Earth Pressures for Bilinear Backfill Surface

An analytical investigation in the evaluation of earth pressures on a retaining wall with a straight back and with a bilinear surface for the backfill is presented. The solution is based on the Coulomb wedge theory. The solution, which includes an expression for the critical wedge angle as well as for the point of action of the earth pressure, is quicker and less tedious than available graphical methods. Several examples are presented to illustrate the solutions.