Uplift

A very common use of tiebacks is to resist uplift. When used this way, they are often called tiedowns. Water pressure on the bottom of building slabs or tanks may cause them to float and tiedowns are used to prevent the flotation. Other structures, such as dams and towers, are subjected to forces which cause uplift, and the tiedowns resist them. In this chapter the use of tiedowns for these common applications will be examined. There are many other examples of tiebacks used to resist uplift, which will certainly occur to readers, but the principles of their use are similar.