Retaining Wall Field Condition Inspection, Rating Analysis, and Condition Assessment

In the past, highway retaining walls were assets that were often excluded from inventory programs and were regarded as noncritical or lost assets. With the recognition that wall failures may be detrimental to the roadway and the surroundings and may pose potential hazards to the safety of the public, several highway agencies have begun to incorporate retaining walls into their inventory and inspection programs. Work in this paper addresses the development of a system for the inventory and condition assessment of retaining walls serving various functions within the highway infrastructure. Critical elements of data collection are identified and a retaining wall information collection and assessment system (WICAS) is proposed. WICAS is designed such that data can be readily collected in the field. A condition assessment model is also proposed and is used to define a retaining wall rating metric. The rating system is designed so that those elements of a wall that are deemed to be in critical distress conditions are readily identified and not overlooked through the presentation of an overall average rating for the entire wall.