Caution: Before excavating, confirm the location of all underground utility lines and other structures, and take necessary precautions to avoid them when digging.

Excavate a 24-inch-wide trench deep enough to accommodate your 6-inch-thick leveling pad plus the embedded below-grade units. For geogrid-reinforced walls, also excavate behind the wall face to make room for placement of geogrid layers and reinforced soil.

Required embedment varies with wall height and site conditions. If the grade in front of the wall is level, a minimum of 1/10 of the exposed wall height must be below-grade. Additional embedment is needed for special conditions, including slopes in front of walls, soft foundation soil or shoreline walls.