Earth pressure on an unloading-type sheet-pile: High-pile beam-slab wharf structure

Abstract

This study analyzes a new wharf structure using a method to calculate earth pressure on a covered type sheet-pile wharf. The earth pressure on the riverside of the sheet pile and the landside of the concrete compresol pile is calculated using the earth pressure theories of Coulomb and Rankine. The earth pressure of the landside of the sheet pile and riverside of the concrete compresol pile is deduced by considering the soil arching and plate-unloading effects and a parallel walls theory. To analyze the distribution of earth pressure on the unloading sheet-pile, geotechnical-centrifuge model tests were conducted to validate the design structure of the newly reconstructed wharf structure. The test results show that the earth pressure on the riverside of the sheet pile is high at the end of the wall, decreases slightly, initially, with the increase in the depth, and then increases rapidly. However, the earth pressure on the landside of the sheet-pile initially increases to a maximum with depth and then decreases slowly with depth. With the increase in depth, the earth pressure on the riverside of the concrete compresol pile increases, while that on the landside of the concrete compresol pile first increases and then decreases.