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Lateral Earth Pressures
Lateral Earth Pressures
N. Sivakugan
Duration: 18 min
2
SIVA Copyright©2001
Contents
Contents
• Geotechnical applications
• K0, active & passive states
• Rankine’s earth pressure theory
• Design of retaining walls
• A Mini Quiz
A 2-minute break
3
SIVA Copyright©2001
Lateral Support
In geotechnical engineering, it is often necessary to
prevent lateral soil movements.
Cantilever
retaining wall
Braced excavation Anchored sheet pile
Tie rod
Sheet pile
Anchor
4
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Lateral Support
We have to estimate the lateral soil pressures
lateral soil pressures acting
on these structures, to be able to design them.
Gravity Retaining
wall
Soil nailing
Reinforced earth wall
5
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Soil Nailing
6
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Sheet Pile
Sheet piles marked for driving
7
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Sheet Pile
Sheet pile wall
8
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Sheet Pile
During installation Sheet pile wall
9
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Lateral Support
Reinforced earth walls
Reinforced earth walls are increasingly becoming popular.
geosynthetics
10
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Lateral Support
Crib walls
Crib walls have been used in Queensland.
Interlocking
stretchers
and headers
filled with
soil
Good drainage & allow plant growth.
Looks good.
11
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Earth Pressure at Rest
GL
In a homogeneous natural soil deposit,
X
h’
v’
the ratio h’/v’ is a constant known as coefficient
coefficient
of earth pressure at rest (K
of earth pressure at rest (K0
0).
).
Importantly, at K0 state, there are no lateral
strains.
12
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Estimating K0
For normally consolidated clays and granular soils,
K0 = 1 – sin ’
For overconsolidated clays,
K0,overconsolidated = K0,normally consolidated OCR0.5
From elastic analysis,




1
0
K Poisson’s
ratio
13
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Active/Passive Earth Pressures
- in granular soils
smooth wall
Wall moves
away from soil
Wall moves
towards soil
A
B
Let’s look at the soil elements A and B during the
wall movement.
14
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Active Earth Pressure
- in granular soils
A
v’
h’
z
As the wall moves away from the soil,
Initially, there is no lateral movement.
v’ = z
h’ = K0 v’ = K0 z
v’ remains the same; and
h’ decreases till failure occurs.
Active state
15
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Active Earth Pressure
- in granular soils


failure envelope
v’
decreasing h’
Initially (K0 state)
Failure (Active state)
As the wall moves away from the soil,
active earth
pressure
16
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Active Earth Pressure
- in granular soils
v’
[h’]active


failure envelope

'
]
'
[ v
A
active
h K 
 
)
2
/
45
(
tan
sin
1
sin
1 2








A
K
Rankine’s coefficient of
active earth pressure
WJM Rankine
(1820-1872)
17
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Active Earth Pressure
- in granular soils
v’
[h’]active


failure envelope

A
v’
h’
45 + /2
90+
Failure plane is at
45 + /2 to horizontal
18
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Active Earth Pressure
- in granular soils
A
v’
h’
z
As the wall moves away from the soil,
h’ decreases till failure occurs.
wall movement
h’
Active
state
K0 state
19
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Active Earth Pressure
- in cohesive soils
Follow the same steps as
for granular soils. Only
difference is that c  0.
A
v
A
active
h K
c
K 2
'
]
'
[ 
 

Everything else the same
as for granular soils.
20
SIVA Copyright©2001
Passive Earth Pressure
- in granular soils
B
v’
h’
Initially, soil is in K0 state.
As the wall moves towards the soil,
v’ remains the same, and
h’ increases till failure occurs.
Passive state
21
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Passive Earth Pressure
- in granular soils


failure envelope
v’
Initially (K0 state)
Failure (Active state)
As the wall moves towards the soil,
increasing h’
passive earth
pressure
22
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Passive Earth Pressure
- in granular soils
v’ [h’]passive


failure envelope

'
]
'
[ v
P
passive
h K 
 
)
2
/
45
(
tan
sin
1
sin
1 2








P
K
Rankine’s coefficient of
passive earth pressure
23
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Passive Earth Pressure
- in granular soils
v’ [h’]passive


failure envelope

A
v’
h’
90+
Failure plane is at
45 - /2 to horizontal
45 - /2
24
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Passive Earth Pressure
- in granular soils
B
v’
h’
As the wall moves towards the soil,
h’ increases till failure occurs.
wall movement
h’
K0 state
Passive state
25
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Passive Earth Pressure
- in cohesive soils
Follow the same steps as
for granular soils. Only
difference is that c  0.
P
v
P
passive
h K
c
K 2
'
]
'
[ 
 

Everything else the same
as for granular soils.
26
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Earth Pressure Distribution
- in granular soils
[h’]passive
[h’]active
H
h
KAH
KPh
PA=0.5 KAH2
PP=0.5 KPh2
PA and PP are the
resultant active and
passive thrusts on
the wall
Wall movement
(not to scale)
h’
Passive state
Active state
K0 state
28
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Rankine’s Earth Pressure Theory
 Assumes smooth wall
 Applicable only on vertical walls
P
v
P
passive
h K
c
K 2
'
]
'
[ 
 

A
v
A
active
h K
c
K 2
'
]
'
[ 
 

29
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Retaining Walls - Applications
Road
Train
30
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Retaining Walls - Applications
highway
31
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Retaining Walls - Applications
basement wall
High-rise building
32
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Gravity Retaining Walls
cobbles
cement mortar
plain concrete or
stone masonry
They rely on their self weight to
support the backfill
33
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Cantilever Retaining Walls
They act like vertical cantilever,
fixed to the ground
Reinforced;
smaller section
than gravity
walls
34
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Design of Retaining Wall
1
1
2 2
3 3
toe
toe
Wi = weight of block i
xi = horizontal distance of centroid of block i from toe
Block no.
- in granular soils
Analyse the stability of this rigid body with
vertical walls (Rankine theory valid)
1
1
2 2
3 3
PA
PA
PP
PP
S
S
toe
toe
R
R
y
y
Safety against sliding along the base
tan
}.
{
A
i
P
sliding
P
W
P
F




H
h
soil-concrete friction
angle  0.5 – 0.7 
to be greater
than 1.5
PP= 0.5 KPh2
PA= 0.5 KAH2
1
1
2 2
3 3
PA
PA
PP
PP
S
S
toe
toe
R
R
y
y
Safety against overturning about toe
H/3
}
{
3
/
A
i
i
P
g
overturnin
P
x
W
h
P
F



H
h
to be greater
than 1.5
37
SIVA Copyright©2001
Points to Ponder
How does the key help in improving the stability
against sliding?
Shouldn’t we design retaining walls to resist at-rest
(than active) earth pressures since the thrust on the
wall is greater in K0 state (K0 > KA)?

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