Restrained Retaining Wall Design

All of your suggestions have been correct somewhere, but not all at once. Some of them mean that others cannot be used simultaneously. It is not possible to select the best combination at this distance.

You need to find a mentor with whom you can cover the possibilities including the site characteristics.

you're scaring me, this seems far over your skills abilities

I'm more scared of someone who would approve such a scheme...

I think there is too much that you don't know.

And, too much that you haven't explained to the forum.

Forces involved, local soil conditions and climate among other things, too numerous to go into here from the other side of the world.

"Forces involved, local soil conditions and climate among other things, too numerous to go into here from the other side of the world."

For example, the wall falling off the bottom of the world and hitting the giant turtle that is holding up the world in the eye.

Your problem is related to the lateral transmission of vertical pressures in the backfill stuff.

It depends on its composition and geometry (i.e. ratio between loaded surface and lateral surface) since internal friction and plasticity play an important role.

Similar problems occur in the design of rubber components.

It would be SAFE for you to get a support from a specialized person since the above mentioned factors are very variable. I would not say that it is over your capability as was written but out of your personal experience field and a helping hand is required.

1. There is nothing stopping you utilising a suitable standard for this build. There are plenty to choose from. And they all suit most countries.

2. Your drawing shows no measurements for the retaining wall buttress's.

3. No mention of rebar.

4. No mention of building anchoring for the steel columns.

5. No measurement of foundation depth or height of above ground foundation.

6. No mention of soil type and its stability. Clay, rock, flood plain (which it looks like it is designed for).

7. How are you going to compact the backfill and to what compaction ratio?

There is too much information missing in your idea for anyone to make a statement that it will, could, perhaps, work.

Hello all, First thanks for all of your reply. The sketch I added was really fast, even the moment diagram is opposite, I see it now. I have precise auto cad drawing, but it is not on this computer, as i'm on a holiday now. I didn't giv any numbers, as my intention was not to ask you to calculate it for myself, not at all. But to have a better picture, I'll give some data: Height of the wall - 1,180 m Toe - 0,40 m Heel - 0,70 m thickness of stem and footing - 0,40 m Maximum reactions from the steel hall - V=92 kN, H=22 kN from G+S (snow) Steel frames at each 3,80 m. Soil type - clay Top of the wall is at zero level, also the slab. Level outside the wall is at -1.00 m. I don't ask for calculations, my question was if the slab at zero level could be taken as a restrain. So the wall is not cantilever anymore, and than part of the horizontal loading could go in the slab as a diaphragm. Of course in the corner between wall and slab there will be rebar. Of course the wall itself there will be rebar. And it depends on that if the wall is cantilevered or could be considered as restrained... Regards,

Simple answer is No. What is stopping the whole restraining wall from moving out-wards in a clay soil?

What is going to happen when the clay dries out and what will happen on the inverse when it gets too wet?

You might want to consider piling and cast a plinth on the piles. It is not just the building on the foundation, you will have items within the building adding weight to the floor so your verticle loading is not just a metal clad building exerting downward pressure.

'The retaining wall is not beneath the whole perimeter of the building, but only for part of the columns,'

I had to come back and reread what you stated. Sure fire way to have it all fall over if you are doing this. You need piling below the steel columns or a retaining wall all around to offer support and no slippage. Re consider your design carefully.

From looking at your sketch i would think IQ has the right idea. Insitu piles, with a cast in place pile cap around the perimeter of the structure leaving a rebate to take precast Hollowcore slabs. Structure is tied, pockets can be designed into the ring beam to take the steel columns or strengthened if base plating and the hollowcore slabs will make life easier for services installation.

Will have additional costs in terms of materials & plant however construction time on site should be reduced. That is assuming you initial retaining walls were RC.

Why are you insistent on back filling? Why not just make the hall floor slab of prestressed reinforced concrete beams and create an undercroft? You still need adequate foundations but they are much easier to calculate without side forces generated by the fill.

IQ, What I want to avoid is transmitting the horizontal reaction force from the hall to the bottom of the wall foot, because than the eccentricity will become way bigger (M/N> B/6). So it is enough for me to know that at least the H reaction force from the steel frame could go in the slab. The rest is a matter of calculation of the wall as unrestrained, cantilever and added additional ONLY vertical load from the steel frame as a reaction. The earth pressure stays. I also will take into account that on the slab there will be some additional loading, which will cause additional earth pressure for the wall. jhhassociates, For this client it is not an option. Thank you for your proposal!

There are various problems associated with using the slab to tie the foundations, I prefer to put tie beams at the building column lines, they can be part of the slab or, and I prefer, just under with a compressible material between them.

http://www.had2know.com/garden/retaining-wall-materials-calculator.html

You're way over you head on this one. Hire a Licensed Structural Engineer to design the wall.

We cannot offer assistance half way around the world without knowing all the conditions pertaining to the design, nor should we.

SMH...

What does the geotech. report say about the supporting soil, etc. ?

You have already had a fully qualified Geotechnical Engineering firm thoroughly investigate and evaluate the structural capacity of the relevant soil variables in a properly reviewed and approved report, haven't you?...