Coefficients of active earth pressure with seepage effect

Abstract

A calculation method for the active earth pressure on the possibly inclined face of a retaining wall provided with a drainage system along the soil–structure interface is presented. The soil is cohesionless and fully saturated to the ground surface. This situation may arise during heavy rainstorms. To solve the problem, the water seepage through the soil is first analyzed using a numerical procedure based on the boundary element method. Then, the obtained pore-water pressure is used in a Coulomb-type formulation, which supposes a plane failure surface inside the backfill when the wall movement is enough to put the soil mass in the active state. The formulation provides coefficients of active pressure with seepage effect which can be used to evaluate the active earth thrust on walls of any height. A series of charts with values of the coefficients of active earth pressure with seepage calculated for selected values of the soil internal friction angle, the wall–soil friction angle, and the wall face inclination is presented.