Earth Structure Course

Course Contents

1. Lateral Earth Pressure

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Types of Retaining Structures

1.3 Rigid Retaining Structures

1.4 Flexible Retaining Structures

1.5 Types of Failure

1.6 Basic Concepts of the Lateral Earth Pressure

1.7 Rankine (1857) Earth Pressure Theory

1.8 Rankine (1857) Active and Passive Earth Pressure Equations for Cohesionless Soils

1.9 Rankine (1857) Active and Passive Earth Pressure Equations for Cohesive Soils

1.10 Rankine Active and Passive Earth Pressure Coefficients for a Sloping Backfill Material

1.11 Coulomb’s Earth Pressure Theory

1.12 Stability of Rigid Retaining Structures

1.13 Stability against Sliding

1.14 Stability against Overturning

1.15 Geotechnical Design of the Rigid Retaining Walls

1.16 Stability of Flexible Retaining Walls

1.17 Design of Cantilever Sheet Pile

1.18 Design of Anchored Sheet Pile

1.19 Braced Cuts

Lecture 1 Page 1
 Earth Structure Course

The Lateral Earth Pressure Problem

Lateral earth pressure is a significant design element in a number of foundation

engineering problems. Retaining and sheet-pile walls, both braced and unbraced excavations,
grain in silo walls and bins, and earth or rock contacting tunnel walls and other underground
structures require a quantitative estimate of the lateral pressure on a structural member for either
a design or stability analysis. Some of the purposes for which retaining walls are used are shown
in the Fig. 1.

Figure 1. Use of Retaining Walls.

Lecture 1 Page 2
 Earth Structure Course

Retaining walls may retain water also. The earth retained may be natural soil or fill. The
principal types of retaining walls are given in Fig. 2.

Figure 2. Principal Types of Rigid Retaining Walls.

Lecture 1 Page 3
 Earth Structure Course

Whatever may be the type of the wall, all the walls have to withstand lateral pressures either
from earth or any other material on their faces. The pressures acting on the wall try to move the
walls from their position. The walls should be so designed as to keep them stable in their
position. Gravity walls resist movement because of their heavy sections. They are built of mass
concrete or stone or brick masonry. No reinforcement is required in these walls. Semi-gravity
walls are not as heavy as gravity walls. A small amount of reinforcement is used for reducing the
mass of concrete. The stems of cantilever walls are thinner in section. The base slab is the
cantilever portion. These walls are made of reinforced concrete. Counterfort walls are similar to
cantilever walls except that the stem of the walls span horizontally between vertical brackets
known as counterforts. The counterforts are provided on the backfill side. Buttressed walls are
similar to counterfort walls except the brackets or buttress walls are provided on the opposite
side of the backfill. In all these cases, the backfill tries to move the wall from its position. The
movement of the wall is partly resisted by the wall itself and partly by soil in front of the wall.

For similar types of backfill:

a. The wall may be restrained from moving (Fig. 3a). The lateral earth pressure on the wall at
any depth is called the at-rest earth pressure.

b. The wall may tilt away from the soil that is retained (Fig. 3b). With sufficient wall tilt, a
triangular soil wedge behind the wall will fail. The lateral pressure for this condition is referred
to as active earth pressure.

c. The wall may be pushed into the soil that is retained (Fig. 3c). With sufficient wall movement,
a soil wedge will fail. The lateral pressure for this condition is referred to as passive earth
pressure.

Figure 3. Nature of Lateral Earth Pressure on a Retaining Wall.

Lecture 1 Page 4