For road improvement schemes in urban areas the restricted space available has led to an increase in the use of earth retaining structures for both permanent and temporary works. Such structures involve complex problems of soil-structure interaction which limit the accuracy of design predictions. The instrumentation and monitoring of full scale structures provides an essential element in research to improve understanding of retaining wall behaviour. This report describes a collaborative study carried out on a section of anchored sheet pile wall in granular soil. The wall formed part of the temporary works on the A1 trunk road improvement scheme at Hatfield in Hertfordshire. Information is provided on the pattern of ground movements, deflections and strains in the sheet piles and behaviour of the prestressed ground anchors during construction and over the ten month period when the wall was in service.
Abstract