Nowadays, retaining walls reinforced with geosynthetics are already an accepted alternative to gravity walls and other conventional retaining structures. Design of these structures has also evolved, and there are several design methods capable of verifying the global stability of the structure – limit equilibrium methods. However, geosynthetic reinforcement elements are extensible and therefore they work through the soil-reinforcement interface that develops due to the deformation of the wall itself and its elements. This deformation needs to be controlled to avoid functional and structural problems. The study described in this work aims to evaluate the feasibility of a proposed method to calculate the face deformation and pressures acting on the rear face of brick retaining walls reinforced with geosynthetics. The expeditious method was applied to walls with different characteristics presented in literature. The calculated horizontal deformations of the face compares well with those measured in the walls. It can be concluded that the method under consideration can be a good option for future research and practical applications, since the alternative and commonly used solution – numerical modelling – is far more complex and expensive.
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