Collapses of braced or tied-back excavations have frequently occurred. However, the influence of the failure of some retaining structure members on the overall safety performance of a retaining system has not been studied. Model tests of failures of retaining piles, struts or anchors were conducted in this study, and the load transfer mechanisms underlying these conditions were analysed. When failures or large deformations occurred in certain piles, the increasing ratios of the bending moments in adjacent piles were much larger in the braced retaining system than in the cantilever system and more easily triggered progressive failure. When the strut elevation was lower or the excavation depth was greater, the degree of influence and range of pile failures became larger. When certain struts/anchors failed, their loads transferred to a few adjacent struts/anchors, possibly leading to further strut/anchor failure. The influence mechanisms of strut or anchor failure on piles were different from those of pile failure. As the number of failed struts or anchors increases, the bending moments of the piles in the failure zone first decrease and then increase to very high values. Therefore, the progressive failure path extends from struts/anchors to piles and will lead to large-scale collapse.
