RETAINING WALLS

Definition : A retaining wall is a structure

designed and constructed to resist the
lateral pressure of soil when there is a
desired change in ground elevation that
exceeds the angle of repose of the soil.

TERMINOLOGY
Material retained or supported by the
retaining wall is called as BACK FILL.

The position of the back fill which may
have its surface inclined or horizontal is
known as SURCHARGE .


TYPES OF RETAINING
WALLS
GRAVITY RETAINING WALL
CANTILEVER RETAINING WALL
T-shaped
L- shaped
COUNTOR FORTH (or) BUTTRESSED
RETAINING WALL
GRAVITY RETAINING WALL

Gravity retaining wall is the one in which the
earth pressure exerted by the backfill is
resisted by the dead weight or self weight
of the wall , which is either made of mass
concrete or stone masonry.
Masonry unit Stone Concrete
Stress developed in the wall are so proportioned

that no tension is developed any where and the

resultant of forces remains with in the MIDDLE-

THIRD OF THE BASE
CANTILEVER RETAINING WALL
Cantilever retaining wall resist the
horizontal earth pressure as well as other
optical pressure by the way of bending of
various components as cantilever.
Normal forms of these walls are :
T-shaped ()
L-shaped ( )
COUNTER FORTH RETAINING WALL
It is the retaining wall which will have
counter forth along the length at some
suitable intervals.
Because of the provision of the counter
forth the stem or heal slab will act as
continuous slab. The toe slab will however
act as cantilever by bending up words.
This type of retaining wall is used when the
backfill of greater height is to be retained.
Buttressed retaining wall is a modification of

counter forth retaining wall in which counter

forth are called as buttresses provided on

the either side of the backfill.
Examples of Buttressed
Retaining Walls
Active earth pressures which act on the
retaining wall under various conditions are:

1. Dry Condition.
2. Sub merged Condition.
3. Back fill with uniform surcharge.
4. Back fill with sloping surcharge.
DRY CONDITON

Ka = (1-sin) / (1+sin) Pa = ()(ka H) H
SUB MERGED CONDITION



P=w H+ ka s H


Pa= (1/2)w H.H+(1/2 ka s H H )
PRESSURE DUE TO HORIZONTAL
BACKFILL W
ka.W kaH w=weight of soil per unit area
Pa = H Cos|
Pa = ka H
|
When back fill is of sloping surcharge
Stability of cantilever retaining
wall
1. Stability due to OVER TURNING

This is the most hazardous failure of retaining
wall , because of un-balanced moments.

The over turning due to active earth pressure at
toe is
MR=W1x1+W2x2+W3x3

Mo = P (H/3)
= (1/2)ka H H (H /3)

Factor of safety is Fo = (Mr/Mo)= 2


Factor of safety should be taken in such a way to
avoid overturning
2. Stability due to SLIDING
The horizontal force P tends to slide the wall
away from the fill. The tendency to resist this is
achieved by the friction at the base, where is
the coefficient of friction between soil and
concrete.
Normal reaction=w1+w2+w3
Resisting force=(Ev)
PH =kaH (H/2)

The factor safety against
sliding is

Fs = (Ev)/PH = 1.5
When the retaining walls
fails in shear we provide
SHEAR KEY

Stability to BEARING
The resultant of Pa ,Ev will strike the
base slab at a distance of e from
the middle point of the base
EM = E v. x
x = (E M/E v)
e = (b/2)- x
Stress at toe =P2
Stress at heel=P1
soil bearing capacity> P2
Similarly P1 should be compressive.



P

P2 w P1
R

e
b
P1 = (V/b){1-(6e/b)}

e = b/6 this condition
is called
NO TENSION
CONDITION

Design a T- shaped cantilever retaining wall to retain earthen
embankment 3m above ground level.=18kN/cum ,=30 . The
embankment is horizontal at its top. qo = 100 KN/sqm ,=0.5
use M15 and Fe415
Step-1:
Calculation of design constants
ocbc = (15/3)=5 KN/sqm
m = 19
ost = 140 (assume)
k = [m ocbc /(m ocbc + ost )]
= 0.4
j = 1-(k/3)
= 0.87

r= 0.5 j k ocbc
= 0.87
There fore the values of the design constants are
j=0.87
k=0.4
r=0.87

Step-2:
Ka={(1-sin)/(1+sin)}
= 1/3
Step-3:
ymin = [ka ka q0 ]/
= [100 x (1/9)]/18
= 0.62 m
Provide minimum depth of 1m
Step-4:
o = 1-[qo/(2.2 x x H)]
= 1-[100/(2.2 x 18 x 4)]
= 0.37

Step 5:
b = 0.95h[k/{(1-o)(1+3o)}]^1/2
b = 1.90 m in case of over turning
b = [(0.7 x H x k)/(1-o)]
b = 2.92 m in case of sliding
max b = 0.6H
Provide a base slab b= 2.4 m
ob = 0.37 x 2.4 = 0.9 = width of toe
Provide stem thickness at the joint of base slab
and the stem is 0.3

0.2
Top width is 0.2
Heal should not be less than
50% of the base slab
Heal width =0.2
Thickness of base slab is
generally provided as
(1/12)H = 0.33 ymin
Provide thickness of base
slab =350 mm with a clear
cover of 30 mm


3






0.9 1.2

0.3


2.4
Maximum moment = {ka x x H^3}/6
= 48.63 n-m
M =RBd^2
48.63 x 10^6 = 0.87 x 1000 x d^2
d = 236.42 mm should not be
greater than 320.
Calculation of dead weights:
W1 = wt of stem portion
W1 = 0.2 x 3.65 x 25 x 1 =18.25 kN
W2 = wt of stem portion
W2 = 0.5 x 0.1 x 3.65 x 25x 1 = 4.56 kN
W3 = wt of base slab
= 2.4 x 0.35 x 25 x 1 = 21 kN
W4 = 1.2 x 3.65 x 18 x 1
= 78.84 kN

DESCRIPTION Wt in kN LEVER ARM(m) MOMENTS(kN-m)
W1 18.25 0.9+0.1 = 1.0 18.25
W2 4.65 0.9+0.2+(0.1/3) =
1.13
5.25
W3 21 1.2 25.2
W4 78.84 1.2+0.6 = 1.8 141.91
EW=122.74 EM = 190.62
CHECK FOR OVER TURNING:
(MR/MO) =(190.62/64) = 2.97 >2
Therefore safe against over turning

CHECK FOR SLIDING :
(FO/FS) =(48/61.37) = 0.785 < 1.5
Therefore we need to provide shear key

CHECK FOR BENDING MOMENT:
Net moment = EMr - EMo
= 190.64 64
= 127 kN-m
x = [net moment/Ev]
= [127/122.74]= 1.03
e = [b/2]-x
= 0.17
e s b/6
e s 0.4 (ok)
There fore the entire load is compressive
(w/b){1-(6e/b)} = pressure at heal slab
= 29.46 kN/sqm
Pressure at toe slab = (w/b){1+(6e/b)}
= 73.05 kN/sqm

Pressure at the junctions of toe
slab and stem are

Rate of variation of pressure
per unit length= [73-
30/2.4]
= 17.92
Pressure at section 1-1
= 73-{17.92 x 0.9}
= 56.87 kN/sqm
Pressure at section 2-2
= {[73-30]/2.4}x1.2+30
=51.50 kN/sqm






1 2

1 2
Design of toe slab:
Wt of toe slab = 0.35 x 25
= 8.7 kN/sqm
There fore net pressure at 1-1 = 73-8.7
= 64.3 kN/sqm
Net pressure at 2-2 = 57-8.7
= 48.3 kN/sqm
Shear force in the toe slab at the point 1-1
= [(64.3+48.3)/2] x{0.9 x 1}
= 50.6 kN
Moment = shear force x centroidal distance
Centroidal distance = [A1 x1 + A2 x2]/[A1 + A2]
= 0.42 m
Moment = 50.6 x 0.42
= 21.25 kN-m
M=R x b x d x d
21.25 x 1000000 = 0.87 x 1000 x d x d
d = 156 mm
Already we have provided 320 mm there fore ok
Ast = M/[ost x j d ]
= 1118 sq mm
Provide 16 mm bars ; 6 in number @170 mm c/c



Spacing = [area of one bar x 1000]/area of steel
= 180 mm
Distribution steel = 0.15%[gross c/s area]
= 525 sq mm
Provide 12 mm bars ; 5 in number @200 mm c/c

Design of heal slab :
net pressure at the heal slab = 30-8.7
= 21.3 kN/sqm
At section 2-2 = 51-8.7
= 42.3 kN/sqm
Shear force at 2-2 = [(42.3 +21.3)/2]{1.2 x 1}
= 38.16 kN
Moment = shear force x centroidal
Centroidal distance = x = 0.55 m
Moment = 38.16 x 0.55
= 20.98 kNm
M= R x b x d x d
d = 155.32 mm
already provided 320 mm .Therefore its ok
Ast = M/[ost x j d ]
= 1111.28 sq mm
Provide 16 mm bars , 6 in number @170 mm c/c
Distribution steel = 0.15 % [gross c/s area]
= 525 sq mm
provide 12 mm bars, 5 in number @200 mm c/c
Design of stem :
Maximum moment in the stem is at A
= [ka x x H x H x H]/6
= [(1/3) x 18 x 3.7 x 3.7 x 3.7]/6
= 50.653 kN-m
Provided d = 300-30 = 270 mm
M= R x d x d x b
50.653 x 1000000 = 0.87 x 1000 x d x d
d = 241.29 mm
Ast = M/[ost x j d ] = 1725 sq mm
provide 20 mm bars , 6 in number @ 175 mm c/c
provide 175 mm c/c , 20 mm dia bars from bottom to
half of the height (3.7/2 = 1.85)
Alternate bars can be curtailed up to 1 m from top.



Distribution steel =0.15% [gross c/s area]
450 sq mm
Provide 10 mm bars @ 150 mm cc up to half the
height and provide 200 mm c/c for remaining half

Design of shear key :
Provide 300 x 300 (as trial )
Check against sliding:
horizontal pressure = ka H x H/2
= 55.47 kN/sqm
Fs = [Ew/P]

Ew = [122.7 + 1 x 2.4 x 0.3 x 18]+(kp x P)
= 309.06 kN
Fs = 2.78
provide a minimum of 4 bars of 12 mm dia in
shear key