Retaining walls are structures used to hold the lateral pressure of sloped soil and to prevent its motion. These walls are made of stone, concrete, steel piles and also modern interlocking blocks. Retaining walls must be designed to resist sliding, uplifting and overturning. For increasing the stability and performance of these structures, they have to contain draining system to allow the water seepage. This cancels the thrust of hydrostatic pressure caused by water on the walls.
The lateral earth pressure behind the wall is called active pressure and on the other side called passive pressure. In the past, the retaining walls were large stones and big wood logs. Now there are many types and shapes depending on the cost, the nature of soil and on the place of the walls. The typical types of the retaining walls are four;
And for more stability, some techniques are used such as Soil nailing which is used to reinforce soil.
