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0 INTRODUCTION

Retaining walls must be designed for lateral earth pressure. Different types of
retaining walls are used to retain soil in different places. Three main types of retaining walls
are :

1. Gravity retaining wall (depends on its weight for resisting lateral earth force
because it have a large weigh)
2. 2. Semi-Gravity retaining wall (reduce the dimensions of the gravity retaining
wall by using some reinforcement).
3. 3. Cantilever retaining wall (reinforced concrete wall with small dimensions
and it is the most economical type and the most common)

Figure 1.0 : Type of Retaining Wall

There are another type of retaining wall called “counterfort RW” and is a special
type of cantilever RW used when the height of RW became larger than 6m, the moment
applied on the wall will be large so we use spaced counterforts every a specified distance
to reduce the moment RW.

Figure 2.0 : Counterfort Retaining Wall

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 Retaining walls are used in many places, such as retaining a soil of high elevation (if
we want to construct a building in lowest elevation) or retaining a soil to save highways
from soil collapse and for several applications.
Each retaining wall divided into three parts; stem, heel, and toe as shown for the
following cantilever footing (as example):

Figure 3.0 : Elements of Retaining Wall

1.1 Rankine’s Theory

To use these theories in design, an engineer must make several simple

assumptions. In the case of cantilever walls, use of the Rankine earth pressure
theory for stability checks involves drawing a vertical line 𝐴B through point A,
as shown in Figure 4.0 (which is located at the edge of the heel of the base
slab). The Rankine active condition is assumed to exist along the vertical plane
AB. Rankine active earth pressure equations may then be used to calculate the
lateral pressure on the face 𝐴B. In the analysis of stability for the wall, the
force (Rankine), the weight of soil above the heel, 𝑊S, and the weight of the
concrete, 𝑊C, all should be taken into consideration. The assumption for the
development of Rankine active pressure along the soil face 𝐴B is theoretically
concrete if the shear zone bounded by the line 𝐴C is not obstructed by the stem
of the wall. The angle, 𝜂, that the line 𝐴C makes with the vertical is ;

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 Figure 4.0 : Assumption for the determination of lateral earth pressure (a) Cantilever Wall;
(b) and (c) Gravity Wall

1.2 STABILITY OF RETAINING WALL

A retaining wall may be fail due to following:
1. It may overturn about its toe.
2. It may slide along its base.
3. It may fail due to the loss of bearing capacity of the soil supporting the base.

2.0 PURPOSE
To determine retaining walls are structures designed to restrain soil to a slope that it would
not naturally keep to (typically a steep, near-vertical or vertical slope).

3.0 EQUIPMENT

1. Site Investigation Report

2. Microsoft Excel

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4.0 PROCEDURE

Site Investigation Report

Tabulation of Soil Parameters

Determination of Lateral Pressure

Determination of Retaining Wall

Determination of Retaining Wall's Dimension

Calculation of Retaining Wall

Figure 5.0 : Flow Chart

1. A Site Investigation Report was collected from site works.

2. The soil parameters are extracted out based on Soil Investigation report.
3. The properties of soil are identified to determine the lateral pressure for the
designation purposes.
4. The type of retaining wall is determined, which is Cantilever Retaining Wall.
5. The dimensions of the retaining wall are assumed logically.
6. An excel sheet is created for calculation of the retaining wall.

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5.0 DATA

5.1 SITE LOCATION

Figure 6.0 : The proposed site is located at Ulu Melaka, Langkawi Kedah.

Figure 7.0 : Site Ulu Melaka, Langkawi, Kedah

5.2 TYPE OF RETAINING WALL

The retaining wall that have been chosen is Cantilever Retaining Wall. The reason
why we chose Cantilever Retaining Wall is because it is the most economical type and the
most common.

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5.3 DESIGN OF RETAINING WALL

The designation of our cantilever retaining wall consisting 8.5 m height and 0.5 m width of
stem, and 0.5 m height of toe and heel which 2.0 m and 3.5 m width respectively.

6.0 RESULT

Refer to excel sheet.

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7.0 DISCUSSION

For discussion, a design of retaining wall was design and was check for it factor of
safety check against overturning and sliding using Rankine Theory. If the wall is not safe
against sliding, then backfill was provided. It is provided at the back of the retaining wall.
Passive force was considered for the backfill to overcome the sliding of the retaining wall.
Stability requirements of Retaining Wall following conditions must be satisfied for stability
of wall. It should not overturn. It should not slide. It should not subside for example
Maximum pressure at the toe should not exceed the safe bearing capacity of the soil under
working condition.

Based on our design, the height of our retaining wall is 9 m and the base is 6 m. The
cohesion of soil for sandy silt is 42 kN/m². For first design, the friction angle is 14º and the
unit weight is 14.74 kN/m². The result for active earth pressure coefficient (Ka) is 0.61. the
Ka is depend on the inclination of the wall and inclination of the backfill because it’s related
to the soil itself and the angle of contact surface with the soil. Horizontal force of pressure
active is 364.1517 kN /m². Then, the vertical force, W = 612.515 kN /m. For overturning
moment value is 1092.4551. Resisting moment that we get is 2309.18875 kN /m. Factor of
safety for overturning moment is 2.113760785. So the design is acceptable. For factor of
safety for sliding is 1.699727296. The value is acceptable because it higher than requirement
value 1.5. The eccentricity value is 1.01354473. Maximum bearing capacity is 205.5638198
and allowable bearing capacity is 281.8666667. Maximum bearing capacity is less than
allowable bearing capacity. The factor of safety of bearing capacity is 4.11, its greater than
requirement value 3. So it is acceptable. There should be no tension at the base of the wall
because the eccentricity value is greater than b/6, the tension developed at heel.

For second design, the height and base of the retaining wall is same 9 m and 6 m. But,
the cohesion of soil is 0 kN/m². The frictional angle is 40º and the unit weight is 20 kN/m².
The result for active earth pressure coefficient (Ka) is 0.146057. Horizontal force of pressure
active is 118.066 kN /m². Then, the vertical force, W = 769 kN /m. For overturning moment
value is 2348.248 kN/m. Factor of safety for overturning moment is 6.61628. So the design is
acceptable. For factor of safety for sliding is 6.500062. The value is acceptable because it
higher than requirement value 1.5. The eccentricity value is 0.407896 m. Maximum bearing

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capacity is 229.0812 Kn/m² and Minimum bearing capacity is 75.88805 Kn/m². The factor of
safety of bearing capacity is 4.156168. So it is acceptable.

Based on first design and second design, the factor of safety for overturning moment
in second design is higher than first design which is 6.61628. Then, for the factor of safety for
sliding, the value for second design is higher than first design too which is 6.500062. Next,
the factor of safety for bearing capacity in second design is higher than first design which is
4.156168. The value of all factor of safety for second design is higher than first design
because of the different value of friction angle and unit weight of soil in both designs. The
higher number of value of friction angle and unit weight of soil makes the result factor of
safety higher.

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8.0 CONCLUSION

Retaining wall is structure used to retain soil, rock or other materials in a vertical
condition. Hence, they provide a lateral support to vertical slopes of soil that would otherwise
collapse into a more shape. For this design, we are using type of cantilever retaining walls
which is the most common type of retaining structure and its generally economical for height
up to about 8m. For retaining wall, we are able to ensure that overturning doesn’t occurs,
siding doesn’t occur, the soil on which the wall rests cannot be overloaded and the material
used in construction are not overstressed. The maximum bearing capacity is less than
allowable capacity for this design. The design is acceptable when the value of safe factor for
bearing capacity is more than 3. The tension developed at heel when the eccentricity value is
greater than b/6. So, there is no tension at the base. The factor of safety for the second design
is higher compared to the first design because of the value of friction angle and its unit
weight of soil. The higher the factor of safety, the more the value of friction angle and unit
weight of soil obtained from the design.

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9.0 REFERENCE

1. NPTEL - ADVANCED FOUNDATION ENGINEERING-1 (10 April 2015),

retrieved from https://nptel.ac.in/downloads/105108069/
2. Braja M. Das ( 2014 ) Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, SI Edition, 8th Edition
3. Filippo Catazariti ( 2016 June 20 ), retrieve from
https://www.geostru.eu/category/geotechnical-articles/

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