Free Retaining Wall Calculator
ASDIP free online retaining wall calculator allows you to check the stability, overturning, sliding, and bearing for cantilever retaining walls and bridge abutments. With this calculator you'll be able to do the following:
Need More? Upgrade to the Full Version or sign up for a Free Trial to unlock more retaining wall features.
ASDIP RETAIN includes modules for retaining wall design per the latest ACI 318-19. You can model Cantilever, Basement, Counterfort and Sheet Pile retaining walls with a number of load types such as uniform and strip surcharge, concentrated, wind, and seismic. Lateral soil pressures are calculated per Rankine, Coulomb, or Equivalent Fluid theories. The software generates the shear and moment diagrams for the stem, superimposed on the structural strength diagrams. The walls can be supported on soil, or supported on piles. Exposed formulas and code references for granular checking are included in detailed calculations.
Start your Free Trial and experience everything that ASDIP has to offer! You'll be able to evaluate all software, including the retaining modules, for 15 days: includes packages for CONCRETE, STEEL, RETAIN and FOUNDATION design. Or place an order and upgrade to the Full Version.
How to Use The Retaining Wall Calculator
Welcome to the ASDIP free online retaining wall calculator. This wall calculator allows you to model a cantilever retaining wall. Use the Geometry tab to enter the dimensions of the wall components, such as the stem height and thickness. Stem material can be either concrete or masonry. In the Footing tan specify the footing dimensions. If the wall is supported on piles, use the Piles tab to enter the pile geometric information, such as pile edge and spacing, batter, etc. In the Backfill & Cover tab enter the backfill height and slope. The backfill height is limited to 10 ft or 3.0 m in this free retaining wall calculator.
A number of different load types can be specified, such as uniform and strip surcharges, horizontal and vertical concentrated loads, wind, and seismic pressures. Click on the Loads tab to specify the loads information. In the Backfill tab enter the backfill properties such as density and internal friction angle. The lateral soil pressure theory can be either At-rest, Coulomb, Rankine, or Equivalent Fluid. Surcharge and Concentrated loads can be specified as dead and live. Seismic load per either Mononobe-Okabe or a uniform seismic pressure can be specified. Load combinations per ASCE 7-16, AASHTO LRFD, or user-defined.
Cantilever Retaining Wall Calculator
This cantilever retaining wall calculator can model either concrete or masonry stem walls, and even a combination of both. Concrete stems can be tapered at the toe side or at the heel side. Use the Geometry tab to specify the stem thickness for concrete, or the block size for masonry. The user interface of the the free calculator will change dynamically with every selection.
Stem Shear and Moment Diagrams
An important feature of the beam calculator is its ability to generate the shear force and bending moment diagram of the stem in the Graph > Stem tab for the specified load combination. The diagrams conveniently shows the maximum shear force and bending moment at the critical sections. The retaining wall calculator also shows the shear and moment design strength along the stem in the background for comparison purposes.
Check Stability Calculations
The free retaining wall calculator allows to check the wall stability for the specified load combination in three separate sub-tabs within the Graph tab. The Overturning tab shows the applied loads for the overturning analysis of the retaining wall. The Sliding tab shows the load diagrams and the resulting forces for the sliding analysis. The Bearing tab shows the applied loads to generate the bearing diagram under the wall footing.
Pile Capacity Calculations
For walls supported on piles, the Stability tab shows the pile reactions for the specified service load combination. In addition, the retaining wall calculator shows the pile capacity ratios for axial and horizontal loads. In addition, the Footing tab shows the shear and bending moment diagrams for the pile cap for the specified factored load combination. Note that the full version generates a detailed set of calculations.
Additional Free Tools
Beam Calculator
Base Plate Calculator
