Question

When a retaining structure moves towards the soil backfill, the stress condition is called:__________.

(A) at rest state,
(B) active state.
(C) passive state.
(D) both (B) and (C)

Answer 1

(C) passive state.

Step-by-step explanation:

The earth pressure is the pressure exerted by the soil on the shoring system. They are three types of earth pressure which are:

a) Rest state: In this state, the retaining wall is stationary, this makes the lateral stress to be zero.

b) Active state: In this state, the wall moves away from the back fill, this leads to an internal resistance. Hence the active earth pressure is less than earth pressure at rest

c) Passive state: In this state the wall is pushed towards the back fill, this leads to shearing resistance. Hence, the passive earth pressure is greater than earth pressure at rest