At-Rest Earth Pressure of Overconsolidated Cohesionless Soil
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 134, Issue 3
Abstract
Earth pressure theories occupy a paramount position in the field of geotechnical engineering. An experimental investigation of the at-rest earth pressure of overconsolidated cohesionless soil acting on retaining walls was conducted. A prototype model of a vertical rough wall, retaining horizontal backfill, was developed in the laboratory. The model was instrumented to measure the earth pressure at selected points on the wall, the total earth force acting on the wall, and the overconsolidation ratio (OCR) in the sand mass. Tests were conducted on walls retaining homogeneous overconsolidated dense, medium, or loose sands. Test results showed that the coefficient of at-rest earth pressure increases with the increase of the OCR. The present experimental results were used to examine the empirical formulas available in the literature. It can be reported that these formulas compared well with the experimental results for OCR values up to 3. An empirical formula is proposed to predict the coefficient of at-rest earth pressure for overconsolidated cohesionless soils. The results obtained by this formula agreed well with the present experimental results for all values of overconsolidation ratios.
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Acknowledgments
The financial support received from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Concordia University are acknowledged.NSERC
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Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 134 • Issue 3 • March 2008
Pages: 408 - 412
Copyright
© 2008 ASCE.
History
Received: Aug 1, 2006
Accepted: Jun 21, 2007
Published online: Mar 1, 2008
Published in print: Mar 2008
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