Structural remodelling of existing wall to function as anchored retaining wall - design case study

摘要

As part of the development of an inner city site including several pre-existing buildings, it was necessary to demolish a three storey municipal building, the rear wall of which was integrated into a reinforced concrete retaining structure. This paper describes processes followed to provide an economic and safe design for the reinforced concrete retaining wall. The iterative nature of the wall support design approach incorporated support from ground anchors; the locations, working loads and inclinations of which were optimized to avoid distress to the wall. Wall displacements were monitored during the demolition of the building, anchor installation and stressing. These show clearly the wall response to removal of support and subsequent application of anchor working loads. Based on the wall response it was concluded that the design approach was appropriate. Rigorous anchor testing demonstrated that the design anchor free and fixed lengths were appropriate.