Embankments (or levees) are constructed to prevent flooding of land adjacent to seas, lakes, or rivers and to support transportation by holding back water. Construction of relatively steep side-slope embankments has become possible via staged construction.

Because soil and rock foundations typically behave nonlinearly with an elastoplastic stress-strain relationship, nonlinear material properties are necessary for the foundation. Several constitutive models have been developed to assist with simulating the behavior of soil and rock, such as Mohr-Coulomb, Drucker-Prager concrete, Cam-clay, and others.

Foundation settlement due to the weight of the embankment is an important consideration when determining the stability of a structure. It is therefore useful to examine settlement behavior using finite element models prior to construction.