RETAINING WALLS

A.B.C.M.

Sneha Coutinho
T. Y. B.Arch A
Roll No. 7
Bharati Vidyapeeth C.O.A.
 INTRODUCTION
A retaining wall is a
structure that holds or
retains soil behind it.
There are many types of
materials that can be used
to create retaining walls
like concrete blocks,
poured concrete, treated
timbers, rocks or boulders.
To retain soil at a slope
which is greater than it
would naturally assume,
usually at a vertical or near
vertical position.
 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 soils nature angle of repose.
PARTS OF A RETAINING WALL
 DESIGN
Walls within the design
height range are designed
to provide the necessary
resistance by either their
own mass or by the
principles of leverage.
Design consideration:
Overturning of the wall
does not occur
Forward sliding does not
occur
Materials used are
suitable
The subsoil is not
overloaded
 DIAPHRAGM WALL
Diaphragm wall is a continuous
wall constructed in the ground to
facilitate certain construction
activities, such as:
- a retaining wall
- a cut-off provision to support
deep excavation
- the final wall for basement or
other underground structure
(e.g. tunnel and shaft)
- a separating structure
between major underground
facilities
- a form of foundation (barrette
pile rectangular pile)
 RETAINING
WALLS

GRAVITY
RETAINING COUNTERFORT
WALLS RETAINING
SEMI GRAVITY WALLS
RETAINING
WALLS

CANTILEVERED
RETAINING
WALLS
 GRAVITY WALLS
The gravity wall resists
the earths pressure exerted
by backfill by its own self
weight (dead load) .
It is usually built in stone
masonry, and occasionally
in plain concrete.
provides stability by virtue
of its own weight , and
therefore, is rather massive
in size
Plain concrete gravity walls
are not used for heights
exceeding about 3m, for
economic reasons
 Stress developed is very low.
These walls are so proportioned that no tension is developed
anywhere and the resultant of forces remain within the middle
third of the base
 SEMI GRAVITY RETAINING WALLS
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.
CANTILEVERED RETAINING WALLS
The Cantilever wall is
the most common type of
retaining structure and is
generally economical for
heights up to about 8m.
The structure consists of
vertical stem , and a base
slab, made up of two
distinct regions, viz., a heel
slab and a toe slab.
 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.
T-CANTILEVER
L-CANTILEVER
COUNTERFORT RETAINING WALLS
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
can be considerably
reduced by introducing
transverse supports,
called counter-forts.
 Counterfort wall are placed at regular intervals of about1/3 to
of the wall height, interconnecting the stem with the heel
slab
The counterforts are concealed within the retained earth on
the rear side of the wall.
Can be constructed of reinforced or pre-stressed concrete
Suitable for over 7m
 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.
SECTION SHOWING R.W FOR
BASEMENT
 ALTERNATIVES TO RETAINING WALLS
CELLULAR CONFINEMENT
Cellular confinement systems
have become increasingly
popular for earth retention
applications.
They can be constructed as a
gravity wall or a "geogrid" wall
which consists of vertical layers
of geocells with geogrid
reinforcement installed behind
the face of the wall every few
layers of the geocell depending
on design.
 Cellular confinement systems (geocells) are also used for steep
earth stabilization in gravity and reinforced retaining walls with
geogrids.
Geocell retaining walls are structurally stable under self- weight
and externally imposed loads, while the flexibility of the structure
offers very high seismic resistance.
The outer fascia cells of the wall can be planted with vegetation to
create a green wall.
 Soil nailing is a technique in
which soil slopes, excavations
or retaining walls are
reinforced by the insertion of
relatively slender elements -
normally steel reinforcing bars.
The bars are usually installed
into a pre-drilled hole and
then grouted into place or
drilled and grouted
simultaneously.
They are usually installed un-
tensioned at a slight downward
inclination.
A rigid or flexible facing (often
sprayed concrete) or isolated
soil nail heads may be used at
the surface.
GABION MESHES
This type of soil
strengthening, often also
used without an outside wall,
consists of wire mesh "boxes,
which are filled with roughly
cut stone or other material.
The mesh cages reduce some
internal movement and
forces, and also reduce
erosive forces.
Gabion walls are free-
draining retaining structures
and as such are often built in
locations where ground
water is present.
 BUTTRESS WALL
It is similar to counterfort wall,
except that the transverse stem
supports, Called buttress, are
located in the front side,
interconnecting the stem with
the toe slab(and not with heel
slab, as with counterforts)
Although the buttresses are
structurally more efficient (and
more economical) counterforts,
the counterfort wall is generally
preferred to the buttress wall as
it provides free usable space
(and better aesthetics)in front
of the wall.