Soil report

DR.MERVAT ELAZAB

NAME: ESRAA ElSAYED SALAMA

Civil department

Section 1
 Types of retaining structures
Retaining structures are engineered to retain soil and/or rock.  They are
commonly used to accommodate changes in grade, provide increases in right-
of-way and buttress the toe of slopes.  In a broad sense, retaining structures
can be classified according to their face inclination: if it is greater than 70
degrees, they are typically characterized as retaining walls, while slopes have
face inclination flatter than 70 degrees.  There are several types of retaining
structures, including gravity, sheet pile, cantilever, and anchored earth/
mechanically stabilized earth (reinforced earth) walls and slopes.

Gravity Retaining Walls 

Gravity retaining walls use their weight to resist earth pressures.  They are
usually made from heavy materials such as concrete, rocks, or soil.  They are
designed to provide resistance against various failure modes, including sliding,
overturning, bearing and seismically induced failures.  One common type of
gravity retaining wall is a crib wall.  Crib walls typically consist of interlocking
precast concrete structural elements that are filled with free draining material
(typically gravelly soil).  Due to relatively low construction cost and time
required to construct these walls, they are commonly used for supporting
roadway and highway cuts.  Gabions are another common type of gravity wall.
They are used to provide erosion and scour protection along river banks and
waterways.
 Gabions are typically made of wire mesh baskets that are filled with rocks and
stacked on top of each other to form a retaining wall.  In recent years, one of
the most commonly used gravity retaining wall has been Mechanically
Stabilized Earth (MSE) walls.  These walls are also referred to as reinforced
earth and reinforced soil walls.  In an MSE wall, a zone of reinforced earth
provides retention resistance. Reinforcing elements are typically made of
metallic reinforcement (e.g., welded wire mesh, steel strip and bar mat) or
polymeric reinforcement (e.g., georgics).  The outer facing is connected to a
facing unit or constructed by wrapping the reinforcement at the face.  MSE wall
systems have gained wide acceptance in highway, commercial, and residential
construction, and are now available from a number of manufacturers.

Sheet Pile Walls

Sheet pile walls typically consist of steel sheet piles that are driven into the
ground to support earth pressures.  Depending on the nature of construction
and subsurface material, they can be installed by an impact hammer, vibratory
equipment, or they can simply be pushed into the ground if ground conditions
permit.  In some instances, for sheet piles intended to support deeper
excavations, tie-back anchors may be required in conjunction with the piles.
Sheet piles may be removed but are commonly sacrificial, meaning that they
are left in place after completion of construction activities.
Cantilever Walls

Cantilever walls are typically made from a relatively thin stem, typically made
of steel-reinforced, cast-in-place concrete.  Often they are shaped like an
inverted T. The pressures from the retained soils or rocks are carried through
the stem to the structural footing (bottom of the T), then are transferred to the
soils below and in front of the wall. Soldier pile and lagging walls are a
frequently used type of cantilever wall (soldier piles can also be anchored
walls).  They derive lateral resistance and movement capacity through
embedment of vertical wall elements (soldier piles).  The soil behind the wall is
retained by lagging, which may be wood, reinforced concrete, precast or CIP
concrete panels, or reinforced concrete.

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Anchored Earth Structures

Anchored and reinforced earth structures (also commonly known as soil nail
walls, or tie-back walls) are constructed by the assembly of facing units that are
tied to rods or strips that are held in place by friction.  The resistance of the ties
to movement is controlled by the portion of the anchors/nails that are located
behind the theoretical active wedge (a.k.a., failure wedge).
Embankment Slopes

Where right of way is available and the cost of a wall is high, an embankment
slope is often considered as a cost-effective alternative to a retaining wall.  The
most common types of embankment slopes are engineered fill slopes and
earth-reinforced slopes.  If an engineered fill slope cannot be safely constructed
with a particular soil, reinforcement of the fill slope can be implemented as an
alternative to retaining walls or to flatter unreinforced slopes.  Similar to MSE
walls, earth-reinforced slopes (also known as Reinforced Soil Slopes, RSS) are a
form of reinforced soil that incorporates soil-reinforcing elements (typically
geosynthetics) into the soil-retaining structure.
Exponent has considerable experience in evaluating the performance of
numerous types of retaining structures.  Exponent’s civil engineers and
geologists draw on in-house expertise in the areas of structural, materials, and
mechanical engineering, to provide a multi-disciplinary approach that will
address any retaining-wall problem.