VERTICAL SHEAR LOADS ON NONMOVING WALLS .1. THEORY

Retaining walls that do not move are customarily designed based on the assumption of at-rest conditions, with no consideration of vertical s hear loads applied by the backfill, However, field and laboratory meas urements have shown that vertical shear loads do act on nonmoving wall s. A simple theory for calculating the magnitude of vertical shear loa ds on nonmoving walls is presented in this paper;;and typical results from the theory are discussed. A companion paper presents the results of finite-element calculations, case history data, and recommendations for retaining wall design.