Load calculation method for retaining wall between piles considering horizontal soil arching effects

The horizontal soil arching effects between stabilizing piles are mainly used for determining the spacing of the piles, while they are rarely employed to calculate the load on the retaining wall between piles. In the current calculation methods, the load applying on the retaining wall is usually roughly evaluated by reducing the driving force acting on its nearby piles or increasing the value of shearing strength indices. These methods do not sufficiently consider the horizontal soil arching effects. To improve the calculation, the effects of horizontal soil arching on the loads acting on the retaining wall between piles are theoretically analyzed. The results show that the driving force at the apex of the soil arch should be taken as the load on the piles, and the load on the retaining wall is the active earth pressure induced by the soil in front of the arch. Based on the results, a new method for calculating the load is deduced by considering the horizontal soil arching effects. A railway cut slope stabilized by the retaining wall between piles is taken as an example to show the effects of the soil arching by calculating the load on the structures using the proposed method.