Undrained analysis of earth berms as temporary supports for embedded retaining walls

Earth berms can provide an effective and economic means of enhancing the sh ort-term stability of an embedded retaining wall but there is no generally accepted procedure for determining their effectiveness. In this paper, vari ous methods of representing an embedded retaining wall supported by an eart h berm in an undrained limit-equilibrium analysis are discussed. Comparison with the results of centrifuge model tests shows that these methods are co nservative to a greater or lesser extent and a more rigorous approach is de veloped. Procedures are then set out that may be used to assess the short-t erm safety and stability of a stiff, berm-supported embedded retaining wall in overconsolidated clay.