Abstract：According to the full-scale test，the theoretical value of earth pressure for lower wall of tiered reinforced earth retaining wall，based on the Boussinesq elastic theory，cannot accord well with tesing data. The result of limit equilibrium analysis shows that there are three different zones with distinct behaviours in the backfilled soil behind reinforced wall，that is，the active zone，the transition zone and the zero force zone. A new design method is proposed to calculate the additive vertical pressure of backfilled soil and the lateral earth pressure of lower wall for tiered reinforced earth retaining wall. In the method，the additive vertical pressure of backfilled soil is calculated first，and the lateral earth pressure of lower wall can be calculated based on the additive vertical pressure of backfilled soil. The comparison result with testing data shows that the proposed design method is correct and the results can be used as reference for similar retaining structure.
