Structural Engineering Software Blog

By: Javier Encinas, PE | February 21, 2016 ASDIP RETAIN is structural engineering software for design of retaining walls. Competent design of retaining walls can maximize land use and substantially increase property value. This is a two-part blog post. In part one, Javier reviewed the basics of earth lateral pressure theories and overall stability checking. This second part of the article covers the typical loads in a retaining wall, and the structural design of the different components. What loads act on a retaining wall? Ordinarily, retaining walls are subject to surcharge loads at the top of retained mass. A [...]

By: Javier Encinas, PE | February 21, 2016 ASDIP RETAIN is structural engineering software for design of retaining walls. Retaining walls are structures designed to bound soils between two different elevations. A retaining wall is mainly exposed to lateral pressures from the retained soil plus any other surcharge. This article discusses the design of either concrete or masonry cantilever retaining walls. A typical retaining wall is composed of four main components: the Stem, the Toe at the front of the wall, the Heel at the backfill side, and the Shear Key. The images below show the geometry of a [...]