Australia Model Code of Practice: Excavation Work 6.3h: 6.3 Design ground anchors competently and control soil removal above them

A ground anchor ties sheet piling back into the soil behind the supported face (Figure 18) and can be installed in granular or clay soils; its design should be done by a competent person, for instance a geotechnical engineer. With granular soil, the anchorage is usually a grout plug behind the active soil limit line that resists cable tension through shear and cohesion, partly from overburden. Soil above installed anchors should be removed only with a competent person's approval, since removing soil between the wall and the active limit line can bend the piling, release the cable load and make the anchor useless and dangerous; the anchor may not regain capacity when soil is replaced and its fixing at the piling face may loosen. While the system operates, anchor behaviour over long periods is checked from time to time using pressure gauges and hydraulic jacks.