Retaining structures

Retaining structures are an integral part of most projects involving buildings, bridges, underground structures, and other structures. They are used to create space and change the topography of a site. Gravity walls, cantilevered walls, and mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls are the most common types of retaining structures. Retaining structures must be safe against overturning, sliding, bearing capacity failures, and general stability failures. MSE walls must also be safe against reinforcement breakage and pull out. This chapter covers methods to perform all of these checks.