Practical Earth Retention Design Examples

[DSKENGR]

Is anyone aware of a reference (or references) with straightforward earth retention design examples? I've come across a lot of reference materials that contain either too many pictures and written descriptions with too few actual, complete engineering design examples to use for guidance. I've also found some references that go into so much detail concerning less practical matters, that they are very difficult to weed through and often don't contain enough step-by-step, straightforward, practical examples. And in both cases, I find them to be way too long for the most part.

 

[PEinc]

I hope I am wrong, but it sounds like you want a ready-made library of design examples so that you can just follow along, changing numbers, without having to know the theory behind the design. It's not that simple. No matter how many different examples you have, the odds are that many actual design cases you need to do will not match well with the examples. Maybe you should buy a computer design program so all you need to do is fill in some soil properties and dimensions and then let the program crank out a "GIGO" solution. That's what too many engineers do (and it shows!). I suggest you get a copy of Pile Buck's Sheet Pile Design Manual. It has many examples and will not help you much on AASHTO/DOT projects.

http://www.PeirceEngineering.com

 

[oldestguy]

Perhaps state what will you use the examples for and what general subjects will be covered, such as maybe Highway road cuts, retaining slipping slopes, dock walls, paved channel walls. The subject is very broad. Is this for teaching a class? Remember we do not do designs here, so you may be asking for the impossible. Certainly you don't want to waste contributor's time with actual calculations such as multiplying and adding numbers. Then comes the material to be held back. There is a heck of a difference between say expansive clays of Denver to the sands of the Atlantic coast and the hardpans of here in Wisconsin. Hey, what about frost? It can be nothing or 6 feet depending.

 

[MotorCity]

So you have come across examples with either not enough or too much information and expect advice from an online forum for references with just the right amount of information? The examples that you believe are "way too long" are probably the correct way of doing it. While there may be shortcuts, rules of thumb, etc, these should by no means be the sole method used for design. You just have to crank through the numbers. It sounds like you are new to designing earth retention structures, as a start try taking a look at the Structural Engineering Reference Manual. If that does not satisfy your requirement for having just the right amount of detail.....GOOGLE, GOOGLE, GOOGLE!!!!

 

[geomane]

Look at the USS Steel Sheet Pile Design Manual and the FHWA Manuals. I'm using these to help study for the PE exam. Not sure what you need them for.

Take the advice of what the reputable engineers say on here though. They tend to know what they are talking about.