Sheet Pile Quay Wall Safety: Investigation of Post tensioned Anchor Failures

This paper examines the collapse of an important port structure and analyses the causes of failure. In particular, a length of newly constructed anchored sheet pile wall exhibited very large displacements at the crest, which clearly indicated that a failure condition had been reached within the retained ground. On removal of the failing soil and inspection of the structure, all the barrel/wedge anchors were found to be devoid of the strands they should have been holding. Observations and testing on such components led to the conclusion that sliding of the wedge system within the barrel had actually been inhibited by two main causes: on one hand, corrosion of the metal surfaces, which is in part predictable in a marine environment and, on the other, the presence of cement mortar which blocked the wedge components in place.