Retaining & slopes · Embedded walls & sheeting

Braced excavation: apparent pressure & strut loads calculator

Peck apparent pressure for sand, soft or stiff clay and strut loads by tributary area.

Standard: Terzaghi & Peck apparent pressure diagrams

Inputs in the worked example

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

Diagram for the worked example

Ka = TAN(RADIANS(45-32/2))^2 = 0.30726
Apparent pressure (max) = CHOOSE(1,0.65*0.30726*19*9,MAX(0.3*19*9,19*9*(1-4*35/(19*9))),0.3*19*9) = 34.152 kPa
Total thrust (rect/trapezoid) = IF(1=1,34.152*9,34.152*9*0.75) = 307.37 kN/m
Average strut load Fh sh/ns = 307.37*4/3 = 409.82 kN
Stability number γH/su = 19*9/35 = 4.8857

Sheet pile / embedded wall — Embedment depth, anchor force and maximum bending moment for cantilever or single-anchored walls in granular…
Secant pile wall — Embedment and bending from the embedded-wall analysis, overlap and interlock thickness at the toe allowing…
Embedded retaining wall on elasto-plastic springs (staged, propped) — A sheet-pile, contiguous or secant wall modelled as a beam on springs that stay between active and passive…
Basal heave of an excavation in clay (Bjerrum–Eide) — FS = Nc su/(γH + q) with Skempton's Nc for the excavation geometry.
Lateral earth pressure — Active, passive or at-rest pressure diagram with water table, surcharge and cohesion.
Seismic earth pressure (Mononobe–Okabe) — Static and seismic active coefficients, thrusts and overturning moment on a retaining wall.

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