Gravity Retaining Wall

a. Rubble Retaining wall

b. Stone masonry wall
c. Gabion Wall

up to
~5m
high

Up to
~6m
high
W

Rubble Retaining wall

Concrete retaining walls provide a durable solution that is required of a structure in contact with
soil and exposed to constant wetting and drying.
Material locally available.
Not much area required for construction purpose.
Normal practice of construction on present sites.
Not much skilled labor are required.
As height of wall increase simultaneously thickness of wall increase
Draining is required to drain water from behind.
Stone Masonry Wall
Well suited to rapidly varying ground levels.
Provide good support to roads.
Easy to construct
Not skill labor are required
Maintenance can easily be done
Material locally available
Not much area required for construction purpose
Cost increase as the height of wall increase
Draining is required to drain water from behind.
Very prone to damage under differential movements. Need to be founded on competent
soils/rock. If on soils then concrete base slab usually needed. Regular movement joints (say
every 5m) required especially at change in height or foundation level.
Gabion Wall
Gabion walls consist of a wire mesh box filled with rock and wired
together to form a retaining wall
Record of satisfactory performance
Advantages of gabions include their ability to be stacked in various
shapes, accommodate ground movement, dissipate energy of flowing
water, and drain freely.
Good base friction providing placed directly on underlying soil.
Construction materials & skill labor are locally available.
Gabion walls are labor intensive to construction

toe

reinforced co

stem

RCC Cantilever Retaining wall

up to
~5m
high

Weight of soil
on heel gives
stability

Thin section as compared to other gravity retaining wall.

Can be built for large height (upto 9m).
Normal practice of RC construction.
gravity wall
Skilled labor are required
Extra space required for base (Heel) construction.
Draining is required to drain water from behind.

toe

heel
key helps to
stop sliding failure

Reinforced concrete cantilever wall

Facing panels
Reinforced soil walls
(usually
attached
reinforcing strips)
Can be built for large heights.
Metal or
reinforcing
Feasible to construct where large area is available.
Height
unlimited
Precast concrete panel are used reducing site machinery space.
Skilled labor must be required.
More space is required on earth retained side.
More excavation is required for placing the Reinforcement.
Extra excavation and back filling increase the cost.
These type of walls do not resist as much to the scouring problem as they are built from surface
of ground.

Embedded cantilever walls VS Gravity Walls

Advantages of embedded walls:
Embedded walls take up little lateral space.
Can be installed without excavation behind the wall and therefore
reduces temporary works (good in very weak or wet soils).
Can be used to help stabilize slopes if embedded below slip surface.
Stiff therefore good when excavation required beside movement
sensitive structures/infrastructure.
Disadvantages of embedded walls:
Require specialist equipment, and access for piling rigs etc
Require more detailed design calculations
Expensive
Anchors and steel piles corrode and need to be protected or designed with adequate initial steel
section to allow for corrosion.
Some are impermeable so drainage needs to be carefully considered in design and construction.

1. Reinforced Concrete Bored Pile walls

Can be installed up to the site boundary with little or no space required behind the wall for
construction
Guide walls required to provide good verticality and lateral positioning for walls.
Specialized skills and equipment are required for their installation
Reinforced concrete pile cap usually provided.
Not easily driven in rock or granular strata as pilling may not be easy in such soil.
Extra cost for pilling and bore.
2. Sheet-Piling Walls (Steel, Timber etc)
Easily installed in soft soils but not easily driven in granular or rocky strata as presently our site
conditions
Limited height due to flexibility (appropriate upto 3-4m) for higher height anchor roads are
required
Extra safety precaution is required for corrosion.
Vulnerable to corrosion attack.
It cannot resist high pressures
Blocks water flow but not completely water tight
3. Post and Plank
Concrete or wooden planks slid between driven or augured H posts (steel) backfilled with
concrete.
Generally cheaper than other wall types
Planks can be pre-formed and transported to site.
Steel posts corrode.
Pile installation difficult in very hard or boulder ground.