ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Lateral and subjacent support

Imagine a tower made out of blocks. The blocks at the bottom are the foundation and they hold up all the other blocks on top of them. If someone were to come along and push on the side of the tower, it could cause the blocks on the side to fall over, even if they weren't directly pushed on. This is called lateral support. It's like when someone puts their hand on your shoulder and leans to the side, it can make you tilt too.

Now imagine that instead of just one tower, there are many towers close together. If someone were to dig a hole next to one of the towers, it could cause the foundation of the tower to become unstable and weaken the support of the blocks. This is called subjacent support. It's like when you're playing with blocks and you accidentally knock out one of the bottom blocks, it can cause the whole tower to come crashing down.

So, both lateral support and subjacent support are important to keep structures like buildings and roads safe and stable. They make sure that the weight of the structure is distributed evenly and that no part of it is weaker than another.