Common Causes of Retaining-Wall Distress: Case Study

Poor performance of cantilever retaining walls has been observed at many sites in Southern California during postconstruction investigations. It was found that, in many cases, distress occurred because the walls were constructed outside of the original design criteria. Our studies indicate that duri...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of performance of constructed facilities Vol. 10; no. 1; pp. 35 - 38
Main Authors Marsh, Edred T, Walsh, Richard K
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Reston, VA American Society of Civil Engineers 01.02.1996
Subjects
Applied sciences
Buildings. Public works
Earthwork. Foundations. Retaining walls
Exact sciences and technology
Geotechnics
TECHNICAL NOTES
Cracking
Retaining wall
Soil mechanics
Rupture
Damaging
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Summary:Poor performance of cantilever retaining walls has been observed at many sites in Southern California during postconstruction investigations. It was found that, in many cases, distress occurred because the walls were constructed outside of the original design criteria. Our studies indicate that during mass grading development projects, walls are frequently designed using soil parameters obtained during a preliminary soil investigation. When actual construction of a given wall begins, conditions encountered sometimes vary dramatically from what was originally expected or intended. Unless the soil design criteria are reevaluated and modifications made to the original wall design, an inadequate wall may be constructed and over time according distress will occur.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ISSN:0887-3828
1943-5509
DOI:10.1061/(ASCE)0887-3828(1996)10:1(35)