EXPERIMENTAL RETAINING WALL FACILITY--LATERAL STRESS MEASUREMENTS WITH SAND BACKFILL

As part of the TRRL research programme to investigate soil-structure interaction, a pilot scale earth retaining wall has been built at the Laboratory sufficiently large to avoid any scale effects influencing the results and to enable normal construction methods to be used. This report describes the experimental retaining wall and its facilities and gives details of the initial experiments to measure the lateral soil pressure by compaction of a washed sand, and the active and passive pressures produced when the wall was moved away from and into the soil respectively. The experimental evidence shows that the residual earth pressures produced by the compaction of sand behind a rigid retaining wall are significantly higher than would be expected from the self-weight of the soil alone. However, only very small movements (less than 4 mm) of the test wall away from the soil were sufficient to reduce the earth pressures to the active condition for a fill height equivalent to 3.4 metres. A study of the passive case showed that a peak lateral thrust occurred on a metre high test wall after a movement of about 25 mm of the wall into the soil. /Author/

• Corporate Authors:

  Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)

  Wokingham, Berkshire  United Kingdom 
• Authors:
  • CARDER, D R
  • Pocock, R G
  • Murray, R T
• Publication Date: 1977

Media Info

• Features: Figures; Photos; References;
• Pagination: 8 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Backfilling; Compaction; Earth pressure; Measurement; Retaining walls; Sand; Thrust
• Uncontrolled Terms: Lateral stress
• Old TRIS Terms: Backfills
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00164010
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: TRRL Lab Report 766
• Files: TRIS, ATRI
• Created Date: Nov 9 1977 12:00AM