This document discusses reinforced soil retaining walls. It provides an overview of the components and construction process. Reinforced soil uses soil reinforced with linear strips that can bear large tensile stresses. Retaining walls hold earth and other materials in a vertical position. Reinforced soil retaining walls were developed from the idea of reinforcing sandcastles with pine needles. They have load transfer mechanisms that use friction between the soil and reinforcement to resist shear stresses. Components include soil, facing panels, reinforcement and geosynthetics. Construction involves compacting layers of backfill soil and placing horizontal reinforcement strips. Reinforced soil retaining walls provide benefits like reduced lateral thrust, thin wall elements, simple and fast construction, and seismic resistance.