Retaining walls are essential structural elements that provide lateral support to soil, preventing movement and maintaining stability on sloped or excavated sites. The design of a retaining wall involves not only ensuring adequate strength of the concrete stem, footing, and shear key (if used), but also verifying global stability against sliding, overturning, and bearing failure.

Bolted connections are a fundamental part of structural steel design. While many connections are loaded primarily in shear or tension, combined loading is common in real-world structures — and must be addressed explicitly in design.

Wood screws are widely used in timber construction for their convenience and versatility. When a wood screw is subject to both lateral (shear) and withdrawal (tension) forces, proper design is essential to avoid brittle failures.