Geosynthetics & Reinforced Soil Structures

Online Certification Course, IIT Madras

January – April 2017
External and Internal Stability of Soil Walls

1. What are the different modes of failure considered in external stability analysis of
reinforced soil walls?
a. Lateral sliding
b. Overturning about toe
c. Bearing failure
d. Global slip circle failure

2. The length of reinforced block in reinforced soil walls is related to,

a. External stability calculations
b. Rupture failure of reinforcement
c. Depends on vertical spacing of reinforcement layers
d. Foundation soil characteristics

3. The resultant of self-weight lateral forces will act at a height of ____ above the base
of the wall,
a. H/2
b. H/3
c. H/4
d. H/5

4. For the external stability calculations, the reinforced block is treated as,
a. Flexible block
b. Rigid block
c. Rotating block
d. Sliding block

5. Which of the theories considers the influence of wall friction on lateral earth pressures
a. Rankine’s original theory
b. Rankine’s modified theory
c. Coulomb’s theory
d. None of the above

6. Design height of the reinforced soil retaining wall is,

a. From top of the levelling pad to the top of the wall
b. From the bottom of levelling pad to the top of the wall
c. From the ground surface to top of the wall
d. Depends on the slope of ground in front of wall

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Answer the Questions 7-16 with respect to the data provided below.
A 10 m high wall supports soil with horizontal surface. The properties of the backfill soil are
c=0, =33 and =20 kN/m3. The initial length of the reinforced soil block was assumed as 6
m. The permanent and live load surcharge on the soil are 15 kPa and 23 kPa respectively.
The foundation soil has properties of c=25 kPa and =40 and =20 kN/m3.
7. What is the total lateral force for the design?
a. 208.45 kN/m
b. 406.82 kN/m
c. 435.86 kN/m
d. 1379.85 kN/m

8. What is the factor of safety against lateral sliding of the reinforced soil block?
a. 1.28
b. 1.19
c. 1.59
d. 1. 75

9. What is the over turning moment on the wall?

a. 1972.46 kN-m/m
b. 982.67 kN-m/m
c. 1321.86 kN-m/m
d. 1542.79 kN-m/m

10. What is the factor of safety against overturning failure?

a. 2.76
b. 3.32
c. 2.50
d. 2.86

11. What is the minimum allowable bearing pressure required for the foundation soil to
prevent excessive settlements and bearing capacity failure (as per Meyerhoff’s
theory)?
a. 371.95 kPa
b. 386.52 kPa
c. 295.52 kPa
d. 312.00 kPa

12. In the above calculation, is the resultant force on the foundation soil within the
allowable limits? (assume that the foundation layer consists of soil)
a. Yes
b. No
c. Cannot say
d. Not relevant to design calculations.

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13. It is proposed to construct the above structure in the Himalayan region which falls in
Seismic Zone-V. Assume that the foundation consists of rocky strata. The period of
vibration may be assumed as 2 seconds. The ratio I/R may be taken as unity. What is
the seismic acceleration factor within the reinforced soil?
a. 0.09
b. 0.17
c. 0.075
d. 0.25

14. Lateral force is applied on the crest of a reinforced soil retaining wall at a distance of
2.5 m behind the wall. The width of the footing is 1.5m. If the friction angle of the
reinforced soil is 32, up to what depth will the effect of the lateral force spread?
a. 2.08 m
b. 4.51 m
c. 5.86 m
d. 2.5 m

15. If the seismic acceleration factor in reinforced soil fill is 0.15, what is the additional
seismic force to be considered for the external stability calculations as per FHWA?
a. 206.22 kN/m
b. 262.45 kN/m
c. 187.45 kN/m
d. 212.5 kN/m

16. What is the additional overturning moment due to the seismic forces as per FHWA?
a. 1250.35 kN-m/m
b. 1087.35 kN-m/m
c. 1424.73 kN-m/m
d. 1312.25 kN-m/m

17. If the seismic acceleration factor in reinforced soil fill is 0.15, what is the inertial
force to be considered for internal stability calculations for the data in Problem 7?
Assume that the reinforcement layers are of flexible type.

a. 93.65 kN/m
b. 112.37 kN/m
c. 81.43 kN/m
d. 53.42 kN/m

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18. The height of a reinforced soil wall is 8 m. The friction angle of the reinforced soil
fill is 35. The reinforcement is flexible geogrids. The seismic inertial force for this
wall is 150 kN/m. The net sum of all anchorage lengths of all the reinforcement
layers is 98.7 m. The top most reinforcement layer is of 6 m length and is at a depth
of 0.3 m from the top. What is the seismic inertial force transferred into this layer.

a. 3.03 kN/m
b. 6.5 kN/m
c. 7.25 kN/m
d. 8.19 kN/m

19. A reinforced soil retaining wall is supported by steel strips which are placed at
horizontal and vertical spacings of 0.5 m and 0.75 m. The particular steel strip is at a
depth of 9 m from the top of the wall. The vertical pressure at this depth is 345 kPa.
The friction angle of the reinforced soil is 35. What is the tensile force transmitted to
this particular reinforcement layer?

a. 55.2 kN
b. 35.1 kN
c. 70.2 kN
d. 110.4 kN

20. In a 8m high reinforced soil retaining wall, the length of the top most reinforcement
layer is 6m. This layer is at 0.3 m depth below the surface. The friction angle of the
soil is 35. Normal pressure at this depth is 30.5 kPa. The coefficient of pullout
interaction parameter is 0.60. The width of the reinforcement strip is 70 mm. What is
the pullout capacity of this layer?

a. 7.14 kN
b. 3.57 kN
c. 1.79 kN
d. 5.95 kN

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