Launched nails install at up to roughly 250 twenty-foot nails per day, so most San Antonio walls complete in days rather than the weeks a conventional drilled system requires.
Soil nailing reinforces a slope or excavation face from the top down, installing near-horizontal grouted steel bars in a grid pattern as the cut proceeds and facing the surface with shotcrete. The reinforced soil becomes its own retaining structure rather than depending on a separate wall.
GSI installs soil nails in San Antonio using our patented Soil Nail Launcher™, which fires a launched nail into the slope at up to 250 miles per hour rather than drilling a conventional borehole. That matters along the Balcones Fault Zone, where a conventional drilled nail can hit an unexpected karst void and lose its borehole entirely, while a launched nail doesn't depend on that hole staying open. GSI's San Antonio soil nail projects typically involve:
Launched nails install at up to roughly 250 twenty-foot nails per day, so most San Antonio walls complete in days rather than the weeks a conventional drilled system requires.
A soil nail wall typically costs 25 to 50 percent less than an equivalent-height soldier pile wall and becomes a permanent structure. We provide a fixed-cost proposal after reviewing site conditions.
Yes. Every design is stamped by a licensed Professional Engineer and meets IBC and Texas Building Code requirements for permanent earth retention.
Yes. GSI offers 24/7 emergency response, and the Soil Nail Launcher is well suited to actively moving ground since it doesn't require a stable open borehole.
A conventional drilled nail relies on the borehole staying open, which a karst void can undermine mid-drill. A launched SuperNail™ is fired in a single shot and doesn't depend on that hole remaining stable, and it can be pressure-grouted afterward to fill surrounding voids.
We evaluate soil strength, existing movement, and proximity to mapped karst features before finalizing nail length and spacing, rather than assuming uniform ground conditions.
The launcher unit is mounted on a compact excavator base weighing about two tons, letting crews work in tight spaces without the larger footprint a conventional drill rig needs.
Yes. Launched SuperNails™ are perforated for pressure grouting after firing, which lets crews fill surrounding voids and improve the ground around the nail rather than losing the installation to a collapsing hole.
An unreinforced slope along the Balcones Fault Zone can fail without the warning signs a more uniform site would show. Call (855) 599-5217 to get a soil nailing assessment from a licensed engineer.
