Lateral Earth and Concrete Pressures

The former Committee of the Society on Earths and Foundations, in conjunction with its studies of the distribution of vertical pressures beneath foundations, assigned to the writers, as a Sub-Committee, the study of lateral earth pressures. This paper is a result of such a study. It has long been recognized that the classic methods of analyzing lateral pressures as developed by Coulomb and Rankine were extremely limited in practical application and many attempts have been made to reshape the classic analysis to bring the theory into better consonance with practice. The writers feel that it is better to discard the classic method entirely, and start from the fundamental laws of the theory of elasticity, as had been done with recognized success in the study of the distribution of vertical pressures. The mathematical work and resulting equations are not as simple as the writers would desire, but it is hoped that further study and application of the methods outlined herein will lead to simplifications without loss of rigor. The labor of using the somewhat involved equations is lightened by the tables presented herewith. It is believed that not only are more correct values determined, but a much better understanding may be had of the phenomena attendant upon the three phases of the problem of lateral earth pressures.