Most of traditional methods and codes of practice are based on the requirement for factor of safety to prevent the collapse of the system. It implies that movements of retaining structures are of a secondary concern. The objectives of this paper are to define the ability of this methods in predicting lateral movement of the system. Two case histories with three sections are used to verify the most used traditional methods; Peck's (1969) apparent pressure diagrams and FHWA (1999). The analysis carried out in this paper includes the relation between excavation depth and both monitored and calculated lateral movements, this relation are very important to geotechnical designers to estimate the ability of traditional methods.