Embedded Retaining Walls – Streamlining Design Guidance

The behaviour of an embedded retaining wall is dependent on the stiffness, and ultimately strength, of the soil and the structure. Geotechnical and structural engineering skills are required to design the wall efficiently. Current design codes do not present a consistent approach to the design of embedded walls to accommodate this soil-structure interaction and interpretation of design requirements can vary between designers. Areas of difference between the current codes, and the relationship between the codes and current practice, will be explored. Particular emphasis will be placed on the opportunity to accommodate Australian design issues within the current re-drafting of the CIRIA C580 report “Embedded retaining walls – guidance for economic design” with a view to increasing the relevance of this document to our retaining wall designs.