Lateral soil pressure between basement and soil nail
Lateral soil pressure between basement and soil nail
(OP)
We are involved in a building project with a sloped site that has grades in the 1.5:1 range. The preliminary proposal for handling excavation on the up-slope side is to excavate using soil nailing, and then place a basement wall approximately 10 feet in front of the soil nail wall. The soil nail cut would be in the 20 - 30 foot range. It is then proposed to backfill the 10 foot space behind the basement wall which would support 15 - 20 foot of unbalanced fill. The reason for not using the soil nail wall as the basement wall is due to numerous wall offsets.
Is anyone aware of any guidance on reduced lateral soil pressure due to the wall only having soil in the 10' space behind it? Would the only lateral pressure it would see be from a wedge failure that could develop within that 10 foot space?
Thanks
Is anyone aware of any guidance on reduced lateral soil pressure due to the wall only having soil in the 10' space behind it? Would the only lateral pressure it would see be from a wedge failure that could develop within that 10 foot space?
Thanks





RE: Lateral soil pressure between basement and soil nail
There's a great new FHWA manual on the SMSE (Shored Mechanically Stabilized Earth) procedure. A good source of advice is the Jim Collin of The Collin Group (Bethesda, MD) who co-authored the FHWA report. Try EarthTec (Leesburg, VA) or Tensar (Atlanta, GA) for practical advice as they have experience in this kind of work. Depending on where you are, you might even be able to find a geotech contractor who could package the whole thing for you.
RE: Lateral soil pressure between basement and soil nail
I'd still like to see what others may think about a reduced pressure. I don't believe in this case we'd need to design for the full pressure?
Thanks
RE: Lateral soil pressure between basement and soil nail