TERRA AQUA GABIONS GRAVITY RETAINING WALL CALCULATIONS

(STRAIGHT LINE BACK)

PROJECT NAME: Elevated Road-Segmen 1 PROJECT #:

LOCATION: SECTION:

GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEER: REPORT #:

NOTES: DRAWING #:

DATE:

Descriptions symbols Input Units Notes

Values

Backfill slope angle above wall β 0.000 º <Ф

Angle of internal friction Φ 28.000 º
Wall friction reduction by geotextile fr 20.000 % Back of wall
Angle of wall friction δ 22.400 º Φ(100-fr)/100
Inclination angle to vertical plane ω 6.000 º for wall with straight back (no offsets)
Back of wall angle to horizontal α 96.000 º 90+ω
Cohesion c 0 psf Ignore cohesion
Surcharge q 150.000 psf
Soil density γs 125.000 pcf
Rock density γr 138.000 pcf
Void in gabion v 30.000 %
Gabion density γg 96.600 pcf γr(100-v)/100
Actual height of wall H 11.934 ft (hCosω) Corrected for inclination
Embedment d 3.000 ft 0 ft to ignore passive thrust
Width of base B 7.5 ft
Allowable soil bearing capacity qa 2000.000 psf determined by Geotechnical Engineer

45
GABION RETAINING WALL
ROW 1
42
ROW 2

39 ROW 3

ROW 4
36
ROW 5
33
ROW 6

X
30 Y ROW 7

ROW 8
27
ROW 9
24
ROW 10
Y

21 ROW 11

18 ROW 12

ROW 13
15
ROW 14

12
ROW 15

9 EMBEDMT

BACKFILL
6

-3
-3 0 3 6 9 12 15 X 18 21 24 27 30 33 36
-6

Row # Width Height offset Area X Moment Y Moment

(ft) (ft) (from toe) (ft) (ft²) (ft) (ft³) (ft) (ft³)
15 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
14 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
13 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
12 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
11 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
10 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
9 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
8 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
7 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
6 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
5 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
4 3.0 3.0 4.50 9.000 6.000 54.000 10.500 94.500
3 4.5 3.0 3.00 13.500 5.250 70.875 7.500 101.250
 2 6.0 3.0 1.50 18.000 4.500 81.000 4.500 81.000
1 7.5 3.0 0.00 22.500 3.750 84.375 1.500 33.750
h= 12.0 63.000 4.607 290.250 4.929 310.500

1 COULOMB'S THEORY

BACK

Active earth pressure Ka = Sin²(α+Φ)

coefficient Sin² α Sin(α-δ) 1+ Sin(Φ+δ) Sin(Φ-β) ²
Sin(α-δ) Sin(α+β)

0.687
0.989 0.959 1+ 0.771 0.469 ²
0.959 0.995

0.687
2.477

0.277

Active soil thrust Ps = 0.5Kaγs H²

= 2469.902 lb/ft

Active surcharge thrust Pq = Sinα KaqH

Sin(α+β)

= 0.995 496.701
0.995

= 496.701 lb/ft

Horizontal active soil thrust Phs = PsCos(δ- ω)

= 2369.412 lb/ft

Horizontal active surcharge Phq = PqCos(δ- ω)

thrust
= 476.493 lb/ft

Vertical active soil thrust Pvs = PsSin(δ- ω)

= 697.356 lb/ft

Vertical active surcharge Pvq = PqSin(δ- ω)

thrust
= 140.239 lb/ft

FRONT

Inclination angle to vertical ωp = 0.000

Front face angle to horizontal αp = 90-ωp
= 90.000
Backfill slope βp = 0.000
 Angle of wall friction δp = 0.000

Passive earth pressure Kp = Sin²(α-Φ)

coefficient Sin² α Sin(α+δ) 1- Sin(Φ+δ) Sin(Φ+β) ²
Sin(α+δ) Sin(α+β)

0.780
1.000 1.000 1- 0.469 0.469 ²
1.000 1.000

0.780
0.281

2.770

Passive soil thrust Pp = 0.5Kpγs d²

= 1558.027 lb/ft

2 Check Overturning:

Vertical distance to Phs Yhs = H/3-BSinω

= 3.194 ft

Vertical distance to Phq Yhq = H/2-BSinω

= 5.183 ft

Overturning moment ∑Mo = YhsPhs + YhqPhq

= 10037.936 ft-lb / ft

Weight of Gabion Wg = ∑A γg

= 6085.800 lb / ft

Horizontal distance to Wg Xg = Ysinω + XCosω

= 5.097 ft

Horizontal distance to Pvs Xvs = B/Cosω + (H/3-BSinω)Tanω

7.877

Horizontal distance to Pvq Xvq = B/Cosω + (H/2-BSinω)Tanω

8.086

Vertical distance to Pp YPp = d/3

= 1.000

Resisting moment ∑Mr = Wg Xg + Pvs Xvs + Pvq Xvq + PpYPp

 = 39204.918 ft-lb / ft

Overturning factor of safety SFo = ∑Mr

∑Mo

3.906 ≥ 2.000 O.K

3 Check Sliding

Total Normal forces ∑W = WgCosω + PsSinδ + PqSinδ - PpSinω

= 7020.088 lb/ft

Frictional force Ff = ∑W TanΦ

= 7020.088 0.532

= 3732.647

Total Resisting Forces ∑Fr = Ff + CosωPp

= 5282.139

Total Driving Forces at base ∑Fd = PsCosδ + PqCosδ - WgSinω

2106.622

Siding factor of safety SFs = ∑Fr

∑Fd

2.507 ≥ 1.500 O.K

4 Check the Eccentricity of Resultant Force

(Resultant is in middle one third)

Eccentricity e = 0.5 B - ( ∑Mr - Mo)

∑W

= 3.750 - 4.155

= -B/6 ≤ e ≤ +B/6

-1.250 ≤ -0.405 ≤ 1.250

O.K O.K

5 Check Bearing

Applied bearing pressure P = ∑W (1± 6e/B)

B

= 936.012 (1± 0.324 )

Right = 1239.121 psf ≤ 2000.000 O.K

 Left = 632.902 psf ≤ 2000.000 O.K

Additional calculations may have to be performed including and not limiting to global stability analysis (by
(Geotechnical Engineer), seismic forces (by Seismic Engineer) and hydraulic forces (by Hydraulic Engineer).
Please check local, State and Federal requirements. The calculator assumes drained uniformed retained and foundation
soil properties. The calculations should be reviewed, checked and certified by a Professional Engineer. To the best of our
knowledge, the calculator and information was prepared accurately. Terra Aqua is not responsible for the reliability and
validity of the geotechnical parameters assumed in the calculations. The calculator is intended to provided design
design assistance to the engineer for the purpose of designing with Terra Aqua products.