To ascertain seismic response of retaining wall in the Wenchuan earthquake, large shaking table tests are performed and an acceleration record is acted in 3 directions. In the tests, acceleration time history recorded at Wolong station in the Wenchuan earthquake is used to excite the model wall. Results from the tests show that the location of dynamic resultant earth pressure is 0.35–0.49 H from toe of the wall for road shoulder retaining wall on rock foundation, 0.33–0.42 H for embankment retaining wall on rock foundation, and 0.46–0.77 H for road shoulder retaining wall on soil foundation. Besides, dynamic earth pressure increases with the increase of ground shaking from 0.1 g to 0.9 g and the relationship is nonlinear. The distribution is closed to for PGA less than 0.4 g but larger for PGA larger than and equal to 0.4 g, especially on the soil foundation. After the comparison of measured earth pressures and theoretical results by pseudodynamic method and pseudostatic method, results of the former are consistent with those of the shaking table test, but results of the latter method are smaller than measured.

To understand the mechanism of the earth structure damage, a wide range of investigations along roads in seismic hazard areas have been carried out after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. In this paper, the results from 41 roads investigated are presented, and the 41 roads are located in 7-11 intensity zones and consist of rural/county roads, province roads and state roads in Sichuan province. According to the investigation, the types of damaged slopes and retaining walls are classified and statistical analyses are performed. In the statistical analyses, various impact factors to seismic slope and retaining wall damage were studied, such as slope inclination, height of slope and retaining wall, site conditions, and seismic intensity. In addition, some relationships were developed, including the quantity of damaged slopes with slope inclination and height, the angle between route and fault rupture directions, and site conditions. Finally, some reasonable suggestions are put forward on the designs and constructions of slopes and retaining walls when they are subject to seismic activity.

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