Design and Construction of Stone Masonry Retaining Walls – A Quick Guide

Foreword
The Department of Engineering Services is pleased to bring out the
“Design and Construction of Gravity Stone Masonry Retaining
Walls: A Quick Guide” for the benefit of all engineers and builders.
Though stone masonry retaining walls are simple structures and
commonly built in every nook and corner of the country for various
earth retaining purposes, yet many problems are encountered in the
field as a result of either improper design or poor quality
constructions. These problems arise mainly due to the fact that
engineers in the field are bogged down with numerous
responsibilities and often do not find time to carry out proper design.
Also during execution, negligence of some important aspects such as
drainage and use of inferior materials add to the issues.
This Quick Guide is aimed at providing guidance to designers so that
site specific design calculations can be done. Further standard
designs are also provided which can be followed for normal soil
conditions. For all important projects, site specific designs should be
carried out and the standard designs shall only be used as a
reference.
I hope this guideline would be of some benefit to all our engineers.

Tenzin
Director

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Design and Construction of Stone Masonry Retaining Walls – A Quick Guide
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ....................................................................................... 1

2. Scope ................................................................................................... 2

3. Typical Failure Modes Of Retaining Walls .................................... 2

4. Bearing Capacity Of Soil .................................................................. 3

5. Design Criteria................................................................................... 5

6. Preliminary Design Of Cement Masonry Walls ............................. 6

7. Standard Designs ............................................................................... 8

8. Other Considerations ........................................................................ 9

8.1 DEPTH OF FOUNDATION ................................................................. 9

8.2 DRAINAGE ....................................................................................... 9
8.3 DIP OF FOUNDATION BASE ........................................................... 11
8.4 LENGTH OF WALL......................................................................... 11
8.5 STEPPING OF WALL BASE ............................................................. 11
8.6 THROUGH-STONES / BONDING ELEMENT ..................................... 12
8.7 CEMENT MORTAR ......................................................................... 13
8.8 CURING ......................................................................................... 13
8.9 AESTHETICS .................................................................................. 14

9. Sample Calculations ........................................................................ 16

10. References ........................................................................................ 22

11. Technical Committee Composition................................................ 23

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Design and Construction of Stone Masonry Retaining Walls – A Quick Guide

1. Introduction
Stone masonry retaining walls are gravity type retaining walls
commonly used to retain earth or fill materials and basically retains
earth pressures by virtue of its self-weight.
Gravity type stone masonry retaining walls are basic and simple
structures which are commonly built with locally available stones. It
can be built to varying shapes and sizes, provided proper design
procedure is followed. However, beyond 6m height, stone masonry
walls becomes un-economical as it requires large base widths.
Most often retaining walls are designed for static loads and not for
seismic forces as it is easier to repair failed walls. In this guideline,
standard designs have been provided for static loads only. It is
expected to provide quick guidance to engineers in the field both in
terms of design and construction. However, it should be noted that
engineers should verify design based on actual site conditions and
the standard designs provided in this guide should be used only as a
reference. Further, other considerations such as drainage, foundation
requirements, through stones etc. improves the functioning of the
wall and appropriate provisions shall be specified in the design.

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Design and Construction of Stone Masonry Retaining Walls – A Quick Guide

2. Scope
This guideline provides the fundamentals of design of stone masonry
retaining walls. The main purpose is to provide standard designs of
stone masonry retaining wall that can be easily followed by
engineers in the field. It should be noted that the standard designs
are provided only for heights up to 6m as it becomes uneconomical
beyond this height.
However, these standard designs should be adopted with caution
depending on actual site conditions. For all important projects,
engineers are required to carry out site specific design calculations.

3. Typical Failure Modes of Retaining Walls

Retaining walls normally fail due to any of the following failure
modes.
i. Overturning – when the overturning moments exceed the
resisting moment offered by the components of the wall, it
fails due to overturning.
ii. Sliding – when the frictional resistance offered by the wall
components is less than the lateral earth pressure, wall will be
moved from its original position and it fails due to sliding.
iii. Bearing pressure- when the base pressure exerted, exceeds
the safe bearing capacity of the soil, the wall fails due to
bearing pressure.

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Design and Construction of Stone Masonry Retaining Walls – A Quick Guide

Figure 1: Typical Retaining Wall Section

4. Bearing Capacity of Soil

The type of soil and its bearing capacity plays a vital role in the
stability of the retaining walls. It is recommended that proper soil
tests be carried out before designing of any retaining wall. However
in the absence of soil data for design, the safe bearing capacity may
be assumed as per table 1 of IS 14458 (part 2): 1997 which is given
below:

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Design and Construction of Stone Masonry Retaining Walls – A Quick Guide

Table 1: Safe Bearing Capacity of Different Types of Soil

Type of Bearing Material Symbol Consistency of Recommended
place value of SBC
(ton/m2)
Well graded mixture of fine GW-GC, Very Compact 100
and coarse grained soil, GC, SC
glacial till, hard pan,
boulder clay
Gravel, gravel-sand GW, GP Very compact 80
mixtures, boulder gravel SW, SP Medium to compact 60
mixtures Loose 40
Coarse to medium sand, SW, SP Very compact 40
sand with little gravel Medium to compact 30
Loose 30
Fine to medium sand, silty SW, SM, Very compact 30
or clayey medium to coarse SC Medium to compact 25
sand Loose 15
Homogeneous inorganic CL, CH Very stiff to hard 40
clay, sandy or silty clay Medium to stiff 20
Soft 5
Inorganic silt, sandy or ML, MH Very stiff to hard 30
clayey silt, varied silt-clay- Medium to stiff 15
fine sand Soft 5

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Design and Construction of Stone Masonry Retaining Walls – A Quick Guide

5. Design Criteria
In design of stone masonry retaining walls, first the anticipated
loads on the structure should be considered and then evaluate
the safety of the structure based on standard criteria.
The loads to be considered in the design are:
 Self-weight of the structure;
 Imposed dead loads and live loads if any;
 Earth pressures
 Seismic loads if it is to be designed for earthquakes forces
 Pore-water pressure
 Surcharge loads if any
 Special loads if any
The structure then should be evaluated for safety using following
criteria:
a) Factor of Safety against overturning > 2.0 for static loads
>1.5 with seismic forces
b) Factor of safety against sliding >1.5 for static loads
>1.0 with seismic forces
c) Maximum base pressure ≤ qa(allowable bearing capacity)
≤ 1.33 qa(during earthquakes)
d) Minimum base pressure > 0 (zero)
e) Factory of safety against floatation > 1.25
f) for steep hills, factor of safety for slip surface > 1.5 static
> 1.0 seismic

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Design and Construction of Stone Masonry Retaining Walls – A Quick Guide

Notes:
1. Retaining walls are generally designed for static loads without
considering seismic loads. The reason being, the failed retaining
walls are easy to repair than going for heavy and costly walls
considering seismic forces.
2. For checking overturning and sliding, live and imposed loads
adding to the stability of the structure shall not be considered.

6. Preliminary Design of Cement Masonry Walls

As per table 1 of IS 14458 (Part 1):1998, preliminary dimensions
shall be calculated as follows:

Table 2: Preliminary Design of Wall

Top Width (Tw) 0.5m to 1.0m

Base width (Bw) 0.6H to 0.65H
Front Batter 10:1
Inward dip of foundation Horizontal or 1:6
Foundation depth below drain 0.5m to 1.0m
Range of Height 1m to 10m
Hill slope angle 350 to 600
Toe protection in case of soft soil Boulder pitching

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Design and Construction of Stone Masonry Retaining Walls – A Quick Guide

Figure 2: Pressure Distribution at the base

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Design and Construction of Stone Masonry Retaining Walls – A Quick Guide

7. Standard Designs
Table 3: Soil Properties considered/assumed for standard
designs

Soil Properties considered/Assumed

Unit Weight of Soil γm 17 KN/m3
Unit Weight of Masonry γs 24 KN/m3
Angle of Repose φ 30 °
Angle of internal friction φi 30 °
Coefficient of friction μ 0.6

Table 4: Standard Design without Surcharge

Standard Designs

SBC 80 KN/m2 SBC 100 KN/m2 SBC 150 KN/m2

sl no Height (m) Base Width (m) Top Width (m) Base Width (m) Top Width (m) Base Width (m) Top Width (m)
1 1 0.5 0.45 0.5 0.45 0.5 0.45
2 2 0.9 0.5 0.9 0.5 0.9 0.5
3 3 1.5 0.5 1.4 0.6 1.4 0.6
4 4 2.3 0.6 2.1 0.6 2 0.6
5 5 3.2 0.75 2.9 0.75 2.5 0.75
6 6 4.3 1 3.8 1 3.1 1
Note:
i) SBC= Safe Bearing Capacity of soil
ii) All dimensions are in meters

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Design and Construction of Stone Masonry Retaining Walls – A Quick Guide

Table 5: Standard Design with soil surcharge load

0
Surcharge angle upto 15
SBC 80 SBC 100 SBC 150
sl no Height Base width Top width Base width Top width Base width Top width
1 1 0.5 0.45 0.5 0.45 0.5 0.45
2 2 0.9 0.5 0.9 0.5 0.9 0.5
3 3 1.55 0.5 1.55 0.5 1.55 0.5
4 4 2.2 0.6 2.2 0.6 2.2 0.6
5 5 3.85 0.8 3.5 0.8 2.65 0.8
6 6 4.9 1 4.7 1 4.1 1
Note:
i) surcharge load implies load from the soil surcharge which
is assumed as a sloping angle as shown in figure 1.
ii) All dimensions are in meters

8. Other Considerations

8.1 Depth of Foundation

Depth of foundation shall be at least 500mm below the firm ground
level. For unusual soil conditions, foundation shall be designed as
per IS 1080 and IS 1904.

8.2 Drainage
Drainage is an important aspect of retaining wall construction. For
proper functioning of the wall, following drainage provisions shall
be provided:

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Design and Construction of Stone Masonry Retaining Walls – A Quick Guide

i. weep holes of 100x100mm opening shall be provided

at 1.5m interval and should be staggered both horizontally
and vertically. Alternatively pipes of equivalent area may be
used.

Figure 3: Picture Showing Weep Holes, Separation Gap and

Bonding Element
ii. 400-500mm width of filter media composed of good quality
stones (50mm – 100mm) shall be provided. And in addition to
above filtration media, geo-textile or bamboo mats are
recommended.

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Design and Construction of Stone Masonry Retaining Walls – A Quick Guide

8.3 Dip of foundation base

The dip of foundation base towards hill side increases
the factor of safety against sliding significantly and
therefore it is recommended to provide a dip of 6: 1
(horizontal : vertical) as shown in figure 1.

8.4 Length of Wall

A separation gap of 50-100mm shall be provided at
maximum of 10m length of wall. Also gaps shall be
provided at bends and junctions.

8.5 Stepping of wall base

The wall base shall not be stepped except when the wall
rests on rock foundation. When foundation rests on rock,
the foundation may be stepped as per the clause 6.2 of IS
14458 (part 2) as shown in figure 4:

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Design and Construction of Stone Masonry Retaining Walls – A Quick Guide

Figure 4: Stepping of Wall base on Rocks

8.6 Through-Stones / Bonding Element

Through stones shall be provided at every 1.0m interval both
horizontally and vertically throughout the length and height
of the wall. In the absence of through stones, reinforced
concrete blocks of 100mmx100mm shall be used as shown in
figure5.The through-stones or bonding element shall be
staggered both horizontally and vertically. Figure 3 shows the
front elevation of wall with bonding element.

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Design and Construction of Stone Masonry Retaining Walls – A Quick Guide

Figure 5: Reinforced Concrete Bonding Element

8.7 Cement Mortar

Cement mortar ratio of 1:5(cement : Sand) or richer shall be
provided.

8.8 Curing
When cementer mortar is used, the wall shall be properly
cured for a minimum of two weeks to attain good bonding
strength.

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Design and Construction of Stone Masonry Retaining Walls – A Quick Guide

8.9 Aesthetics
The stability and safety are of primary concerns. However,
depending on site conditions and location, retaining walls
shall be aesthetically appealing as well.

Figure 6: Sample Picture of Retaining Wall with Weep holes and

separation gap

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Design and Construction of Stone Masonry Retaining Walls – A Quick Guide

Figure 7: Sample wall with PVC pipes as weep holes

Figure 8: Sample Pictures with neat stone face

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Design and Construction of Stone Masonry Retaining Walls – A Quick Guide

9. Sample Calculations
a) Sample calculation for 4 m high stone masonry retaining wall
without surcharge load with following data. Refer figure 9 for
pressure distribution diagram. The dimensions of walls can be
taken from preliminary design and check for standard
criterion.
Table 6: Input Data for Sample Calculation (a)

Sl No Component Symbol Value Unit

1 Height H 4 m

2 Base Width Bw or b 2.1 m

3 Top Width Tw 0.6 m

4 Unit Weight of Soil 𝛾𝑠 17 KN/m3

5 Unit Weight of Masonry 𝛾𝑚 24 KN/m3

6 Angle of Repose ∅ 30 degrees

7 Coefficient of friction 𝜇 0.6

8 Safe bearing capacity SBC 150 KN/m2

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Design and Construction of Stone Masonry Retaining Walls – A Quick Guide

Figure 9: Distribution of Forces- Sample calculation (a)

Active earth pressure coefficient without surcharge

(1 − 𝑠𝑖𝑛∅)
𝐾𝑎 =
(1 + 𝑠𝑖𝑛∅)

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 Design and Construction of Stone Masonry Retaining Walls – A Quick Guide

Design Calculation for Stone Masonry in Cement Mortar

sl no Load Magnitude (KN) Distance from Toe (m) B.M about Toe (KN-m) Remarks
1 W1 0.6*4*24 57.60 1.80 103.68
2 W2 0.5*(2.1-0.6)*4*24 72.00 1.00 72.00
∑W 129.60 175.68 ∑M R

3 Ph Ph= Ka*γ*H2 /2 45.33 1.33 60.44 M O

a) Check Against Overturning:

∑M R /Mo ≥2.0 2.91 Safe

b) Check Against Sliding:

μ∑W/Ph ≥1.55 1.72 Safe

c) Check for Bearing Pressure:

x = (Resultant Moment at toe)/∑W 0.89
e = (Bw/2-x) 0.16

𝑚 = 1+

33.35 Safe
𝑚 = 1−

90.07 Safe
Horizontal Earth Pressure Ph= Ka*γ*H2 /2 act at H/3 from wall base
∑W is the total vertical load
∑M R is the total restoring moment
M O is the total overturning moment
μ is the coeff. Of friction between wall and soil interface taken as 0.6

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Design and Construction of Stone Masonry Retaining Walls – A Quick Guide

b) Sample calculation for 5m high stone masonry retaining wall

with soil surcharge of 15ᶿ. Refer figure 10 for pressure
distribution diagram. The dimensions of wall can be obtained
from preliminary design and check for standard criterion.
Table 7: Input Data for sample calculation (b)

Sl No Component Symbol Value Unit

1 Height H 5 m
2 Base Width Bw or b 2.65 m
3 Top Width Tw 0.8 m
4 Unit Weight of Soil 𝛾𝑠 17 KN/m3
5 Unit Weight of Masonry 𝛾𝑚 24 KN/m3
6 Angle of Repose 𝜑 30 degrees
7 Coefficient of friction 𝜇 0.6
8 Safe bearing capacity SBC 150 KN/m2
9 angle of surcharge 𝛽 15 degrees

Active earth pressure coefficient with sloping surcharge

𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛽 − (√𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 𝛽 − 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 ∅)
𝐾𝑎 = cos 𝛽
𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛽 + (√𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 𝛽 − 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 ∅)

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Design and Construction of Stone Masonry Retaining Walls – A Quick Guide

Figure 10: Distribution of Forces - sample calculation (b)

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Design and Construction of Stone Masonry Retaining Walls – A Quick Guide

Design Calculation for Stone Masonry in Cement Mortar with surcharge angle of 15ᶿ
Distance from B.M about
sl no Load Magnitude (KN) Toe (m) Toe (KN-m) Remarks
1 W1 0.8x5x24 96.00 2.25 216.00
2 W2 0.5x(2.65-0.8)x5x24 111.00 1.23 136.90
∑W 207.00 352.90 ∑M R

2
3 Ph Ph= Ka*γ*H *Cos(β)/2 79.25 1.67 132.09 M O

a) Check Against Overturning:

∑M R /Mo ≥2.0 2.67 Safe

b) Check Against Sliding:

μ∑W/Ph ≥1.55 1.57 Safe
c) Check for Bearing Pressure:
x = (Resultant Moment at toe)/∑W 1.07
e = (b/2-x) 0.26

𝑚 = 1−
31.48 Safe

𝑚 = 1+
134.12 Safe
2
Horizontal Earth Pressure Ph= Ka*γ*H /2 act at
H/3 from wall base
∑W is the total vertical load
∑M R is the total restoring moment
M O is the total overturning moment
μ is the coeff. Of friction between wall and soil interface taken as 0.6

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Design and Construction of Stone Masonry Retaining Walls – A Quick Guide

10. References
 IS 14458:Part 1: Guidelines for Retaining Wall for hilly area:
Part 1: Selection of Type of Walls
 IS 14458:Part 2: Guidelines for Retaining Wall for hilly area:
Part 2: Design of retaining/breast walls
 IS 14458:Part 3: Guidelines for Retaining Wall for hilly area:
Part 3: Construction of Dry stone walls
 Guidelines on use of Standard Work Items for Common
Road Works 2010, Department of Roads, MoWHS
 Basic and Applied Soil Mechanics, Gopal Ranjan& A.S.R
Rao
 Design of Reinforced Concrete Structures, S. Ramamrutham

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Design and Construction of Stone Masonry Retaining Walls – A Quick Guide

11. Technical Committee Composition

Technical Working Core Group members
1. Mr. Palden Khandu, Executive Engineer, Thimphu Thromde
2. Mr. Karchung, General Manager, NHDCL
3. Mr. Dillip Thapa, Executive Engineer, DoR, MoWHS
4. Ms. Kezang Deki, Executive Engineer, DES, MoWHS
5. Mr. Sonam Yangdhen, Dy. Executive Engineer, DES, MoWHS
6. Mr. Dechen Norbu, Dy. Executive Engineer, DES, MoWHS
7. Mr. Choki Tashi, Dy. Executive Engineer, DES, MoWHS – Team
Leader

Technical Review Group

1. Mr. Tenzin, Director, DES, MoWHS
2. Mr. Phub Rinzin, Chief Engineer, ESD, DES, MoWHS
3. Mr. Karma Namgyel, Chief Engineer, EARRD, MoWHS
4. Mr. Karma Jamtsho, District Engineer, Thimphu Dzongkhag
5. Mr. Jigme Dorji, Executive Engineer, Thimphu Thromde
6. Ms. Dago Zangmo, Executive Engineer, EARRD, DES, MoWHS

Cover page design and graphic editing by Mr. Tshering Norbu,

Architect and Mr. Tempa Gyeltshen, Architect, DES, MoWHS

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