Development of a Validated Methodology for Seismic Analysis and Design of Standard and Pile Supported Retaining Walls

Existing California Department of Transportation's (Caltrans) design procedures for retaining walls are force-based. Preliminary studies using land and resistance factor design (LRFD)-based design procedures suggest this approach may be overly conservative. In addition, the current design method does not provide guidelines for pile-supported walls. Therefore, new analysis and design procedures are needed, which should be displacement-based. The analysis models/methods should be validated with existing experimental (laboratory, field, and centrifuge) data sets, and verified against detailed three-dimensional finite element models. They also should be readily applicable to Caltrans practice.