Colapso de un muro de contención construido con mampostería

Abstract

This study presents the analysis of a masonry retaining wall, typically built in Puerto Rico to stabilize and retain slopes. How safe and well built are these walls?. Have they the adequate resistance to efficiently retain the soil on which they were built? Confronted with these questions, a particular case was studied: a masonry wall that collapsed causing serious damage to an adjacent structure. An estimate of its resistance, taking in consideration the materials used for its construction, its own weight, its dimensions and the soil pressure, was realized. Using these data it was found that the theoretical cause of the collapse was the tilt, which was also confirmed with observation of the colapse.