GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING

RETAINING WALL
~P R I O D E E P C H O W D H U R Y
 Retaining wall is a relatively rigid wall used for supporting the soil
mass laterally so that the soil can be retained at different levels on the
two sides.

Contents:

Types
Design
Modes of Failure

Types of retaining wall

The most common type of retaining walls is classified as under:

Gravity Retaining Wall

These walls depend upon their weight for stability. The walls are usually
constructed of plain concrete or masonry. Such walls are not economical
for large heights.

Semi-gravity Retaining Wall

The size of the section of a gravity retaining wall may be reduced if a

small amount of reinforcement is provided near the back face. Such
walls are known as semi-gravity walls.

Cantilever Retaining Wall

Cantilever retaining walls are made of reinforced cement concrete. The

wall consists of a thin stem and a base slab cast monolithically. This type
of wall is found to be economical upto a height of 6 to 8 m.

Counterfort Retaining Wall

Counterfort Retaining walls have thin vertical slabs, known as

counterforts, spaced across the vertical steam at regular intervals. The
counterforts tie the vertical stem with the base slab. Thus the vertical
stem and the base slab span between counterforts. The purpose of
providing the counterforts is to reduce the shear force and bending

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moments in the vertical stem and the base slab. The counterfort
retaining walls are economical for a height more than 6 to 8 m.

Principles of the Designs of retaining wall

Before the actual design, the soil parameters that influence the earth
pressure and the bearing capacity of the soil must be evaluated. These
include the unit weight of the soil, the angle of shearing resistance, the
cohesion intercept and the angle of wall friction. Knowing these
parameters, the lateral earth pressures and the bearing capacity of the
soil can be determined. After the earth pressures are determined, the
retaining walls as whole are checked for stability against sliding,
overturning, bearing capacity failure & tension.

Other modes of failure of retaining walls

In addition to the three types of failures i.e. sliding, overturning and

bearing failure, a retaining wall may fail in the following two modes if
the soil underneath is weak.

Shallow Shear Failure: This type of failure occurs along a cylindrical

passing through the heel of the retaining wall. The failure takes place
because of the excessive shear stresses along the cylindrical surface
within the soil mass. However, it has generally been found that the
factor of safety against horizontal sliding is lower than that for the
shallow shear failure. Consequently, if the factor of safety against sliding
is greater about 1.5, shallow shear failure is not likely to occur.

Deep shear failure: This type of shear failure occurs along a cylindrical
surface, when there is a weak layer of soil underneath the wall a depth
of about 1.5 times the height of the wall. The critical failure surface is
determined by trial and error procedures.

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