What is Lateral Earth Pressure?

Related Links:

What Retaining Walls Do

General Retaining Wall Design

Building Codes for Retaining Walls

What is Lateral Earth Pressure?

Gravity Retaining Walls

Semi-Gravity Retaining Walls

Cantilever Retaining Walls

Counterfort Retaining Walls

Monolithic Concrete Retaining Wall Proportions

Provisions for Joints in the Construction of Walls

Backfill Drainage of Retaining Walls

Decorative Poured Concrete Walls

Groundwork and Compaction: Important Issues

Designing any retaining wall requires knowledge of lateral earth pressure, the pressure developed by the backfill.

It is the force generated by the lateral earth pressure that constitutes a large part of the load that the wall must carry.

To determine the lateral earth pressure acting against the retaining wall, several soil parameters must be known in order for the qualified engineer to assess a particular wall design and its overall stability. These basic soil parameters include:

  • Soil unit weight
  • Angle of internal friction (for sands)
  • Cohesion and plasticity indices (for clays)
  • The water table location.

Once the lateral earth pressures are known, the wall is checked for stability. This includes checks for wall overturning, base sliding, and soil bearing capacity failures. After the wall is sized, each wall member is checked for adequate strength and steel reinforcing is determined.

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