Decades have passed since the publication of an entire book on the subject of earth pressure. For this purpose, refer for example to “Erddrucktheorien” by Árpád Kézdi from 1962 or to part II of the series on excavations by Anton Weißenbach from 1975, which essentially includes earth pressure issues although in this case mainly concerned with its application for excavation walls. In the meantime, the topic has been treated repeatedly as part of works in the fields of soil mechanics and foundation engineering, see for example “Bodenmechanik” by Gerd Gudehus from 1981 or the contributions to the “Grundbau‐Taschenbuch”. Despite the importance of earth pressure theories in structural engineering, the current view has not been written yet. Many analytical applications have proved useful for decades. In recent years, the Finite‐Element Method has been added as a new tool, and in practice, the displacement dependency of earth pressure has to be considered in more detail.

Essentially, this book has three major themes. Firstly, to make a set of working instructions available to civil and structural engineers in construction companies, engineering firms and design departments as well as students. This is supplemented with comments on the current earth pressure standard of 2017 and the collection of samples from 2018. Then current methods for determining earth pressure are presented in detail. However, a basic understanding of today's common theories and rules is hardly conceivable without a thorough study of history. The first empirical design rules were already known to the Romans; hints can be found in the publications by Vitruvius. Today's theories began in France more than three centuries ago and are closely associated with French military engineers. The third major theme is therefore dedicated to historical development, complemented by the biographies of selected researchers who have made significant contributions to the subject of earth pressure.

Without the support of assistants, it is hardly possible to complete a book. Jan Deutschmann has provided untiring, quick and competent support, as well as Marcel Deckert, Ingmar Zehn and Annette Richter. Furthermore, the publisher Ernst & Sohn supported the idea for the present book and its implementation from the very beginning.

References

1. Gudehus, G. (1981). Bodenmechanik. Stuttgart:Enke.
2. Kézdi, A. (1962). Erddrucktheorien. Berlin, Göttingen. Heidelberg: Springer.
3. Weißenbach, A. (1985). Baugruben, Teil II, Berechnungsgrundlagen, 1. Nachdruck. Berlin: Ernst & Sohn.

The topic of earth pressure is considered one of the oldest and most extensive chapters in soil mechanics and foundation engineering. It is also one of the three pillars of structural engineering together with arch theory and beam theory. The first written sources, dating back to Vitruvius, are more than 2000 years old and therefore much older than the well‐known theories of Coulomb (1773/1776) or Rankine (1857). In the first and sixth volume of his ten books, Vitruvius deals with the mode of action of earth pressure on retaining walls and proposes buttresses. Vauban, one of the greatest engineers in history, already published design tables for retaining walls with heights of up to 15 m in 1684, which cannot be bettered even today. The development of the earth pressure theory is described in detail in chapter 2 which is based on the extended edition of “The History of the Theory of Structures. Searching for Equilibrium” by Kurrer (2018). The present book can only include a limited selection of current design methods. The aim of the book is to provide a set of work instructions for foundation engineers and structural engineers in construction companies, engineering consultancies and in design departments, but also for students. In order to further theoretical understanding, the essential principles for determining earth pressure are initially presented in chapter 3. Chapters 4 to 12 contain the most important methods of determining active and passive earth pressure as well as at‐rest earth pressure. In chapters 7 and 8, the spatial effects of earth pressure are taken into account. One concern of this book is to give a short overview of non‐everyday questions and to refer to further literature (see chapter 14). In recent years, the displacement dependency of earth pressure has increasingly come into view. This applies not only to passive but also to active cases (see chapter 15). The book offers also instructions for practical application in chapter 16 and is supplemented by earth pressure tables for the most important basic cases.

Many questions were submitted to the DIN Committee “calculation methods”, and a selection of these is discussed in the commentary to DIN 4085 in chapter 17. In the last section of this chapter, references are provided to the examples in the supplement to DIN 4085, which was published in December 2018.

The history of earth pressure theory in chapter 2 includes a few selected short biographies of scientists and engineers working in the field who have taken up and developed the subject over the centuries, see chapter 18. The book is supplemented by two appendices with terms, symbols and indices (Appendix A) and earth pressure tables in Appendix B. For historical reasons, the current terms and formulas in chapters 3 to 17 and in the Appendices may differ from the original terms in chapter 2.

References

1. 1773/1776 Coulomb, C.A. (1773/1776). Essai sur une application des règles des Maximis et Minimis à quelques Problèmes de statique relatifs à l'Architecture. In: Mémoires de mathématique & de physique, présentés à l'Académie Royale des Sciences par divers savans, Vol. 7, année 1773, 343–382. Paris.
2. 2018 Kurrer, K.‐E. (2018). The History of the Theory of Structures. Searching for Equilibrium. Construction History Series (Ed. by K.‐E. Kurrer and W. Lorenz). Berlin: Ernst & Sohn.
3. 1857 Rankine, W.J.M. (1857). On the Stability of Loose Earth. Philosophical Transactions of the London Royal Society 147: 9–27.