IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MOST BENEFICENT,

THE MOST MERCIFUL

CANTILEVER
RETAINING WALLS

RETAINING WALLS
DEFINATION
It is a structure that holds back soil or other loose
material and prevents it from assuming natural angle of
repose at a location where an abrupt change in ground
elevation occurs. OR
Structure which provides stability to loose or
compacted soil. OR
Structures designed to sustain the lateral pressure of
earth or other material (grain, ore, liquid) and retain it in
a steep face slope which otherwise would rupture or
slide down.

USES
Retaining walls are used to maintain the width of the
right of way in an excavation, cut or embankment in
railway or highway construction.
In buildings, retain soils for basement wall.
To retain liquid or other loose material in tanks /silos.
Retaining walls are most extensively used in railways
and highways construction.

TYPES OF RETAINING WALLS

Gravity walls. Usually made of stone masonry, brick
or block masonry or of plain concrete. It depends
entirely on its weight for stability. It is used for walls up
to 10-15 ft high. Gabion is also a form of gravity wall.

 Cantilever

retaining wall. It is most commonly used

type of wall. All components of this wall i.e. stem, toe

and heel act as a cantilever and hence the name
cantilever retaining wall. used in height range of 10
to 20 ft.

Counter fort retaining wall

In this type of wall, the stem and the base slab are
tied together by counter fort, which are transverse walls
spaced at an interval and act as tension tie to support
the stem wall. Economical for height over 20 25 ft.

BUTTRESS RETAINING WALL

A buttress wall is similar to a counter fort wall except

that the transverse supports are located on the side of
the stem opposite to that of retained material and act
as compression strut. See figure.
Buttress as compression element are more efficient
than tension counter fort and economical in the same
height range.
A counter fort is more widely used because counter
fort is hidden beneath the retained material where as
buttress occupies a useable space in front of the wall.

BRIDGE ABUTMENT

A wall type bridge abutment acts similar to a retaining

wall except that the bridge deck provides an additional
restraint at the top of the stem. This abutment is

designed as a beam fixed at bottom and simply supported or

partially restrained at the top.

Earth pressure

In their physical behaviour, soil and other granular

masses occupy position between liquid and solids.
If a pit is dug in clay soil, its sides can usually be made
vertical over a considerable depth without support but
if this pit is flooded, the sides will give away and
saturated clay will be nearly converted into a liquid.
If a vertical wall retains soil, the earth pressure
increases proportionally to the depth and its
magnitude is
p=Ca..h
where is unit wt of soil and Ca is coefficient of
earth pressure and depend on type of soil and method
of depositing and compacting.

If the retained soil surface subtends an angle with the

horizontal, then according to Rankine theory, Ca is given by

For frequent case of horizontal surface, =0 and

Ca=(1-sin )/(1+sin )
Fill materials behind retaining walls are rarely uniform and dry.
Proper drainage of the fill is very important to reduce pressure
but even in well drained soils the pressure will temporarily
increase during heavy storm and sudden thaw.

MANY WALLS THAT HAVE BEEN DESIGNED

WITHOUT REGARD TO THESE FACTORS HAVE
FAILED, DISPLACED OR CRACKED.
Select conservative value of , smaller than
actual test value. Table below gives value of ,
and coefficient of friction, between concrete
and soils.

No
1
2

4
5

Soil type

Unit wt

lbs/cuft
Sand or gravel w/o
11033-40 0.5fines highly permeable 120
0.6
Sand and gravel with 12025-35 0.4silt mixture, low
130
0.5
permeability
Silty sand, sand and
11023-30 0.3gravel with high clay
120
0.4
cont
Medium or stiff clay
10025-35 0.2120
0.4
Soft clay, silt
90-110 20-25 0.20.3

Earth pressure for common conditions of loading

In computing earth pressure on walls, three common conditions
often encountered are shown below.
Horizontal surface of fill at the top of the wall

Sloping and horizontal surface with surcharge,s.

The increase in pressure caused by uniform

surcharge, s is computed by converting its load
into an equivalent, imaginary height of earth,
hs, above the top of the wall such that;

hs =s/
Pressure on wall due to surcharge=Ca. .hs.H

This pressure is assumed to be acting at

mid ht.

Factors affecting pressure on retaining wall

Type of backfill used.

Seasonal condition of backfill material
Drainage of backfill material
Type of material underneath the footing
Possibility of backfilling overload e.g. truck or
equipment near the wall
Degree of care exercised in backfilling
Possibility of vibration in the vicinity of wall
Level of water table
Degree of rotational restraint between various
component of retaining structure

The most important single factor is that WATER must

be prevented from accumulating in the backfill
material. Walls are rarely designed to retain

saturated material, which means that adequate

drainage must be provided.

When vehicle may travel near and exert their load or

when buildings are constructed near the top of the
wall, lateral pressure is increased.
For exact evaluation of such loads, refer to any book
on soil mechanics / AASHTO specification.

External stability

A retaining wall may fail in two different ways;

Its individual parts may not be strong enough to resist
acting forces
Wall as a whole may be bodily displaced by the earth
pressure without breaking up internally.
To design against first possibility, it is required to
determine necessary dimensions, thickness and
reinforcement details to resist moment and shear
To safeguard the wall against bodily displacement, it
would require special considerations.
The force that tends to slide is the horizontal
component, Ph of the earth pressure, P. The resisting
frictional force is .Rv where Rv=W+Pv

To provide sufficient safety

(W+Pv) 1.5Ph
If the required sliding resistance can not be
developed, a BASE KEY must be provided to increase
horizontal resistance.
It is necessary to ensure that the pressure under the
footing does not exceed the permissible bearing
pressure.
qmax =Rv/L(1+ 6e/L) and
qmin =Rv/L(1- 6e/L)

Resultant should lie within middle third of the base. It

will reduce the magnitude of maximum bearing
pressure and prevent large non uniformity of pressure.
A third mode of failure is the possibility of overturning
of wall about point B due to horizontal pressure, Ph.
If the resultant strikes within middle third, adequate
safety against overturning exists and no special check
is needed.
If resultant lies outside the middle third, a factor of
safety of at least 1.50 should be maintained against
overturning. Note that stabilizing moment is provided
by weight, W.g + Pv.L

Basis of structural design

The design of a cantilever retaining wall is based on

the analysis of typical 1ft slice i.e. 1 ft horizontal.
The investigation of a retaining wall for external
stability is based on calculation of actual earth
pressure and on computed SERVICE dead and live
load; all with load factor of 1.
The structural design of a retaining wall is based on
factored loads. Load factor of 1.4 is used for dead load
and 1.7 for live load, lateral earth pressure and
surcharge.

Preliminary proportions of cantilever retaining wall

The design of a retaining wall begins with a trial
section and approximate dimension. The assumed
section is then checked for external stability and
structural adequacy. The following thumb rules may be
used to determine approximate sizes of different parts of
a cantilever retaining wall.
Height of wall. The overall height of the wall is equal
to the difference in elevation required plus 3-4 ft, which
is the estimated frost penetration depth in cold areas.
This depth will also ensure firm natural soil level.
Thickness of stem. The thickness of stem is
calculated from maximum BENDING MOMENT and
SHEAR criteria which occurs at the base. The stem
thickness may be estimated as 1/10 -1/14 (7-10%) of the

height, H. The thickness at the top may be assumed to

be 8 -10. It is advisable to provide a batter (taper) of
/ft height to compensate for forward deflection. For
short height up to 10 ft, a constant thickness may be
adopted.
Length of base. An initial estimate of length of base
is 40 -75% of the wall height. The front face of the wall
should line up with the desired position of the soil
pressure resultant. Length of toe is 1/ 3 -1/4 of base
length.
Thickness of base. It is governed by SHEAR criteria.
May be estimated as 1/12 -1/10 (7-10 %) of height, H.
The base may be of uniform thickness or tapered to
the end of toe and heel where B.M. is zero.

Drainage and other details

Two major causes of failure or damage to retaining

wall are;
overstressing of soil under the wall

Insufficient drainage of the backfill material

Allowable soil pressure should be selected with great

care. Investigate up to a depth equal to ht of wall.
Foundation to be laid below frost depth i.e.3 -4 ft
below ground level.
Weep holes are provided by 6-8 dia pipe and
placed 5-10 horizontally and 3-4 vertically.
Provide a minimum of 1cu ft of crushed stone behind
weep hole.
Overflow from weep holes to be carried off safely.

Alternatively embed a horizontal drain in gravel or

crush stone at the rear of the wall at one or more level.
Efficient drainage is provided by a layer of crushed
stone at the rear of the retaining wall.
If possible, top surface of the fill should be paved or
covered with a layer of low permeability material and
given a proper slope for good drainage.
Provide expansion joint at 90 ft interval and
contraction joint at not more than 30 ft.

Relevant provisions of ACI Code

Cantilever retaining walls are designed as flexural

members according to provisions of chapter 10 of ACI
Code. (ACI Code 14.1.2).
Horizontal reinforcement is governed by ACI
Code14.3.
Horizontal reinforcement.
Minimum rft ratio for deformed bars 0f NO 5 and
smaller and fy not less than 60 ksi =0.002
Rft ratio =0.0025 for other deformed bars.
Placing of reinforcement.
Walls more than 10 thick except basement wall shall
have rft placed in two layers such that;
Ext face will have 50 - 66% of total rft required for
each direction and placed not less than 2 nor more

h/3 from exterior face.

Interior face. Other layer consisting of balance of steel
in each direction shall be placed not less than nor
more than h/3 from interior face.
Maximum spacing of rft.( ACI 14.3.5) Three times the
wall thickness or 18 which ever is smaller.
Concrete cover.
Cast against and permanently exposed to earth= 3
Concrete exposed to earth or weather
NO 6 and larger bars= 2
No 5 and smaller bars =1.5
Termination of bars in tension zone. ACI Code 12.10.5
and 12 .10.2 &3.

GRAVITY RETAINING
WALLS

Gravity walls are normally constructed from plain

concrete, stone masonry and rarely from brick/block
masonry.
Typical proportions of a gravity wall are shown below.
The wall may be vertical/trapezoidal in shape with the
base having back and front protrusion in order to
distribute the base pressure to a more uniform shape.
Flexural stresses that develop in the wall are of little
consequence.

The optimum design of any retaining wall is a matter

of successive approximation. Reasonable dimensions
are assumed based on experience and conditions of
stability are checked.
On the basis of first trial, dimensions are readjusted
and one or two trial result in favourable design.

ANY
QUESTION ?