Earth Retaining Walls

CIVL455
CHAPTER II: LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE THEORY
Rankines Lateral Earth Pressure Theory

Lateral pressure on walls can be evaluated for three

conditions;

At-rest condition Active condition

Passive condition

Ref: B. M. Das (2007)

At-rest lateral pressure

Rankines lateral earth pressure theory based on a frictionless

wall and horizontal backfill. AT-REST (GEOSTATIC) CASE.
For most soils
For overconsolidated granular soils

For normally consolidated cohesive soils

For over-consolidated cohesive soils

Ref: B. M. Das (2007)

Active lateral pressure

Rankines lateral earth pressure theory based on a frictionless

wall and horizontal backfill. ACTIVE CASE.
Undrained
Drained

Drained

Undrained

Drained
Undrained

Ref: B. M. Das (2007)

Active lateral pressure

Rankines lateral earth pressure theory based on a frictionless

wall and inclined backfill. ACTIVE CASE.
Drained backfill with c=0.

Drained backfill with c>0.

Ref: B. M. Das (2007)

Passive lateral pressure

Rankines lateral earth pressure theory based on a frictionless

wall and horizontal backfill. PASSIVE CASE.

Drained
Undrained
Passive lateral pressure

Rankines lateral earth pressure theory based on a frictionless

wall and inclined backfill. PASSIVE CASE.
Drained backfill with c=0.

Drained backfill with c>0.

Ref: B. M. Das (2007)

Lateral earth pressure coefficients for vertical frictionless wall with inclined backfill

Kp = Rankine's passive pressure coefficient

f () f
20 0.490 0.492 0.496 0.504 0.515 0.531 0.553 0.583 0.627 0.697 0.940 20 2.040 2.034 2.015 1.985 1.941 1.883 1.808 1.715 1.596 1.435 1.064
21 0.472 0.474 0.478 0.485 0.495 0.509 0.529 0.555 0.591 0.646 0.748 21 2.117 2.111 2.093 2.063 2.020 1.964 1.892 1.803 1.691 1.547 1.338
22 0.455 0.456 0.460 0.466 0.475 0.488 0.505 0.528 0.560 0.605 0.677 22 2.198 2.192 2.175 2.145 2.103 2.048 1.978 1.892 1.786 1.654 1.478
23 0.438 0.439 0.443 0.448 0.457 0.468 0.484 0.504 0.531 0.569 0.625 23 2.283 2.277 2.260 2.231 2.189 2.135 2.067 1.984 1.882 1.758 1.600
24 0.422 0.423 0.426 0.431 0.439 0.449 0.463 0.481 0.505 0.537 0.583 24 2.371 2.366 2.348 2.320 2.279 2.226 2.160 2.078 1.980 1.861 1.715
25 0.406 0.407 0.410 0.414 0.421 0.431 0.443 0.460 0.481 0.509 0.547 25 2.464 2.458 2.441 2.413 2.373 2.321 2.255 2.176 2.080 1.966 1.828
26 0.390 0.391 0.394 0.398 0.405 0.413 0.425 0.439 0.458 0.482 0.515 26 2.561 2.556 2.539 2.511 2.471 2.419 2.355 2.277 2.183 2.073 1.941
27 0.376 0.376 0.379 0.383 0.389 0.396 0.407 0.420 0.437 0.458 0.487 27 2.663 2.657 2.641 2.613 2.574 2.522 2.459 2.382 2.290 2.182 2.055
28 0.361 0.362 0.364 0.368 0.373 0.380 0.390 0.401 0.417 0.436 0.460 28 2.770 2.764 2.748 2.720 2.681 2.630 2.567 2.491 2.401 2.295 2.172
29 0.347 0.348 0.350 0.353 0.358 0.365 0.373 0.384 0.398 0.415 0.436 29 2.882 2.877 2.860 2.832 2.793 2.743 2.680 2.605 2.516 2.412 2.291
30 0.333 0.334 0.336 0.339 0.343 0.350 0.357 0.367 0.379 0.395 0.414 30 3.000 2.995 2.978 2.950 2.912 2.861 2.799 2.724 2.635 2.533 2.414
31 0.320 0.321 0.322 0.325 0.329 0.335 0.342 0.351 0.362 0.376 0.393 31 3.124 3.119 3.102 3.074 3.036 2.985 2.923 2.848 2.761 2.659 2.542
32 0.307 0.308 0.309 0.312 0.316 0.321 0.328 0.336 0.346 0.358 0.374 32 3.255 3.249 3.233 3.205 3.166 3.116 3.053 2.979 2.892 2.791 2.675
33 0.295 0.295 0.297 0.299 0.303 0.307 0.313 0.321 0.330 0.342 0.355 33 3.392 3.387 3.370 3.342 3.303 3.253 3.190 3.116 3.029 2.928 2.813
34 0.283 0.283 0.285 0.287 0.290 0.294 0.300 0.307 0.315 0.325 0.338 34 3.537 3.532 3.515 3.487 3.448 3.397 3.335 3.260 3.173 3.072 2.958
35 0.271 0.271 0.273 0.275 0.278 0.282 0.287 0.293 0.301 0.310 0.322 35 3.690 3.685 3.668 3.640 3.600 3.549 3.486 3.412 3.324 3.224 3.109
36 0.260 0.260 0.261 0.263 0.266 0.270 0.274 0.280 0.287 0.296 0.306 36 3.852 3.846 3.829 3.801 3.761 3.710 3.647 3.571 3.483 3.383 3.268
37 0.249 0.249 0.250 0.252 0.254 0.258 0.262 0.267 0.274 0.282 0.291 37 4.023 4.017 4.000 3.971 3.931 3.879 3.816 3.740 3.651 3.550 3.435
38 0.238 0.238 0.239 0.241 0.243 0.246 0.250 0.255 0.261 0.268 0.277 38 4.204 4.198 4.181 4.152 4.111 4.059 3.995 3.918 3.829 3.727 3.611
39 0.228 0.228 0.229 0.230 0.232 0.235 0.239 0.244 0.249 0.256 0.263 39 4.395 4.390 4.372 4.343 4.302 4.249 4.184 4.106 4.016 3.913 3.797
40 0.217 0.218 0.219 0.220 0.222 0.225 0.228 0.232 0.237 0.243 0.250 40 4.599 4.593 4.575 4.546 4.504 4.450 4.384 4.306 4.215 4.111 3.993
Wall friction

Coulombs method for walls with inclined back, inclined backfill and
friction.

Active Case

Passive Case
Ref: B. M. Das (2007)
Wall friction

Simplified solution for Coulombs graphical method for lateral

earth pressure for walls with inclined back, inclined backfill
and friction.

Ref: B. M. Das (2007)

Active earth pressure coefficients for a rough wall with inclined backfill

d/f 0.667

f ()
20 0.438 0.474 0.524 0.604 0.907 0.474 0.515 0.570 0.659 0.990 0.514 0.560 0.623 0.721 1.089 0.559 0.612 0.683 0.795 1.208 0.611 0.672 0.754 0.882 1.355
21 0.421 0.455 0.501 0.572 0.736 0.457 0.496 0.548 0.626 0.807 0.498 0.542 0.600 0.689 0.890 0.544 0.594 0.661 0.761 0.989 0.596 0.655 0.732 0.847 1.109
22 0.405 0.437 0.480 0.543 0.670 0.442 0.478 0.526 0.597 0.738 0.483 0.524 0.579 0.659 0.817 0.529 0.577 0.639 0.731 0.911 0.581 0.637 0.710 0.816 1.023
23 0.390 0.420 0.459 0.516 0.621 0.427 0.461 0.506 0.570 0.687 0.468 0.507 0.558 0.631 0.764 0.514 0.560 0.619 0.703 0.854 0.567 0.621 0.690 0.787 0.962
24 0.375 0.403 0.440 0.491 0.581 0.412 0.444 0.486 0.545 0.645 0.453 0.491 0.539 0.606 0.720 0.500 0.544 0.599 0.677 0.807 0.553 0.605 0.670 0.761 0.913
25 0.361 0.387 0.421 0.468 0.546 0.398 0.429 0.467 0.521 0.609 0.440 0.475 0.520 0.582 0.682 0.486 0.528 0.581 0.652 0.768 0.540 0.589 0.651 0.736 0.870
26 0.347 0.372 0.403 0.446 0.514 0.385 0.413 0.450 0.499 0.576 0.426 0.460 0.502 0.559 0.648 0.473 0.513 0.563 0.629 0.732 0.527 0.575 0.633 0.712 0.833
27 0.334 0.357 0.386 0.426 0.486 0.371 0.399 0.433 0.478 0.547 0.413 0.445 0.485 0.538 0.618 0.460 0.498 0.545 0.608 0.701 0.515 0.560 0.616 0.690 0.800
28 0.321 0.343 0.370 0.406 0.460 0.359 0.385 0.416 0.458 0.521 0.401 0.431 0.469 0.518 0.590 0.448 0.484 0.529 0.587 0.671 0.503 0.546 0.599 0.668 0.769
29 0.309 0.330 0.355 0.388 0.436 0.347 0.371 0.401 0.440 0.496 0.389 0.417 0.453 0.499 0.564 0.436 0.471 0.513 0.567 0.645 0.491 0.533 0.583 0.648 0.741
30 0.297 0.316 0.340 0.371 0.414 0.335 0.358 0.386 0.422 0.473 0.377 0.404 0.438 0.480 0.540 0.425 0.458 0.497 0.548 0.620 0.479 0.519 0.568 0.629 0.714
31 0.286 0.304 0.326 0.354 0.394 0.324 0.345 0.371 0.405 0.451 0.366 0.392 0.423 0.463 0.518 0.413 0.445 0.483 0.530 0.596 0.468 0.507 0.553 0.611 0.690
32 0.275 0.292 0.312 0.338 0.374 0.313 0.333 0.357 0.389 0.431 0.355 0.379 0.409 0.446 0.497 0.402 0.432 0.468 0.513 0.574 0.457 0.494 0.538 0.593 0.667
33 0.264 0.280 0.299 0.323 0.356 0.302 0.321 0.344 0.373 0.412 0.344 0.367 0.395 0.430 0.477 0.392 0.420 0.454 0.497 0.553 0.447 0.482 0.524 0.576 0.645
34 0.254 0.269 0.287 0.309 0.339 0.292 0.310 0.331 0.358 0.394 0.334 0.356 0.382 0.415 0.458 0.381 0.409 0.441 0.481 0.534 0.437 0.471 0.511 0.560 0.624
35 0.244 0.258 0.275 0.295 0.323 0.282 0.299 0.319 0.344 0.377 0.323 0.345 0.370 0.400 0.440 0.371 0.397 0.428 0.466 0.515 0.427 0.459 0.498 0.544 0.604
36 0.235 0.248 0.263 0.282 0.307 0.272 0.288 0.307 0.331 0.361 0.314 0.334 0.357 0.386 0.423 0.362 0.387 0.416 0.451 0.497 0.417 0.448 0.485 0.529 0.586
37 0.226 0.238 0.252 0.270 0.293 0.263 0.278 0.296 0.317 0.345 0.304 0.323 0.346 0.373 0.407 0.352 0.376 0.404 0.437 0.480 0.408 0.438 0.473 0.515 0.568
38 0.217 0.228 0.242 0.258 0.279 0.253 0.268 0.285 0.305 0.331 0.295 0.313 0.334 0.360 0.392 0.343 0.366 0.392 0.424 0.464 0.398 0.427 0.461 0.501 0.551
39 0.208 0.219 0.231 0.246 0.265 0.245 0.258 0.274 0.293 0.317 0.286 0.303 0.323 0.347 0.377 0.334 0.356 0.381 0.411 0.448 0.389 0.417 0.449 0.487 0.534
40 0.200 0.210 0.221 0.235 0.253 0.236 0.249 0.264 0.281 0.303 0.277 0.294 0.312 0.335 0.363 0.325 0.346 0.370 0.398 0.433 0.381 0.407 0.438 0.474 0.518
Passive earth pressure coefficients for a rough wall with inclined backfill

d/f 0.100

f ()
20 2.144 2.444 2.780 3.167 3.626 2.016 2.288 2.586 2.922 3.310 1.921 2.174 2.445 2.746 3.085 1.854 2.093 2.348 2.624 2.930 1.810 2.043 2.287 2.547 2.831
21 2.233 2.554 2.916 3.337 3.842 2.093 2.381 2.701 3.064 3.487 1.987 2.254 2.544 2.866 3.234 1.912 2.164 2.433 2.728 3.058 1.861 2.105 2.363 2.639 2.943
22 2.327 2.670 3.061 3.519 4.074 2.173 2.479 2.822 3.214 3.676 2.057 2.338 2.647 2.993 3.391 1.972 2.237 2.523 2.838 3.192 1.915 2.170 2.442 2.736 3.061
23 2.426 2.793 3.214 3.713 4.324 2.256 2.583 2.950 3.373 3.877 2.129 2.426 2.755 3.127 3.558 2.035 2.314 2.617 2.953 3.334 1.970 2.238 2.524 2.836 3.184
24 2.530 2.922 3.377 3.921 4.593 2.344 2.691 3.085 3.543 4.092 2.204 2.519 2.869 3.269 3.735 2.100 2.394 2.715 3.074 3.484 2.027 2.308 2.610 2.942 3.313
25 2.640 3.060 3.551 4.144 4.885 2.437 2.805 3.227 3.723 4.323 2.282 2.616 2.989 3.419 3.924 2.168 2.477 2.818 3.201 3.642 2.087 2.381 2.699 3.052 3.449
26 2.756 3.206 3.737 4.384 5.200 2.533 2.926 3.379 3.915 4.570 2.365 2.717 3.116 3.577 4.124 2.239 2.564 2.925 3.335 3.809 2.149 2.457 2.793 3.167 3.592
27 2.878 3.360 3.935 4.641 5.542 2.635 3.053 3.539 4.120 4.836 2.451 2.824 3.249 3.745 4.338 2.313 2.656 3.039 3.476 3.986 2.213 2.536 2.891 3.288 3.743
28 3.008 3.525 4.146 4.918 5.915 2.742 3.188 3.710 4.339 5.122 2.541 2.936 3.390 3.923 4.567 2.390 2.751 3.157 3.625 4.174 2.280 2.618 2.993 3.415 3.901
29 3.145 3.699 4.373 5.218 6.321 2.855 3.330 3.891 4.574 5.431 2.635 3.055 3.539 4.113 4.811 2.470 2.851 3.282 3.782 4.373 2.349 2.704 3.100 3.549 4.069
30 3.290 3.886 4.616 5.542 6.764 2.973 3.480 4.084 4.825 5.765 2.734 3.179 3.696 4.314 5.072 2.554 2.956 3.414 3.948 4.586 2.422 2.794 3.212 3.689 4.245
31 3.444 4.085 4.877 5.893 7.250 3.099 3.640 4.290 5.095 6.126 2.838 3.310 3.863 4.529 5.353 2.642 3.066 3.552 4.124 4.811 2.497 2.888 3.329 3.837 4.433
32 3.607 4.297 5.158 6.274 7.784 3.231 3.809 4.510 5.385 6.519 2.947 3.448 4.040 4.758 5.655 2.734 3.181 3.698 4.310 5.052 2.575 2.986 3.453 3.992 4.631
33 3.780 4.524 5.461 6.689 8.373 3.371 3.989 4.745 5.697 6.945 3.062 3.594 4.228 5.003 5.980 2.830 3.302 3.853 4.508 5.309 2.657 3.089 3.582 4.157 4.841
34 3.965 4.768 5.789 7.141 9.023 3.518 4.180 4.996 6.035 7.411 3.183 3.749 4.428 5.265 6.330 2.931 3.430 4.016 4.718 5.584 2.742 3.196 3.718 4.330 5.064
35 4.162 5.029 6.143 7.636 9.745 3.675 4.384 5.266 6.400 7.920 3.310 3.912 4.640 5.546 6.709 3.036 3.564 4.188 4.942 5.879 2.831 3.309 3.861 4.513 5.302
36 4.372 5.309 6.527 8.179 10.548 3.841 4.601 5.556 6.796 8.478 3.444 4.086 4.867 5.847 7.120 3.147 3.706 4.370 5.180 6.195 2.924 3.427 4.012 4.707 5.554
37 4.597 5.612 6.944 8.776 11.445 4.017 4.833 5.868 7.225 9.091 3.586 4.269 5.109 6.171 7.566 3.263 3.855 4.564 5.434 6.535 3.021 3.551 4.171 4.913 5.824
38 4.837 5.938 7.399 9.435 12.451 4.204 5.082 6.204 7.693 9.767 3.735 4.465 5.367 6.521 8.051 3.385 4.013 4.769 5.706 6.901 3.123 3.681 4.339 5.131 6.111
39 5.094 6.290 7.896 10.164 13.586 4.403 5.348 6.567 8.204 10.515 3.893 4.672 5.644 6.898 8.580 3.514 4.179 4.988 5.996 7.296 3.229 3.818 4.516 5.363 6.419
40 5.370 6.671 8.439 10.973 14.870 4.615 5.633 6.960 8.763 11.345 4.061 4.893 5.941 7.306 9.159 3.649 4.355 5.220 6.308 7.724 3.341 3.962 4.703 5.609 6.749