ABSTRACT
This paper critically examines the transition from EN1998-5:2004 to prEN1998-5:2023 in the context of calculating lateral earth pressures. The Mononobe-Okabe method, a long-standing normative approach, is replaced by a new informative method in the latest draft standard. This study explores the implications of this change, assessing the conservatism of both methods, their treatment of cohesive soils, sloping backfill, the negative square root problem, and the impact of wall roughness. The paper highlights the potential challenges and considerations that engineers may face with the adoption of the new standard.
