Correct height for retaining wall force calculation?

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Plamena Milusheva

March 10, 2021 08:44

I have seen two version for determining the height to use for calculating the earth force on a retaining wall.

Version 1: Only the height above the horizontal foot of the fall is used (i've seen this version somewhat more frequently)

Version 2: the depth of the horizontal foot of the wall is included in the height calculation (First time I saw this was in one of Elif Bayram's practice test. After looking it up I found some more examples that did that. 

Is there a correct version? I guess I am trying to figure out if there is an NCARB-correct version.

Thanks!

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  Peter Mall March 10, 2021 21:27

  I have seen it both ways, mostly to the top of the footing. You'll need an official ruling.

  In my experience, an ARE type question would likely not ask you to calculate the earth force. It may ask what kind of retaining wall/footing is best for a given height (5', 10', 25'). Or it may ask what the force diagram looks like (triangle, inverted, rectangle).

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  Plamena Milusheva March 11, 2021 18:06

  Thanks for the reply Peter!

  I agree with you that probably focusing on the conceptual aspects of that type of problem is more effective. With that said, I have seen that problem as a quantitative one in almost every practice test I've taken, including the Black Spectacles YouTube mock exam videos. In reality this might be one of 100 questions so getting it right might not be crucial but at this point I am interested in the official NCARB ruling on this : )

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