Design basis and economic aspects of different types of retaining walls

Soil retention system has been revolutionized by the development of internally stabilized walls. Although walls of this type have gained wide acceptance in many parts of the world, Bangladesh is yet to take in such system significantly. The major reason may be the anticipation that such walls would be more expensive compared to the conventional externally stabilized walls, and also that the design procedures involved might be too cumbersome. This paper presents step-bystep design procedures for externally stabilized walls and internally stabilized walls as suggested by different codes/ researchers. Typical design examples of some of the externally stabilized and internally stabilized walls, i.e. design of reinforced concrete cantilever retaining walls, metal strip reinforced walls, geotextile reinforced walls and anchored earth walls of different heights have been provided for the purpose of cost comparison. The analyses reveal that the internally stabilized walls are significantly more economical compared to the externally stabilized wall considered in this study, and this economic benefit increases with increasing height of the walls.