Retaining & slopes · Reinforced soil & gabions

Gabion gravity wall calculator

Stepped gabion wall: weight from porosity, Coulomb active thrust with back-slope, sliding, overturning and base pressure.

Standard: Gravity wall statics · Coulomb active pressure

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Inputs in the worked example

The live calculator starts with these values; change any of them and every result, check and diagram updates instantly.

InputValueUnit
Wall height3m
Base width2.5m
Top width1.5m
Gabion porosity0.3
Rock unit weight26kN/m³
Backfill φ′32°
Backfill γ18kN/m³
Surcharge10kPa
Base friction tan δ0.55
Allowable bearing200kPa

Worked example — results

ResultValueUnit
Gabion unit weight γr(1 − n)18.20kN/m³
Weight (trapezoid)109.2kN/m
Weight lever from toe (back face vertical, stepped front)1.48m
Ka0.307
Pa = 0.5Ka γ H² + Ka q H34.11kN/m
Overturning moment38.71kNm/m
FS overturning4.17
FS sliding1.76
Eccentricity Bb/2 − (W xw − Mo)/W0.125m
qmax56.82kPa
Pa 34.1 kN/mBb 2.5 mBt 1.5 mH 3 mFS overturning 4.17 · sliding 1.76 · qmax 57 kPa00.5limit 1.0Bearing0.28 PASS
Diagram for the worked example

Method, formulas and assumptions

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For preliminary design and education. Check every result against the current standard and your own engineering judgement before use.