Retaining wall failure. — Failure like this can happen in various ways: foundation issues, improper design, improper construction, improper backfill, and/or improper drainage. — Lack of drainage behind walls like this can lead to water building pressure behind them, leading to spectacular failures like this one! | Aaron Witt

FOUNDATION There are three modes of failure under a shallow foundation. These failures are depending on the compressibility of soil and the depth of foundation relative to its breadth. General shear failure typically occurs for soils with low compressibility, such as dense coarse-grained or stiff fine-grained soils. This failure mode develops continuous failure surface between the footing edges and ground surface. Ground surface heaves, either on both sides or any one side of the footing. The be