Creep is a time dependent process in which materials accumulate strains (deformations) under the influence of constant (effective) stresses. Creep of geomaterials can be often observed  in slopes where creep manifests as slow mass wasting, that is slow downhill movement of soil and rock mass - see picture below.

Creep considerations in Geotechnical Engineering are not limited to slopes: All infrastructure that introduces load in the subsoil is subject to creep, too. For economic and functional design the magnitude of creep is to be known. The CREEP project aims at developping new design tools for creep in soft soils, frozen soils and also hard soils. Further information on the aims and objectives of the CREEP project is given below.