New approach for determining earth pressure in soil-nailing technology

The earth pressure on flexible structures in soil-nailing walls is neither in accordance with the preconditions of the traditional pressure theory, nor has suitable theories to apply. The earth pressure thus has to be evaluated by engineering experience. A new method is proposed for evaluation of the earth pressure by combining the upper bound solution with engineering data to show the characteristics in soil nailing so as to allow soil to move and mobilize the soil strength. The new method is applied to a composite wall for validation. The analytical results are found to be in agreement with the actual conditions. The earth pressure exists after the excavation depth exceeds the self-stabilizing height of the soil. Its value is related to the excavation depth, slope angle, soil properties and supporting structural settings. The proposed method is suitable for determining the earth pressure on soil-nailing walls, composite soil-nailing walls.