Computation of the behaviour of flexible retaining walls using a finite difference method

The demand for large and deep excavations has greatly increased, especially in dense urban areas where the limited size of available land forces many activities under the surface eg. mass transport, parking, storage etc. The support of soil masses around such excavations is frequently solved with slurry trench reinforced concrete walls or pile walls mostly when the supporting structure has to isolate the excavation against ground water and if the wall is to be part of the final construction.