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PREFACE

Work on these guidelines was initiated at the suggestion of the late George W. Sowers, then chairperson of the Earth Retaining Structures Committee of the Geotechnical Engineering Division, at the ASCE 1970 Specialty Conference on Lateral Stresses in the Ground and Design of Earth Retaining Structures. The work was continued by successive committee chairpersons including: James P. Gould, Harry W. Schnabel, Thomas D. O'Rourke, Donald R. McMahon, Lawrence A. Hansen, and Richard J. Finno. It was originally intended to take the form of an ASCE manual, but the Committee found that consensus could not be reached among members representing different industry interests on many fundamental issues. Therefore, it was finally agreed that guidelines could best express the difference in viewpoints while allowing the user to choose an appropriate approach for a project without the constraints of a manual or a standard. These guidelines are intended for the use of the professional civil engineer involved in the work of a braced or tied-back excavation. This document is not a standard.

Many members of the Earth Retaining Structures Committee contributed comments and concepts to the making of the Guidelines. Those who were particularly helpful in providing text sections and in reviewing text sections include the following members: H. A. Aldrich, R. A. Alperstein, W. J. Armento, R. A. Bell, G. W. Clough, R. D. Darragh, J. P. Gould, L. A. Hansen, A. J. Nicholson, T. D. O'Rourke, H. W. Schnabel, W. L. Schroder, R. vanLeuwen, and D. Weatherby. Text preparation, figure preparation, and final editing of the report were performed by Mary J. S. Roth and Thomas F. Boni.