Design of Retaining Walls to Eurocode 7

Retaining walls represent one of the oldest and most widespread forms of man-made structure - the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were probably retained above ground level by an interconnecting series of retaining walls. Since that time, retaining wall design has evolved from being a purely empirical process to one that requires a detailed knowledge of soil and structural mechanics.

Retaining wall design differs from the design of other structures, such as bridges and buildings, in that the applied loads cannot simply be read from a Code of Practice; instead, retaining walls have to resist the actions of a body of soil which may be of variable composition, density and water content and about which the designer may have only limited information. Retaining wall design lies at the boundary of Structural Engineering and Geotechnical Engineering and for this reason can seem daunting to a young engineer with limited experience in either discipline.

The course aims to cut through the mystique surrounding soil/structure interaction. It aims to give the engineer a broad understanding of the loads imposed by a body of soil and provide a simple and practical approach to retaining wall design in accordance with EC7.