Anchor tiebacks are the lateral support structure for a bulkhead (or wall).  Bulkheads are most commonly made of steel, concrete, or wood sheet pile.  Sheet piles are long flat sections of construction material that interlock longitudinally but are set vertically to form a thin wall.  Marine bulkheads retain landside soils along their back face, and serve as a shield against erosion from water action along their front face.  Bulkheads known as "fill bulkheads" can also be completely constructed on land.  These may separate one type of soil or work site from an adjacent one, often at different elevations, or brace one side of an excavation, to provide soil slope stability.  The bottom edge of a bulkhead’s sheet piles are sunk or driven into the underlying soil.