Dynamic Analysis of Gravity Quay Wall Considering Development of Excess Pore Pressure in Backfill Soil

In this paper, a total stress analysis method for gravity quay walls is suggested. The method can evaluate the displacement of the quay walls considering the effect of excess pore pressure developed in backfill soils. This method changes the stiffness of backfill soils according to the expected magnitude of the excess pore pressure. For practical application, evaluation methods are suggested for determining the excess pore pressure ratio developed in the backfill soils and the backfill stiffness that corresponds to the excess pore pressure ratio. This method is important in practical applications because the displacement of the quay walls can be evaluated by using only the basic input properties in the total stress analysis. The applicability of the suggested method was verified by comparing the results of the analysis with the results of 1-g shaking table tests. From the comparison, it was found that the calculated displacements from the suggested method showed good agreement with the measured displacements of the quay walls. It was also found that the excess pore pressure in backfill soils is a governing influence on the dynamic behavior of quay walls.