Soils are very important in the design and installation of SRWs. Soils support walls, load walls, and in the case of reinforced walls, are part of the wall systems. Design of SRWs varies greatly depending on soils. With proper design, SRWs can be constructed in a wide variety of soil conditions.

There are four main soil zones involved in SRW design (right). They are:

• Foundation Soil
• Reinforced Soil
• Retained Soil
• Impervious Soil

Identifying and using the correct soil type in each of these zones is critical to wall performance.

Soils continued on next page