure
- in granular soils As the wall moves away from the soil, h decreases till failure occurs.
v z
h A
K0 state Active state
wall movement
Passive Earth Pressure
Initially, soil is in K0 state.
- in granular soils
As the wall moves towards the soil,
v
h B
v remains the same, and h increases till failure occurs.
Passive state
Passive Earth Pressure
- in granular soils
As the wall moves towards the soil,
Initially (K0 state) Failure (Active state)
passive earth pressure
v
increasing h
Passive Earth Pressure
- in granular soils
v [h]passive
Rankines coefficient of passive earth pressure
Passive Earth Pressure
Failure plane is at 45 - /2 to horizontal
45 - /2
- in granular soils
v
h A
90+
[h]passive
Passive Earth Pressure
- in granular soils
As the wall moves towards the soil,
h increases till failure occurs.
v
h B
Passive state
K0 state
wall movement
Earth Pressure Distribution
PA and PP are the resultant active and passive thrusts on the wall
- in granular soils [h]active
[h]passive
PA=0.5 KAH2
h
PP=0.5 KPh2
KPh
KAH
h
Passive state Active state K0 state
Wall movement (not to scale)
Rankines Earth Pressure Theory assumes:
There is no adhesion or friction between the wall and soil Lateral pressure is limited to vertical walls
Failure (in the backfill) occurs as a sliding wedge along an assumed failure plane defined by .
Lateral pressure varies linearly with depth and the resultant pressure is located one-third of the height (H) above the base of the wall. The resultant force is parallel to the backfill surface.
Rankines Earth Pressure Theory
Rankines Active earth pressure coefficient
Rankines Passive earth pressure coefficient
The Coulomb Theory
Coulomb active earth pressure coefficient:
Coulomb passive earth pressure coefficient:
The Coulomb Theory is similar to Rankine except that:
There is friction between the wall and soil and takes this into account by using a soil-wall friction angle of . Note that ranges from /2 to 2/3 and = 2/3 is commonly used. Lateral pressure is not limited to vertical walls
The resultant force is not necessarily parallel to the backfill surface because of the soil-wall friction value .
Retaining Walls - Applications
Road Train
Retaining Walls - Applications
highway
Retaining Walls - Applications
High-rise building
basement wall
Gravity Retaining Walls
cement mortar cobbles plain concrete or stone masonry
They rely on their self weight to support the backfill
Cantilever Retaining Walls
Reinforced; smaller section than gravity walls
They act like vertical cantilever, fixed to the ground
