Historically, in Western Canada, the stabilization of rock slopes and construction of excavations have been achieved using methods such as soldier piles and lagging or construction of cast-in-place concrete retaining walls. In the case of reinforced cast-in-place concrete, there is a requirement for erection of formwork, fixing of reinforcement, pouring the concrete mixture, and vibration to ensure good concrete consolidation and steel encapsulation. These methods have proven to be relatively ineffi-cient and costly in many cases. In recent decades, however, the use of shotcrete for ground support has seen increased use, as shotcrete has allowed