Soil Nailing is a construction technique that can be used as a remedial measure to treat unstable natural soil/rock slopes or as a construction technique that allows the safe over-steepening of new or existing slopes.

Retaining wall construction close to busy streets and utilities can be a headache, especially when using conventional retaining wall construction methods, which require significant excavation. Soil nailing reduces the amount of excavation for the wall because it uses top-down construction.

The wall is built in stair-stepped levels beginning at the top and working down, up to 80 feet deep. Nails (steel bars, the length measuring 60–80 percent of the wall height) are inserted into grouted holes drilled into the cut slope. The friction between the soil and the nail stabilizes the wall.