3.

1 Introduction to Gravity (Rigid)

Retaining Structures and Their
Stability Considerations

3.1 - 1
 Types of Retaining Structures
We will look at two general classes of retaining walls
in this module:
 Gravity / Rigid retaining walls
• Made of concrete, but may also include soil backfill
as part of the retaining system.
• Relies on gravity or self-weight to provide stability

 Flexible retaining walls

• Examples: Sheetpile walls, contiguous bored pile walls
• Relies on passive soil resistance, together with braced
struts and/or ground anchors to provide stability

In this section (Section 3), we focus on gravity (or rigid)

retaining walls. 3.1 - 2
 Learning Objectives
Types of Gravity Retaining Structures

Modes of Failure for Gravity Retaining Walls

• Translational, Rotational, Bearing Capacity
• Global (or deep-seated) failure
• Structural Failure

Calculations to check for stability of

gravity retaining structures

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Types of Gravity Retaining Structures

We first look at some of the common

types of gravity retaining structures
commonly encountered.

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Types of Gravity Retaining Structures

backfill
backfill

reinforcement
plain concrete

shear key

Gravity Retaining Wall Cantilever Rigid

Retaining Wall

3.1 - 5
Types of Gravity Retaining Structures

backfill backfill

Counterfort Wall Buttress Wall

3.1 - 6
Modes of Failure of Gravity Retaining Structures

We next look at the key modes of

failure associated with gravity
retaining structures that should be
considered during design / analysis.

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Modes of Failure of Gravity Retaining Structures

(i) Sliding or Translational Failure

wall movement

Initial After sliding failure

3.1 - 8
Modes of Failure of Gravity Retaining Structures

(ii) Rotational Failure

wall rotation

Initial After rotational failure

3.1 - 9
Modes of Failure of Gravity Retaining Structures

(iii) Bearing Capacity Failure

soil failure

Initial After bearing failure

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Modes of Failure of Gravity Retaining Structures

(iv) Global or Deep-seated Failure

Formation of
slip plane

Initial After global failure

3.1 - 11
Modes of Failure of Gravity Retaining Structures

(v) Structural Failure

crack

Initial After structural failure

3.1 - 12
 Stability of Gravity Retaining Walls

Let’s examine some of the key features

of gravity retaining walls and their
stability considerations.

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Stability of Gravity Retaining Walls
 Gravity retaining walls are massive concrete walls
 Their stability depends mainly on the self-weight of
the walls.

backfill

plain concrete

3.1 - 14
 Stability of Gravity Retaining Walls
 Cantilever walls utilize the soil backfill behind the
stem to help mobilize stability and are generally more
economical than gravity retaining walls.

backfill

reinforcement

shear key

3.1 - 15
 Stability of Gravity Retaining Walls
A rigid retaining wall must have an adequate factor of
safety to prevent

• excessive translation or sliding

• rotation or overturning
• bearing capacity failure
• deep-seated failure
• seepage-induced instability

3.1 - 16
Stability of Gravity Retaining Walls

What happens when a retaining wall fails?

Here are two examples:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LMQoVmCfL0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdJoMmhuRuQ

3.1 - 17