Purpose of calculation:

The details of a cantilever retaining wall are shown below, is the design of the wall satisfactory?

Calculation Reference
Craig Soil Mechanics. R.F. Craig

Calculation Validation
Check against a worked example in the reference above.

Calculation Units SI 2
Q

t w h 1

b
Surcharge Pressure
Q= 10000 N/m
Thickness of the Stem
t1 = 0.3 m
Thickness of the Base
t2 = 0.4 m
Length of Backfill
w1 = 1.75 m
Height of Wall from the Base
h1 = 5.4 m
Width of the Base
b1 = 3m
Characteristics of Backfill
Drained (effective stress) Shear Strength Parameter
c'= 0 N/m
Unit Weight of the backfill
= 17000 N/m
Drained (effective stress) Shear Strength Parameter
' = 36
Characteristics of Concrete
Unit Weight of Concrete
concrete = 23500 N/m
Angle of friction between the base and the foundation soil is
= 27
Active earth pressure coefficient
Ka = #ADDIN? = 1 - sin[{p } / 180]
### [Eqn. 1]
'

1 + sin[{p'} / 180]
Horizontal Forces
FH1 = #ADDIN? N = KaQh1 [Eqn. 2]
###

FH2 = #ADDIN? N = 0.5Kah12 [Eqn. 3]

###
Sum of Horizontal Forces
FH = #ADDIN? N = FH1 + FH2 [Eqn. 4]
###
Vertical Forces
Fstem = 35250 N ###= (h1 - t2)t1 concrete [Eqn. 5]

Fbase = 28200 N ###= t2b1 concrete [Eqn. 6]

Fsoil = 148750 N = (h1 - t2)w1 [Eqn. 7]

###
Sum of Vertical Forces
FV = 212200 N ###= Fsoil + Fbase + Fstem [Eqn. 8]
Lever
LH1 = #ADDIN? m = h1
### [Eqn. 9]
2
LH2 = #ADDIN? m = h1
### [Eqn. 10]
3
Lstem = #ADDIN? m ### 1 - w1 - t1 [Eqn. 11]
= b
2
Lbase = #ADDIN? m = b
### 1 [Eqn. 12]
2
Lsoil = #ADDIN? m = w1 + (b1 - w1) [Eqn. 13]
###
Moments 2
= FH1LH1 [Eqn. 14]
MH1 = #ADDIN? N.m ###

MH2 = #ADDIN? N.m ###

MH = #ADDIN? N.m ###

= FstemLstem [Eqn. 17]

Mstem = #ADDIN? N.m ###

= FbaseLbase [Eqn. 18]

Mbase = #ADDIN? N.m ###

= FsoilLsoil [Eqn. 19]

Msoil = #ADDIN? N.m ###

MV = #ADDIN? N.m ###= Mstem + Mbase + Msoil [Eqn. 20]

= MV - MH [Eqn. 21]
M = #ADDIN? N.m ###

Lever arm of base resultant

L = #ADDIN? m = M
### [Eqn. 22] Note, the resultant acts within the middle third of the base
FoS against overturning FV
FoS = #ADDIN? = MV
### [Eqn. 23]
Eccentricity of base reaction MH
 e = #ADDIN? m = b1 - L [Eqn. 24]
###
2
Maximum and minimum base pressures
= FV
pmax = #ADDIN? N/m ### 1 + 6e [Eqn. 25]
b1 b1
= FV
pmin = #ADDIN? N/m ### 1 - 6e [Eqn. 26]
b1 b1
FoS against sliding
FoS = #ADDIN? = F tan[{p} / 180]
### [Eqn. 27]
V
FH

#ADDIN?
Table of compatible units
Length Area Volume Time Angle Mass Velocity Acceleration
Fundamental m m m s kg m/s m/s
SI m m m s kg m/s m/s
SI (mm) mm mm mm s g mm/s mm/s
US Unit (ft) ft ft ft s slug ft/s ft/s
US Unit (in) in in in s lbf.s/in in/s in/s
Force Unit Weight Moment LDForce Work Energy Power Density Stress
kg.m/s N/m N.m kg/s kg.m/s.m kg.m/s.m kg.m/s kg/m kg/m.s
N N/m N.m N/m J J W kg/m N/m
N N/mm N.mm N/mm mJ mJ mW g/mm MPa
lbf lbf/ft lbf.ft lbf/f f.lb f.lb f.lb/s slug/f lbf/f
lbf lbf/in lbf.in lbf/in in.lbf in.lbf in.lbf/s lbf.s/in psi
x along length

Page 6