Scribd
Upload
27 views35 pages

Chapter 2 RS - Types of Retaining Walls

Uploaded by

Amira Hachem
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
27 views35 pages

Chapter 2 RS - Types of Retaining Walls

Uploaded by

Amira Hachem
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 35

CVLE 527 - RETAINING STRUCTURES

Chapter 2:
Types of Retaining Walls

Dr. Diala TABBAL


Contents
➢ Need for retaining wall
➢ Parts of retaining wall
➢ Types of retaining wall
▪ Rigid retaining walls
▪ Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) walls
RETAINING WALLS
 The structures which are constructed to retain the earth or other loose material
which are unable to stand vertically by itself are called as “retaining walls”.

 They can also be used to support grounds at different levels on both sides of wall.

 The material retained by wall is called as “backfill”.

➢ Need for retaining walls


▪ Backfill & Surcharge
• The material retained or supported by a retaining wall is called
backfill.

• Backfill may have its top surface horizontal or inclined.

• The position of the backfill lying above the horizontal plane at


the elevation of top of wall is called surcharge & its inclination
to the horizontal is called as Surcharge angle.

• Retaining walls have primary function of retaining soils at an


angle in excess of the soil’s nature angle of repose.
ANGLE OF REPOSE -- angle at which soil can
be safely inclined and beyond which it will fail.
▪ When are retaining structures used?
Retaining walls are used to hold back masses of earth or other loose
material and providing one-sided lateral confinement of soil or other
loose material where conditions make it impossible to let those
masses assume their natural slopes. Hence they provide a lateral
support to vertical slopes of soil that would otherwise collapse into a
more natural shape.

➢ The loose material being retained pushes against the wall, tending
to overturn and slide it. Retaining walls are used in many design
situations where there are abrupt changes in the ground slope. Such
conditions occur when the width of an excavation, cut, or
embankment is restricted by conditions of ownership, use of the
structure, or economy.
➢ For example, in railway or highway construction the width of
the right of way is fixed, and the cut or embankment must be
contained within that width.

➢ Similarly, the basement walls of the buildings must be located


within the property and must retain the soil surrounding the base.
▪ MATERIALS
There are many types of materials
that can be used to create retaining
walls like concrete blocks, poured
concrete, treated timbers, rocks or
boulders.
▪ PARTS OF A RETAINING WALL

STEM
or
Wall Slab
BACKFILL
FRONT

TOE HEEL

KEY
▪ PARTS OF A RETAINING WALL
➢ Types of Retaining Walls
In practice, the common types of retaining walls constructed can be
divided into two major categories:

Rigid retaining walls and Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) walls

 On the basis of shape & mode of resisting pressure due to backfill:

• 1. Gravity Retaining Walls


• 2. Semi-Gravity Retaining Walls
▪ Rigid retaining walls • 3. Cantilever Retaining Walls
• 4. Counterfort Retaining Walls
• 5. Buttress wall
• 6. Bridge Abutment
Types of Retaining Walls
• The gravity retaining wall resists the
earths pressure exerted by backfill by its
own self weight (dead load) , and
therefore, is rather massive in size.

• It is usually built in stone masonry, and


occasionally in plain concrete.

• Plain concrete gravity walls are not


used for heights exceeding about 3m,
for economic reasons.
• It generally contains no reinforcement.
• The thickness of wall is also
governed by need to eliminate or
limit the resulting tensile stress to its
permissible limit .

• These walls are so proportioned that


no tension is developed anywhere
and the resultant of forces remain
within the middle third of the base.
2. SEMI-GRAVITY RETAINING WALL
• The size of section of a gravity
retaining wall may be reduced if
a small amount of reinforcement
is provided near the back face.
Such walls are known as Semi-
gravity retaining wall.

• Semi-gravity walls resist


external forces by the combined
action of self weight, weight of
soil above footing and the
flexural resistance of the wall
components.
3. CANTILEVER RETAINING WALL
• The “Cantilever wall ” is the most
common type of retaining structure
and is generally economical for
heights up to about 8 m.

• Theses structures are made of


reinforced concrete that consists of a
thin vertical stem and base slab
made up of two distinct regions: a
heel slab and a toe slab.

• Made of reinforced cement concrete.

T-Shaped Cantilever retaining wall


➢ All three components behave as one way cantilever slabs:

• ’’Stem’’ acts as a vertical cantilever under the lateral earth pressure.

• ‘’Heel slab’’ acts as a horizontal cantilever under the action of weight of the retained
earth (minus soil pressure acting upwards from below)

• ‘’Toe slab” acts as a cantilever under the action of resulting soil pressure acting
upward.
➢ In this case, the weight of the fill on top of the heel, in addition to the weight of the wall,
contributes to the stability of the structure.
”Cantilever wall” May be L shaped or T shaped
T-CANTILEVER

L-CANTILEVER
4. Counterfort Retaining Wall
• For large heights, in a cantilever retaining
wall, the bending moments developed in
the stem, heel slab and toe slab become
very large and require large thickness.
The bending moments and shear force can
be considerably reduced by introducing
transverse supports, called counterforts.

• This wall is economical for heights above


(approximately) 7m.

• In the counterfort wall the stem and base


slab are tied together by counterforts which
are transverse walls spaced at intervals
and act as tension ties to support the stem
wall.
• Counterfort wall are placed at regular
intervals of about 1/3 to ½ of the wall
height, interconnecting the stem with the
heel slab. Counterforts are concealed
within the retained earth on the rear side of
the wall.

• The counterforts subdivide the vertical slab


(stem) into rectangular panels and support
them on two sides(suspender-style), and
themselves behave essentially as vertical
cantilever beams of T-section and varying
depth.

• The stability of the wall is maintained


essentially by the weight of the earth on
the heel slab plus the self weight of the
structure.
Property rights or other restrictions
sometimes make it necessary to
place the wall at the forward edge of
the base slab, i.e. to omit the toe.
Whenever it is possible, toe
extensions of one-third to one-fourth
of the width of the base provide a
more economical solution.

4 Types of retaining wall


5. Buttress Wall
A buttress wall is similar to a
counterfort wall except that the
transverse stem supports, Called
buttress, are located in the front
side, opposite to the retained
material interconnecting the stem
with the toe slab (and not with
heel slab, as with counterforts).
Buttress act as compression
struts. As compression elements,
they are more efficient than the
tension counterforts and are
economical in the same height
range.
Although the buttresses are structurally more efficient (and more
economical) counterforts, the counterfort wall is generally
preferred to the buttress wall and more widely used as it provides
free usable space (and better aesthetics)in front of the wall since
it is hidden beneath the retained material, whereas the buttress
occupies what may otherwise be usable space in front of the wall.
6. Bridge Abutment
A wall type bridge abutment acts similarly
to a cantilever retaining wall except that
the bridge deck provides an additional
horizontal restraint at the top of the stem.
Thus this abutment is designed as a beam
fixed at the bottom and simply supported
or partially restrained at the top.
Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) Walls
Mechanically stabilized earth walls are flexible walls,
and they are becoming more common nowadays.

The main components of these types of walls are;


• Backfill - which is granular soil
• Reinforcement in the backfill
• A cover (or skin) on the front face

The reinforcement can be thin galvanized


steel strips, geogrid, or geotextile. In most
cases, precast concrete slabs are used as
skin. The slabs are grooved to fit into each
other so that soil cannot flow between the
joints. Thin galvanized steel also can be used
as skin when the reinforcements are metallic
strips. When metal skins are used, they are
bolted together, and reinforcing strips are
placed between the skins.
MSE wall with metallic strips as
reinforcement along with a metal skin
Typical schematic diagrams of retaining walls with
geogrid reinforcement in the backfill :
(a) geogrid wraparound wall;
(b) wall with gabion facing;
(c) concrete-panel-faced wall
Construction of a retaining wall with
geotextile reinforcement

Geogrid-reinforced wall with precast


concrete panel facing under construction
Differences between Reinforced soil walls and
conventional walls
END

You might also like