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Civil Engineering/Retaining Wall Cracks

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Expert: - 9/25/2009


Question
sir i am doing project of building size 120.0mts*80.0mts .height of the slab is 4.50mt.the building slab is above 1.5 mt ground level just like a cellor slab surrounded by retaingwall flushed with the out side column edges.above the slab kirby structure will come. we obsered the vertical crackes in retaining wall almost in each span,wall & columns joints.span distance 6.5mt to 7.5mts.wall thickness is 175mm. there is no expansion joint in this building. give the solution& reason for cracks.

Answer
Hi Ramu,

Based on the limited info you have given, this sounds like an under-design of the retaining wall-certainly 175mm is too thin and possibly the rebar is also insufficient. Solutions could be to excavate outside and build some intermediate buttress supports at mid-spans between columns, or to scabble the inner surface of the walls and spray on (shotcrete) additional say 50-75mm concrete with additional rebar mesh.

If the retaining wall is mainly underground, then thermal movements will be minimal, so probably the problem is not related to lack of expansion joints (unless the cracks appeared before the soil was back-filled against the wall from the outside).

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Arshad Khan

Expertise

I can answer any questions to do with civil and structural engineering consultancy and construction industry in East Africa and the Middle East, and specifically with the analysis and design of reinforced concrete structures. My particular expertise is in the aseismic design and optimisation of tall buildings.

Experience

Employment history: 36 years in Construction and consultancy in the UK, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Africa, Somalia, Zambia, Austria, Bahrain, Kuwait, Doha and the U.A.E.

Organizations
.Fellow of Institution of Structural Engineers (UK) .Fellow of Institution of Civil Engineers(UK) .Member of the Institution of Engineers, Kenya .Registered Engineer, ERB, Kenya .Member of the Architectural Association of Kenya (Engineers Chapter) .Chartered Engineer (UK)

Publications
•1984: International Conference on the Art and Practice of Structural Design, London •1994: 3rd Int. Kerensky Conference in Structural Engineering, Singapore •2008: International Conference on High-Rise Towers, Abu Dhabi

Education/Credentials
BSc, 1st Class Hons, in Building Engineering, University of Bath, UK MSc in Concrete Structures and Technology, University of London. Diploma of Imperial College, UK.

Awards and Honors
•Science Congress Special Award (for 2-seater Hovercraft - 1968) •Institution of Civil Engineers Award for outstanding performance at Bath University (1975) •Concrete Society Postgraduate study Bursary Award (1976) •Consular Representative for British High Commission, Nairobi. (1995 to 1998) •Examiner for Institution of Civil Engineers Professional Interviews, Nairobi. (1997 to 1998) •Branch Representative in Vienna for PI assessment for Inst. of Struct. Engrs. (1999 to date)

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