Question

What is the primary difference between a soil nail and a soil tieback?

Answer 1

Soil nails are usually shorter than the soil tieback. Soil nails have lesser design loads than the soil tiebacks. Soil tiebacks are usually greater than 30 ft. Soil nails are 0.7×height of wall to 1 × height of wall.Tiebacks are active support members. They push on the retained soil harder than the earth and surcharge pressures would push on the wall.  Soil nails are passive support members.  They provide their support as the soil mass begins to mobilize.  Both soil nails and tieback anchors might have similar corrosion protection details.