The Earthquake Engineering Online Archive

Design of earth retaining structures for dynamic loads

Seed, H. Bolton; Whitman, Robert V.

State-of-the-art paper presented at the 1970 [American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)] Specialty Conference on Lateral Stresses in the Ground and Design of Earth-Retaining Structures, June 22-24, 1970, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, [1970], pdf (615/S44/1970)

This paper reviews the state of knowledge concerning the design of earth-retaining structures for lateral pressures due to earthquakes and explosions or blasts. Because earthquakes and explosions have fundamental differences from the point of view of lateral force effects, design procedures may be quite different for the two phenomena. Thus, they are treated separately in this paper. Field observations of damage to retaining structures resulting from earthquakes and laboratory model tests are reviewed. Most of the review of earthquake loads focuses on evaluations of the dynamic lateral stresses on retaining structures when the backfill remains stable. Methods proposed for this purpose are discussed. Recommendations for earthquake-resistant design are presented for retaining structures above the water table (retaining walls and bridge abutments) and waterfront structures that extend below the water table (anchored bulkheads and quay walls). With regard to the effect of explosions or blasts on earth-retaining structures, the paper addresses protective construction and blasting that occurs near retaining structures.

Available online: http://nisee.berkeley.edu/documents/OLIB/seed-whitman-retaining-walls.pdf (1 MB)