Earth Pressure on Precast Panel Retaining Wall

Earth pressure cells are used to measure lateral earth pressures acting on a precast panel retaining wall. Force transducers are used between the panel and the supporting structural members to measure the total force exerted on the panel by the backfill material. Measurements of panel movements are made during and after backfilling. Data are presented for measured pressures, forces, and movements covering a period of 443 days. Physical and engineering properties of the backfill material are determined. Reasonably good correlation between the forces calculated from the pressure cell measurements and those measured by the force transducers tend to verify the accuracy of the measured earth pressures. Measured pressures in the upper elevations of the wall correlate fairly well with theoretical active pressures computed according to Coulomb and Rankine. However, measured pressures in the lower elevations are considerably higher than the theoretical active pressures.