From “De la pression des terres et des revêtements” to the seismic analysis of retaining structures

In his Essai, Charles-Augustin Coulomb showed that the earth pressure on a retaining wall can be calculated maximising the force obtained by considering equilibrium and strength compatibility. This same approach is still of practical relevance in some design situations and, more importantly, its basic assumptions have paved the road for the numerous successive developments that lead, among other factors, to consideration of the changes in earth pressure induced by seismic forces. A modern approach to the seismic design of structures entails the evaluation of their performance under different shaking intensities, including seismic actions strong enough to activate the system resistance. This paper intends to show that the basic ingredients of the Coulomb's analysis, that is, equilibrium and strength compatibility, can be used in a rational way not only to predict limit values of the earth pressure, but also to evaluate the performance of retaining structures subjected to moderate and severe seismic actions.