Baku, Azerbaijan

Coastal Retaining Wall and Slope Stabilization

Concept engineering and stability assessment for a waterfront retaining system exposed to groundwater, surcharge, and marine boundary conditions.

Scope: Retaining wall design, slope stability, PLAXIS review
Challenge: A constrained waterfront site required a stable retaining solution while limiting movement behind the wall and accounting for groundwater variation.
Solution: A staged analysis workflow combined limit equilibrium checks, soil-structure interaction modeling, drainage assumptions, and practical construction sequencing recommendations.

Project Context

The project involved a coastal retaining structure supporting a mixed surcharge zone near a waterfront edge. The engineering task was to develop a robust concept that could manage lateral earth pressure, groundwater fluctuation, and serviceability movement limits.

Engineering Scope

The scope included review of ground investigation information, interpretation of soil parameters, preliminary wall sizing, global stability checks, and staged numerical modeling. Particular attention was given to the relationship between excavation stages, wall stiffness, and retained ground movement.

Challenge

Marine boundary conditions introduce uncertainty because groundwater levels, drainage performance, and long-term durability demands can shift the governing case. The retained zone also had limited tolerance for displacement, making serviceability checks as important as ultimate stability.

Solution

The recommended workflow used conventional earth pressure calculations for initial sizing, followed by PLAXIS sensitivity checks for staged construction. Drainage measures and monitoring hold points were proposed to reduce construction risk and validate performance assumptions during execution.

Result

The concept package gave the project team a clear technical basis for design development, procurement discussions, and construction planning. The main value was not a single model output, but a controlled set of assumptions and checks that could be tested as the design matured.