Calculations of

Earth Pressure co-efficients

Examples & Exercises

Presented
by
Er. Baba Sharfuddin
Faculty member
WALAMTARI
Joined in Walamtari as
Faculty Member in cadre
of DEE
Worked in CE/CDO, as AEE & DEE,
dealing with Designs & Drawings
of Spillway DAM, Earth Dam, Weir,
CM & CD Structures of Major &
Medium Projects
Did Post-Graduation i.e
M-Tech(Structures) from
JNTU in 1994 on merit basis
under Govt. sponsorship
Worked in Jurala Project in
Construction Block of
Spillway Dam
Did B.E in Civil Engg.
in 1985
Worked as DEE in Designs Circle,
Pranahita-Chevella Project, dealing
with Alignment, HPs & CM & CD
Structures of Gravity Canals of Lift
Irrigation Schemes(Ongoing)
Worked in Spl. Designs Circle, dealing
with Designs & Drawings of
Jalasoudha Building
Worked in Investigation Wing dealing
with Preparation of DPR & attending
to CWC Comments for Clearance of
Major & Medium Projects
Joined I & CAD as AEE
in 1988
Er. Baba Sharfuddin
Faculty member
WALAMTARI
 Introduction
• Retaining walls are used to retain earth (or other
material) in a vertical position at locations where
an abrupt change in ground level occurs.
• The walls therefore prevents the retained earth
from assuming its natural angle of repose.
• BASICALLY EARTH RETAINING WALLS ARE
DESIGNED TO WITH STAND EARTH PRESSURE AS
PER TVA PROCEDURE BASED ON COULOMBS
THEORY.
 Backfill & Surcharge
• The material retained by the wall is generally
known as backfill. The backfill may be
horizontal i.e. levelled with the top of the wall
or it may be inclined at certain angle to the
top.
• The inclined fill is also known as surcharge.
Besides loads due to retained material, the
wing wall may also be subjected to surcharged
loads due to vehicles, rails etc. acting directly
on the wall as well as on the back fill
 Backfill & Surcharge
• The position of the backfill lying above the
horizontal plane at the elevation of top of wall
is called surcharge & its inclination to the
horizontal is called as Surcharge angle.
 Gravity Walls
• The “gravity wall” resist
the earth pressure
exerted by backfill by its
own self weight (dead
load) .
• It is usually built in
stone masonry, and
occasionally in plain
concrete.
 Gravity Wall
• Stress developed is very
low.
• These walls are so
proportioned that no
tension is developed
anywhere and the
resultant of forces
remain within the
middle third of the base.
Gravity Walls

• The retaining force due to earth pressure

constitutes the main force acting on the
retaining wall, tending to make it bend , slide
and overturn.
 Stability Conditions:
• A retaining wall must be stable as a whole, and it must have sufficient
strength to resist the forces acting on it.

• In order that the wall may be stable, the following conditions should be
satisfied:

i. The wall must be strong enough to resist the bending moment and
shear force.
ii. The wall should not overturn.
iii. Maximum pressure at base should not exceed the SBC of soil.
iv. The wall should not slide due to lateral pressure.
 Design of RETAINING WALLS

• FOR ABUTMENTS /RETAINING WALLS, IN CASE

WHERE LIVE LOAD IS EXPECTED, A
SURCHARGE EQUIVALENT TO 1.2M HEIGHT OF
EARTH FILL IS ASSUMED FOR STABILITY
ANALYSYS AS PER IRC:78-2000 CLAUSE 710.4.3
 Design of RETAINING WALLS

• FORCES ACTING ON Bodywall:

• EARTH PRESSURE
• WATER THRUST IF ANY
• REACTION FROM SUPER STRUCTURE
• DEAD LOAD/ SELF WEIGHT
• EARTH QUAKE FORCES( FOR IMPORTANT
STRUCTURES)
Backfill with no surcharge, Using Rankine’s Theory
 Submerged Backfill
• In this case the sand fill behind the retaining
wall is saturated with water.
 DETERMINATION OF EARTH PRESSURE:
• It is necessary to determine, the pressure exerted
by the soil in designing a retaining wall.
• The pressure mainly depends upon the type of
backfill material and the height of wall.
• Out of the number of theories evolved, Rankine’s
theory is predominantly used in calculating the
soil pressure.
• Rankine’s theory assumes that the distribution of
pressure along the height of the wall is triangular
and the centre of pressure lies at 1/3rd the height
of wall from the base.
 DETERMINATION OF EARTH PRESSURE:

The earth pressure may be calculated by T.V.A

procedure .
• Wall retaining dry and levelled backfill.
• Wall retaining submerged backfill.
• Wall retaining partly submerged backfill.
• Wall with backfill leveled and subjected to
uniform surcharge.
• Wall retaining backfill in slope.
 DETERMINATION OF EARTH PRESSURE:
 Terms/parameters used are in computation :
• Φ = angle of internal friction of the soil
• Pa = the intensity of active earth pressure
• Ka =coefficient of internal friction.
• γ′ = reduced wt. of soil due to submerged conditions
• Ka′ = coefficient of internal friction based on reduced
value of Φ.
• γw = unit wt. of water
• γ = unit weight of soil
• δ = Angle of friction between wall face and earth
Terms/parameters used are in computation :Contd..
• i = Inclination of the surface of fill with the horizontal

• α = Inclination of wall face to the vertical

 P= Ka W H2
Where P= Intensity of Pressure, exerted by earth
Ka = coefficient of internal friction
W=Weight of back fill
H = Height of wall and we have
Horizontal earth pressure co-efficient(Kh)= ka cos(α+ δ)
and
Vertical earth pressure co-efficient(Kv)= ka sin(α+ δ)
Kh acts at a height 0.4h from base
 GENERAL CASES AND EARTH PRESSURE
COEFFICIENTS FOR EARTH PRESSURE:
Case-1:
Ф=32⁰ ,δ= 16⁰,α=0 FOR ROLLER BACK FILL
Case-2:
Ф=28⁰ ,δ= 14⁰,α=0 FOR MASONRY
CONSTRUCTION WITH STEPPED WALL
Terms/parameters used are in computation :Contd..
i values

 level surcharge 0
 1 :1 surcharge 45
 1.5 :1 surcharge 33.703
 2 :1 surcharge 26.565
 2.5 :1 surcharge 21.8
 Calculations of
Earth Pressure co-efficients
Example
Earth Pressures co-efficient(when Ѳ =28о)
Case: Level Surcharge
Earth Pressures co-efficient(whenѲ =28о):
Contd..
Earth Pressures co-efficient(when Ѳ =32о)
Case: Level Surcharge
Earth Pressures co-efficient(Ѳ =32о): Contd..
 ACTIVE EARTH PRESSURE
• In case field authorities fail to furnish value of
angle of repose of earth, assume Level Surcharge
for retaining walls for design purpose
• In case of Level Surcharge,
If the value of angle of repose of earth is
28 degree,
Horizontal Co-efficient Earth pressure : 0.1580
Vertical Earth pressure Co-efficient : 0.0395
 ACTIVE EARTH PRESSURE
• In case of Level Surcharge,
If the value of angle of repose of earth is
32 degree,
Horizontal Co-efficient Earth pressure : 0.147
Vertical Earth pressure Co-efficient : 0.036
 Calculations of
Earth Pressure co-efficients
Exercises
Exercise-1
Calculate Earth pressure co-efficients for 1.5 : 1
Surcharge with the following values
(1)value of angle of repose of earth(Φ) = 28
degree
(2)Angle of friction between wall face and
earth(δ) = 14 degree
(3)Inclination of the surface of fill with the
horizontal (i) = 0
(4)Inclination of wall face to the vertical(α) =0
(Hint: for 1.5:1 Surcharge, i = 33.703)
Exercise-1(values calculated)
Case: 1.5 : 1 surcharge
i = 33.703, Φ=28 degree, δ =14 degree, α=0
values, calculated are as follow:
pv = 0.0972 wh2, where Kv = 0.0972
ph = 0.390 wh2, where Kh = 0.390
 Exercise-2
Calculate Earth pressure co-efficients for
2 : 1 Surcharge with the following values
(1)value of angle of repose of earth(Φ) = 32 degree
(2)Angle of friction between wall face and
earth(δ) = 14 degree
(3)Inclination of the surface of fill with the
horizontal (i) = 0
(4)Inclination of wall face to the vertical(α) =0
(Hint: for 2:1 Surcharge, i = 26.565)
Exercise-2(Values calculated)
Case: 2 : 1 surcharge
i = 26.565, Φ=32 degree, δ =14 degree, α=0
values, calculated are as follow:
pv = 0.0623 wh2, where Kv = 0.0623
ph = 0.217 wh2, where Kh = 0.217
REFERENCES:-
• IRC:78-2000.
• “Design of Irrigation Structure’ by C.S.N.Murthy
• Varshney, R S, Gupta, S C and Gupta, R L (1993)
“Theory and design of irrigation structures”,
Volume II ( Canal and Storage Works), Sixth
Edition, Nem Chand Publication
Questions..??