Lateral earth pressures in constrained landslides

Abstract

In addition to the explanation for the discussers' observation provided above, the authors would like to summarise the following key points (a) The paper under discussion treats the limiting pressure in constrained landslides, presuming a sufficient resistance of the constraining obstacle to bear this pressure. (b) A retaining structure with resistance lower than the landslide pressure does not act as an obstacle in a long-term consideration. Therefore, different mechanisms (e.g. mode W1 or W2) can be observed. In these cases, failure takes place mainly outside the sliding layer. Such failure modes were, however, not the subject of the original paper. (c) The flexural rigidity of the wall is not controlling the mode of failure (within small deformations) - it is the internal and external resistance of the wall with respect to the landslide pressure.