Deep Excavation

"Designing a Gravity Wall… but Missing the Full Stability Picture?

Many retaining wall designs look fine— until you check all failure modes together.

Sliding.
Overturning.
Bearing capacity.
Slope stability behind the wall.

And that’s where things often get overlooked.

In this video, I walk through how to model and analyze a gravity (inverted T) retaining wall in RetainEX, including:

✔ Full wall geometry definition
✔ Realistic soil stratigraphy
✔ External surcharge loading
✔ Staged construction
✔ Integrated slope stability analysis (GLE method)

We don’t just stop at pressures and moments.

We also check:
• Sliding, overturning & bearing safety
• Critical slope failure surface
• Global stability safety factor

Because a wall that works structurally… can still fail geotechnically.

Do you typically include slope stability in your retaining wall checks?

"

"Designing Helical / Displacement Piles? Are You Checking Everything That Matters?

Helical and drilled displacement piles are often chosen for efficiency.

But design isn’t always straightforward.

You need to evaluate:
• Compression and uplift capacity
• Installation torque
• Lateral performance
• Structural stresses
• Soil–pile interaction

And missing one of these… can lead to unsafe or overly conservative designs.

In this video, I walk through the full analysis of a Stelcor drilled-in-displacement pile in DeepFND:

✔ Real soil stratigraphy & spring properties
✔ Helical plate configuration & grouted section
✔ Multi-stage loading (compression, uplift & lateral)
✔ Axial + lateral analysis in one model

We review:
– Bearing capacity (tension & compression)
– Installation torque estimation
– P-Y curves & lateral response
– Structural check results for the pile and plates

Because modern pile design isn’t just about capacity —
it’s about understanding full behavior.

Do you typically check lateral response and torque when designing helical piles?

"