Volex Labs / Calculations / Sheet pile retaining wall design.

Sheet pile retaining wall design.

Enter the retained height, soil parameters and water table, and Volex Anvil computes the active and passive earth pressures, the embedment depth for equilibrium with a factor of safety on passive resistance, and the maximum bending moment used to select the sheet pile section.

The limit-equilibrium method uses Rankine earth-pressure theory, cross-checked against Craig's 'Soil Mechanics' and Bond & Harris, 'Decoding Eurocode 7'. Pressures, embedment and Mmax are all shown for checking.

Run this calculation free → See the verification

Free account · 10 calculations/month · no card required · Pro £29/month

What Volex Anvil checks

Active / passive coefficients Ka, Kp — Rankine
Net available passive resistance with FoS — Craig §11
Required embedment depth — limit equilibrium
Maximum bending moment Mmax
Section modulus / section selection

Validated against the published example

Cantilever sheet pile wall — Rankine earth pressures and Mmax Rankine (1857); Craig 'Soil Mechanics' §11.7; Bond & Harris Ch 12

Quantity	Published	Volex Anvil	Error
Active coefficient Ka (φ=30°)	0.333	0.333	0.00%
Maximum bending moment Mmax	130.0 kNm/m	130.0 kNm/m	0.00%

This case is one of 359 published checks the platform passes — the full table, with every source and every error, is public at volexlabs.com/verification.

Frequently asked

Cantilever or propped?

Both — cantilever walls are designed by rotation about a point near the toe; propped walls by the free-earth-support method with the prop reaction reported.

How is the factor of safety applied?

A factor of safety is applied to the passive resistance (a common UK approach); the net pressure diagram and embedment follow from limit equilibrium per Craig §11.

What is it validated against?

The Rankine coefficients and maximum bending moment are checked against Craig and Bond & Harris — within 0.00%.

Is it free?

Yes — 10 calculations a month free with clause references; Pro (£29/month) adds unlimited runs and PDF calc sheets.

Related calculations

Retaining wall design, checked the classical way Driven pile capacity design to Eurocode 7 Pad foundation design to Eurocode 7

Check it in the code, not in a black box.

Every result carries its clause references. Free tier, results in seconds.

Try Volex Anvil free →