The Earthquake Engineering Online Archive

Developments of improved procedures for seismic design of buried and partially buried structures

Al Atik, Linda; Sitar, Nicholas

PEER-2007/06, Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center, University of California, Berkeley, 2007-06, PDF (4.8 MB) (400/P33/2007-06)

Two sets of dynamic centrifuge model experiments were performed to evaluate the magnitude and distribution of seismically induced lateral earth pressures on retaining structures that are representative of designs currently under consideration by the Bay Area eration Rapid Transit (BART) and the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). Two U-shaped cantilever retaining structures, one flexible and one stiff, were used to model the prototype structures, and dry, medium-dense-sand at 61% and 72% relative density was used as backfill. The resulting relationship between the seismic earth pressure coefficient increment (Delta K subscript AE) and PGA suggests that seismic earth pressures can be neglected at accelerations below 0.3 g.

Available online: http://peer.berkeley.edu/publications/peer_reports/reports_2007/web_706_ATIK_Sitar.pdf