Retaining wall type selection within a V-shaped deep valley

Two-dimensional (2D) numerical calculation is usually conducted to determine the type of the retaining wall for an embankment. However, such calculation method is not suitable for the retaining wall within a V-shaped deep valley: The retaining wall receives pressures both from the embankment above and the sides of the valley, thus conventional 2D method is inadequate to reflect its stress-deformation relationship. Three dimensional (3D) numerical calculation is proposed here to select a proper gravity retaining wall within a V-shaped deep valley. A 3D finite element gravity retaining wall model simulating a real project in China was established and two types of the retaining wall: linear and curved in axial line, are compared. The results show that, compared with the linear wall, the curved wall adjusts better to the modes of pressures imposed on it due to the complicated topography, and within the maximum tensile stress the curved wall can be designed to be thick in the middle and thinner on both sides.