Seismic active thrust due to backfill of general topographic profile

• The active thrust due to a backfill with an irregular topographic profile can be calculated.
• Pseudo static force and surcharges are also considered.
• An electronic sheet is attached for practical applications of the method.

This note presents an algorithm based on the pseudo-static method of Mononobe–Okabe for the calculation of the active thrust on retaining walls exerted by a backfill with a profile which is general in form. Line and strip surcharges are also considered. The solution is easy and a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet governed by a short code in Visual Basic for Applications is attached to the paper.