The principle of soil nailing involves inserting bar-shaped reinforcements (soil nails) into the native soil to increase the tensile and shear strength of the subsoil, thus creating a monolithic compound structure with a load-bearing capacity similar to that of a gravity retaining wall loaded by external forces.

Typical applications include securing terraces, slope cuts and excavations and stabilising existing slopes and dams. A special application is their use as rock nails.