Retaining wall heel - vertical surcharge pressure

[vmirat]

I have a 4-foot tall retaining wall that has a point load surcharge at the top which is 2 feet from inside face of wall. How do you calculate the vertical pressure on the heel of the retaining wall due to the point surcharge load?

 

[r13]

The point load will have more effect on the wall stem (as a lateral thrust). You can assume 45° spread on the heel slab then.

 

[vmirat]

Can I use Boussinesq to figure the pressure at that depth on the heel? Seems too shallow a depth for that to be accurate.

 

[r13]

I think you can use any method to distribute the load on the heel slab, just be conservative.