Geotechnical software
Foundations, retaining walls, slope stability and geotechnical FEM analysis.
Picking geotechnical software
Ground is unforgiving. A slope that checks out on paper moves after a wet winter. A wall designed off one borehole is a bet, not a design. GEO5 exists for this exact problem. Model the site once, then throw every failure mechanism you can think of at it.
It's a big suite. Twenty-five-plus modules, and they talk to each other. You enter the geology once, in Stratigraphy, straight from your borehole logs. Slope Stability, Spread Footing, Sheeting Check, Piles, Micropiles, Settlement and Terrain all read that same profile. No re-typing soil layers nine times. FEM is in there too, for the jobs where limit equilibrium won't cut it.
Checks run to EN 1997 (Eurocode 7) with national annexes. Old-school factor of safety and partial-factor design both work, which is handy when a reviewer insists on the classical route. Reports come out in the local language. Saves you an afternoon before every submission.
Where it pays off is repetition. Retaining walls. Foundation checks. Slopes. The same problems, project after project. Run CYPE alongside it if you want. One does the superstructure, GEO5 does the ground below.
Full module list and prices: GEO5 2026.