Retaining walls with relief shelves

Hany F Shehata

doi:10.1007/s41062-016-0007-x

Abstract

Cantilever retaining wall with pressure relief shelves is considered as a special type of retaining wall. The concept of providing pressure relief shelves on the backfill side of a retaining wall reduces the total earth pressure on the wall, which results in a reduced thickness of the wall and ultimately in an economic design of a cantilever wall. A limited number of solutions and measurements can be found for this type of wall in the literature. The shapes of the measured earth pressure distributions differ among studies because the model scales were different; for example, the wall during one measurement was permitted to move but was not permitted to move in the other measurements. This paper presents a Finite Element analysis of this type of wall using PLAXIS2D-AE.01. The reduced total active earth pressure due to the provisioning of shelves is depicted. It was found that the shelves had a significant effect on the resulting earth pressure distribution. The distribution approximately followed the distribution of the solution by Klein (Calculation of retaining walls (in Russian). Vysshaya Shkola, Moscow, 2014). It also followed the shape of the measurements of Yakovlev (Experimental investigation of earth pressure on walls with two platforms in the case of breaking loads relieving on the backfill. Odessa Institute of Naval Engineers, pp 7–9, 1974). A parametric study was conducted to enable a discussion of the effects of the number of shelves, shelf rigidity, and shelf position on the resulting distribution of the lateral earth pressure, wall top movement, and acting maximum flexural moment of the wall. For high retaining walls and for some repair systems for constructed walls that have problems with stability, it is recommended to provide the cantilever wall with a shelf at a third of the wall height from the top of the wall or more shelves at different levels. Suggested updates are provided to enhance the manual solution of Klein in the calculation of the acting maximum bending moment of the wall.

Highlights

Retaining walls are constructed to sustain the lateral pressure of the earth behind them
It was shown that few researchers have studied this special type
Page 13 of 13 4 fixed-hinged supported shelf, of the shelf is considered during the calculation of the acting maximum moment on the wall

Summary

Introduction

Retaining walls are constructed to sustain the lateral pressure of the earth behind them. Earth-retaining structures include cantilever retaining walls, sheet pilings, bulkheads, basement walls, and special types of retaining walls. Retaining walls with relief shelves can be considered as a special type of retaining walls. High cantilever retaining walls may be the most economical solution, according to the study case, when relief shelves are added on the backfill side of the wall. Such walls are called Retaining Walls with relief shelves. The relief shelves have the advantages of decreasing the acting lateral earth pressure and increasing the overall stability of the retaining wall. If there is a construction near the wall and if

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