设计挡土墙时，一般先根据挡土墙所处的条件（工程地质、填土性质、荷载情况以及建筑材料和施工条件等）凭经验初步拟定截面尺寸，然后进行挡土墙验算。若不满足要求，则应改变截面尺寸或采用其他措施。
In the design of retaining wall, the cross-section size is initially drawn up based on experience according to the conditions (engineering geology, filling properties, load conditions, building materials and construction conditions) of the retaining wall, and then checking calculation of the retaining wall is carried out. If the requirement is not met, the section size should be changed or other measures should be adopted.
挡土墙的稳定性验算通常包括抗倾覆稳定性和抗滑移稳定性验算，当地基软弱时还要进行地基深层稳定验算。
The stability checking calculation of retaining wall usually includes the checking calculation of anti-overturning stability and anti-sliding stability. When the foundation is weak, the checking calculation of deep stability of foundation should be carried out.
传统上挡土墙稳定性分析常采用以安全系数为度量指标的定值法，但定值设计法无法考虑土的各项物理力学指标的随机性，导致在工程中假山制作 不锈钢铸件 铝箔真空袋 七孔梅花管 hdpe硅芯管 液压钢坝 PVC软管 飞行激光打标机 沥青保温泵某些挡土墙按定值法估计的安全系数是足够的，而投入使用后却很快发生了破坏。对于将可靠度方法引入挡土墙的设计计算中，部分学者已经做了一些工作。
Traditionally, the fixed value method is often used to analyze the stability of retaining walls, but the fixed value design method can not consider the randomness of various physical and mechanical indexes of soil, which results in that the safety factors estimated by the fixed value method are sufficient for some retaining walls in engineering, but they are destroyed very quickly after being put into use. Some scholars have done some work on introducing reliability method into the design and calculation of retaining wall