RETAINING WALLS

Typical Angle of Repose Values for Various Soil Types

What is a retaining wall?

• Retaining wall is a structure that are designed and constructed to

withstand lateral pressure of soil or hold back soil materials. The
lateral pressure could be also due to earth filling, liquid pressure,
sand, and other granular materials behind the retaining wall
structure. There are various types of retaining wall structures which
are used for numerous goals.
Types of Retaining Walls

• Gravity Retaining Wall

• Crib Retaining Wall
• Gabion Retaining Walls
• Cantilever Retaining Wall
• Counter-fort / Buttressed Retaining Wall
• Anchored Retaining Wall
• Piled Retaining Wall
• Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) Retaining wall
• Hybrid Systems
Gravity Retaining Wall
• Gravity retaining wall depends on its self weight only to resist lateral earth
pressure.
• Commonly, gravity retaining wall is massive because it requires significant
gravity load to counter act soil pressure.
• Sliding, overturning, and bearing forces shall be taken into consideration
while this type of retaining wall structure is designed.
• It can be constructed from different materials such as concrete, stone, and
masonry units.
• It is economical for a height up to 3m.
• Crib retaining wall, gabions, and bin retaining wall are also type of gravity
retaining walls
2. Crib Retaining Wall
• Crib retaining walls are a form of gravity wall.
• They are constructed of interlocking individual boxes made from
timber or pre-cast concrete.
• Then, the boxes are filled with crushed stone or other coarse granular
materials to create a free draining structure.
• Basic types of crib retaining walls include reinforced precast, and
timber retaining walls.
• It is suited to support planter areas, but it is not recommended for
support of slopes or structures.
Fig. 4: Crib retaining wall Fig. 5: Timber Crib retaining wall
3. Gabion Retaining Walls

• Gabion retaining wall walls are multi-celled, rectangular wire mesh

boxes, which are filled with rocks or other suitable materials.
• It is employed for construction of erosion control structures.
• It is also used to stabilize steep slopes.
Fig. 6: Gabion retaining wall
4. Cantilever Retaining Wall
• Cantilever retaining wall composed of stem and base slab
• It is constructed from reinforced concrete, precast concrete, or prestress
concrete.
• Cantilever retaining wall is the most common type used as retaining walls.
• Cantilever retaining wall is either constructed on site or prefabricated
offsite i.e. precast.
• The portion of the base slab beneath backfill material is termed as heel,
and the other part is called toe.
• Cantilever retaining wall is economical up to height of 10m.
• It requires smaller quantity of concrete compare with gravity wall but its
design and construction shall be executed carefully.
• Similar to gravity wall, sliding, overturning, and bearing pressure shall be
taken into consideration during its design.
Fig.7: Cantilever retaining wall Fig. 8: Precast retaining wall
 Fig. 10: Different configuration for cantilever
retaining wall
Fig. 9: Different pressure on cantilever retaining wall
5. Counter-fort / Buttressed Retaining Wall

• It is a cantilever retaining wall but strengthened with counter forts

monolithic with the back of the wall slab and base slab.
• Counter fort spacing is equal or slightly larger than half of the
counter-fort height.
• Counter-fort wall height ranges from 8-12m.
Fig. 11: Counter-fort or buttress retaining wall
6. Anchored Retaining Wall

• This type of retaining wall is employed when the space is limited or

thin retaining wall is required.
• Anchored retaining wall is suitable for loose soil over rocks.
• Considerably high retaining wall can be constructed using this type of
retaining wall structure system.
• deep cable rods or wires are driven deep sideways into the earth,
then the ends are filled with concrete to provide anchor.
• Anchors (tiebacks) acts against overturning and sliding pressure.
Fig. 12: Anchored retaining wall
Fig. 13: Different configuration for anchored retaining wall
Fig. 14: pile retaining wall Fig. 15: Temporary pile retaining wall
7. Piled Retaining Wall
• Pile retaining wall are constructed by driving reinforced concrete piles
adjacent to each other as shown in the Fig.
• Piles are forced into a depth that is sufficient to counter the force
which tries to push over the wall.
• It is employed in both temporary and permanent works.
• Piled walls offer high stiffness retaining elements which are able to
hold lateral pressure in large excavation depths with almost no
disturbance to surrounding structures or properties.
• Sheet pile walls are built using steel sheets into a slope or excavations
up to a required depth, but it cannot withstand very high pressure
• Sheet pile retaining wall economical till height of 6m
Fig. 16: Sheet pile retaining wall
8. Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE)
Retaining wall
• It is among the most economical and most commonly constructed
retaining walls.
• Mechanically stabilized earth retaining wall is supported by selected
fills (granular) and held together by reinforcements, which can be
either metallic strips or plastic meshes
• Types of MSE retaining wall include panel, concrete block, and
temporary earth retaining walls.
•
Fig. 17: Mechanically stabilized earth retaining wall
9. Hybrid Systems

• Retaining walls that use both mass and reinforcement for stability are
termed as Hybrid or Composite retaining wall systems.
Fig. 18: Hybrid retaining wall system