Long-Term Strength of Sheet Pile Bulkheads with Ground Anchors

In contrast to other types of anchors, prestressed ground anchors are routinely used in clayey or cohesive soils. One of the problems that need to be considered concerns the soil creep with time (i.e. rheological properties). Clays and cohesive soils in general exhibit creep behavior in which deformation proceeds with time under a state of applied load. Under these conditions, owing to rheological properties of cohesive soils, anchor supports tend to move gradually, the result being that the forces exerted on them decrease, and general redistribution of stresses in the structures occurs. When designing a sheet pile bulkhead supported by ground anchors embedded in creep-sensitive soils, it is necessary to recognize that its stress-strain state will gradually change with time due to "creep" of the anchors within the soil mass.