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University of Anbar
Engineering College
Civil Engineering Department

Chapter THREE
retaining walls

Lecture
Dr. Ahmed Hazim Abdulkareem

2023-2024

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3.1 Introduction
A retaining wall is a wall that provides lateral support for a vertical or
near-vertical slope of soil. It is a common structure used in many
construction projects. The most common types of retaining wall may be
classified as follows:
1. Gravity retaining walls
2. Semigravity retaining walls
3. Cantilever retaining walls
4. Counterfort retaining walls
 Gravity retaining walls (Figure 3.1a) are constructed with plain
concrete or stone masonry. They depend for stability on their own
weight and any soil resting on the masonry. This type of
construction is not economical for high walls.
 In many cases, a small amount of steel may be used for the
construction of gravity walls, thereby minimizing the size of wall
sections. Such walls are generally referred to as semigravity walls
(Figure 3.1b).
 Cantilever retaining walls (Figure 3.1c) are made of reinforced
concrete that consists of a thin stem and a base slab. This type of
wall is economical to a height of about 8 m as Figure (3.2).
 Counterfort retaining walls (Figure 3.1d) are similar to cantilever
walls. At regular intervals, however, they have thin vertical concrete
slabs known as counterforts that tie the wall and the base slab
together. The purpose of the counterforts is to reduce the shear and
the bending moments.

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 To design retaining walls properly, an engineer must know the basic

parameters— the unit weight, angle of friction, and cohesion—of the
soil retained behind the wall and the soil below the base slab.
Knowing the properties of the soil behind the wall enables the
engineer to determine the lateral pressure distribution that has to be
designed for.

 There are two phases in the design of a conventional retaining wall.

First, with the lateral earth pressure known, the structure as a whole
is checked for stability. The structure is examined for possible
overturning, sliding, and bearing capacity failures. Second, each
component of the structure is checked for strength, and the steel
reinforcement of each component is determined.

 This chapter presents the procedures for determination of lateral

earth pressure and retaining-wall stability.

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Figure 3.1 Types of retaining wal

Figure 3.2 A cantilever retaining wall under construction

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3.2 Gravity and Cantilever Walls

3.2.1 Proportioning Retaining Walls
 In designing retaining walls, an engineer must assume some of their
dimensions. Called proportioning, such assumptions allow the engineer
to check trial sections of the walls for stability. If the stability checks
yield undesirable results, the sections can be changed and rechecked.
Figure 3.3 shows the general proportions of various retaining-wall
components that can be used for initial checks.
 Note that the top of the stem of any retaining wall should not be less than
about 0.3 m. for proper placement of concrete. The depth, D, to the
bottom of the base slab should be a minimum of 0.6m. However, the
bottom of the base slab should be positioned below the seasonal frost
line.
 For counterfort retaining walls, the general proportion of the stem and
the base slab is the same as for cantilever walls. However, the counterfort
slabs may be about 0.3 m thick and spaced at center-to-center distances
of 0.3H to 0.7H.

Figure 3.3 Approximate dimensions for various components of retaining wall for
initial stability checks: (a) gravity wall; (b) cantilever wall

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3.3 Application of Lateral Earth Pressure Theories to Design

The fundamental theories for calculating lateral earth pressure were presented in
Chapter 2. To use these theories in design, an engineer must make several simple
assumptions. In the case of cantilever walls, the use of the Rankine earth pressure
theory for stability checks involves drawing a vertical line AB through point A,
located at the edge of the heel of the base slab in Figure 3.4a. The Rankine active
condition is assumed to exist along the vertical plane AB. Rankine active earth
pressure equations may then be used to calculate the lateral pressure on the face AB
of the wall. In the analysis of the wall’s stability, the force Pa(Rankine) , the weight of
soil above the heel, and the weight Wc of the concrete all should be taken into
consideration. The assumption for the development of Rankine active pressure along
the soil face AB is theoretically correct if the shear zone bounded by the line AC is
not obstructed by the stem of the wall. The angle, h, that the line AC makes with the
vertical is

(3-1)

A similar type of analysis may be used for gravity walls, as shown in Figure 3.4b.
However, Coulomb’s active earth pressure theory also may be used, as shown in
Figure 3.4c. If it is used, the only forces to be considered are Pa(Coulomb) and the weight
of the wall, Wc.

Figure 3.4 Assumption for the determination of lateral earth pressure: (a) cantilever
wall; (b) and (c) gravity wall

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Figure 3.4 (continued)

 If Coulomb’s theory is used, it will be necessary to know the range of the wall
friction angle ' with various types of backfill material. Following are some
ranges of wall friction angle for masonry or mass concrete walls:

 In the case of ordinary retaining walls, water table problems and hence
hydrostatic pressure are not encountered. Facilities for drainage from the soils
that are retained are always provided.

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3.4 Stability of Retaining Walls
A retaining wall may fail in any of the following ways:
● It may overturn about its toe. (See Figure 3.5a.)
● It may slide along its base. (See Figure 3.5b.)
● It may fail due to the loss of bearing capacity of the soil supporting the base. (See
Figure 3.5c.)
● It may undergo deep-seated shear failure. (See Figure 3.5d.)
● It may go through excessive settlement.
 The checks for stability against overturning, sliding, and bearing capacity
failure will be described in Sections 3.5, 3.6, and 3.7. When a weak soil layer
is located at a shallow depth—that is, within a depth of 1.5 times the width of
the base slab of the retaining wall—the possibility of excessive settlement
should be considered. In some cases, the use of lightweight backfill material
behind the retaining wall may solve the problem.
 Deep shear failure can occur along a cylindrical surface, such as abc shown in
Figure 3.6, as a result of the existence of a weak layer of soil underneath the
wall at a depth of about 1.5 times the width of the base slab of the retaining
wall. In such cases, the critical cylindrical failure surface abc has to be
determined by trial and error, using various centers such as O. The failure
surface along which the minimum factor of safety is obtained is the critical
surface of sliding. For the backfill slope with  less than about 10o, the
critical failure circle apparently passes through the edge of the heel slab (such
as def in the figure). In this situation, the minimum factor of safety also has to
be determined by trial and error by changing the center of the trial circle.

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Figure 3.5 Failure of retaining wall: (a) by overturning; (b) by sliding;

(c) by bearing capacity failure; (d) by deep-seated shear failure

Figure 3.6 Deep-seated shear failure

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3.5 Check for Overturning
Figure 3.7 shows the forces acting on a cantilever and a gravity retaining wall, based
on the assumption that the Rankine active pressure is acting along a vertical plane AB
drawn through the heel of the structure. Pp is the Rankine passive pressure; recall that
its magnitude is

where
2= unit weight of soil in front of the heel and under the base slab
Kp = Rankine passive earth pressure coefficient 5 tan2s45 1 f92y2d
c2' , 2' = cohesion and effective soil friction angle, respectively

The factor of safety against overturning about the toe—that is, about point C in
Figure 3.7—may be expressed as

∑
∑
(3-2)

where
∑ = sum of the moments of forces tending to overturn about point C
∑ = sum of the moments of forces tending to resist overturning about point C

The overturning moment is

(3-3)

Where

To calculate the resisting moment, ∑ (neglecting Pp), a table such as Table 3.1
can be prepared. The weight of the soil above the heel and the weight of the concrete
(or masonry) are both forces that contribute to the resisting moment. Note that the
force Pv also contributes to the resisting moment. Pv is the vertical component of the
active force Pa , or

The moment of the force Pv about C is

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(3-4)

where B = width of the base slab.

Once ∑ is known, the factor of safety can be calculated as

(3-5)

Figure 3.7 Check for overturning, assuming that the

Rankine pressure is valid

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Table 3.1 Procedure for Calculating ∑

The usual minimum desirable value of the factor of safety with respect to
overturning is 2 to 3.
Some designers prefer to determine the factor of safety against overturning with the
formula

(3-6)

3.6 Check for Sliding along the Base

The factor of safety against sliding may be expressed by the equation

∑
∑
(3-7)

where
∑ = sum of the horizontal resisting forces
∑ = sum of the horizontal driving forces

Figure 3.8 indicates that the shear strength of the soil immediately below the base
slab may be represented as

where
' = angle of friction between the soil and the base slab
ca' = adhesion between the soil and the base slab

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

Thus, the maximum resisting force that can be derived from the soil per unit length of
the wall along the bottom of the base slab is

However,
(see Table 3.1)

Figure 3.8 Check for sliding along the base

Figure 3.8 shows that the passive force Pp is also a horizontal resisting force. Hence,

(3-8)

The only horizontal force that will tend to cause the wall to slide (a driving force) is
the horizontal component of the active force Pa , so
(3-9)

Combining Eqs. (3.7), (3.8), and (3.9) yields

(3-10)

A minimum factor of safety of 1.5 against sliding is generally required.

In many cases, the passive force Pp is ignored in calculating the factor of safety with
respect to sliding. In general, we can write ' =k12' and ca'=k2c2'. In most cases, k1 and
k2 are in the range from 1/2 to 2/3. Thus,

(3-11)

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Figure 3.9 Alternatives for increasing the factor of safety with respect to sliding

If the desired value of FS(sliding) is not achieved, several alternatives may be

investigated (see Figure 3.9):
● Increase the width of the base slab (i.e., the heel of the footing).
● Use a key to the base slab. If a key is included, the passive force per unit length of
the wall becomes

● Use a deadman anchor at the stem of the retaining wall.

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Example 3.1
The cross section of a cantilever retaining wall is shown in Figure 3.10. Calculate the
factors of safety with respect to overturning, sliding, and bearing capacity.

Figure 3.10 Calculation of stability of a retaining wall

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Example 3.2
A gravity retaining wall is shown in Figure 3.11. Use ’ = 2/3’
1and Coulomb’s
active earth pressure theory. Determine:
a. The factor of safety against overturning
b. The factor of safety against sliding
c. The pressure on the soil at the toe and heel

Figure 3.11 Gravity retaining wall

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Example 3.3
Refer to the gravity wall described in Example 3.2 and redo the problem
using Rankine active pressure.

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