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Then, 
Therefore,  can be estimated. This gives the variation of the earth pressure intensity along the depth. As the variation of earth pressure is known, earth pressure diagram can be plotted and point of application of the resultant earth pressure can be found. |
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The assumption made by Coulomb is justified in case of retaining walls, because no retaining wall can fail without yielding in a manner that satisfies the deformation condition for the plastic state. Coulomb, however, did not satisfy this deformation condition. As a consequence, the theory was commonly used for computing the earth pressures against the lateral supports that did not satisfy the deformation condition, such as bracing in open cut. |
