Lateral Pressure due to Stone & Wood Chips

[oengineer]

I have a pit that has a layer of stone & wood chips contained within. The walls are also retaining soil on the other side (see image).

Would it be best practice to apply the stone & wood chips contained within the pit and apply them to the wall as lateral pressure?

The height of the stone layer is 1'-2" ft. The height of the wood chips is 3'-0".

Also, the stone & wood chips will be exposed to the elements...so a moisture content of 40% was used.

The initial wall thickness is 14" and the bottom slab is 18" thick.

Comments/suggestions are appreciated.

 

[oengineer]

Here is a better picture of the configuration.

As mentioned previously:

The height of the stone layer is 1'-2" ft. The height of the wood chips is 3'-0".

Also, the stone & wood chips will be exposed to the elements...so a moisture content of 40% was used.

The initial wall thickness is 14" and the bottom slab is 18" thick.

 

[TLHS]

I wouldn't expect that your design condition would be the wood chips pushing outward. I would expect that the soil would easily resist that load. The design condition would seem to be the opposite case, with soil pushing inward in an empty condition prior to installation of the stone and wood chips. Then there might be a hydrostatic case with water from the inside depending on the drainage considerations you've put into place, or an excavation case to allow for future excavation of the outside soil while the inside is still filled.