Earth Pressure Reduction on Rigid Cantilever Retaining Wall Using Inclusions

The present study explores the application of locally available compressible inclusions in reducing the lateral earth pressure acting on the rigid cantilever retaining walls retaining dry and cohesionless backfill. A small-scale physical model tests on an 80 cm high retaining wall were performed with the presence and absence of inclusions. The backfill at relative densities of 65, 50, 40, and 35% were modeled in the study. The effects of different types of inclusions and relative density of the backfill soil were analyzed. The obtained lateral earth pressure from the study was compared with that obtained using Rankine’s theory. It was observed that when the surcharge load and the relative density of the backfill increase, the lateral earth pressure increases and decreases, respectively. The results showed that the isolation efficiency of coir fiber was greater than bed waste when used as inclusion.