Plaxis 2D Ultimate in Action: WESTHEM GROUP’s Experience in Complex Geotechnical Projects
News | 12.12.2025
We share the case of WESTHEM GROUP — a Ukrainian engineering leader and Huesker Synthetic GmbH representative working on complex geotechnical challenges: weak, water-saturated, and heterogeneous soils, high embankments, retaining walls, and hydraulic structures. The company implemented Plaxis 2D Ultimate from Bentley Systems in collaboration with Softprom to move to stress-strain state analysis, model soil behavior over time, and reduce design-stage risks.
Plaxis in Action: when standard methods are no longer enough
In projects involving peat, silt, water-saturated, or heterogeneous soils, traditional limit equilibrium methods do not provide accurate deformation predictions and cannot model construction staging. This creates safety risks and increases project costs.
WESTHEM GROUP engineers needed a tool capable of modeling real soil behavior: settlements, horizontal displacements, pore pressure effects, and complex interaction scenarios between structures and foundations. Plaxis 2D Ultimate met these challenges.
Key engineering tasks solved by Plaxis
- accurate prediction of structural and foundation deformations,
- analysis of weak and water-saturated soils over time (consolidation, creep),
- modeling staged construction of high embankments,
- verification of alternative design solutions,
- visualization for effective client communication.
With Hardening Soil and Soft Soil Creep models, engineers achieved a new level of calculation accuracy not available in previous tools.
Real impact: savings, accuracy, and risk reduction
One key result was the optimization of a road embankment on weak peat soil. Traditional approaches required a piled foundation, significantly increasing costs. Plaxis allowed modeling a reinforced embankment with staged construction — the solution was both safe and considerably cheaper.
“Plaxis allowed us to avoid excessive solutions where they were unnecessary. The client saves costs, and we gain confidence in the reliability of the structure.” — WESTHEM GROUP team
Softprom’s role in implementation
Softprom provided optimal Plaxis 2D Ultimate configuration, SES licensing setup, consulting support, and a fast project start. For engineers, this meant minimal delays and rapid integration of the new tool into their workflow.
A full version of the Plaxis 2D Ultimate implementation story at WESTHEM GROUP is available on our website, including a detailed review of engineering challenges, modeling approaches, and the team's real results achieved through modern deformation analysis. We recommend reviewing the case if you work with complex geotechnical projects or want to increase calculation accuracy.
Softprom is the official distributor of Bentley Systems. We help select the optimal software for your geotechnical, engineering, and infrastructure tasks.
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