The behavior of a nailed excavation in gneissic residual soil has been studied by a comprehensive research program, including instrumentation, field and laboratory tests and numerical analyses. Soil nailing is becoming a popular stabilization technique in Brazil. However, a solid knowledge about the soil-nail interaction is still lacking. There are a few studies about the inherent deformations of the reinforced mass and the magnitude of nail`s stresses. In Brazil, less than 10% of stabilization works have some type of instrumentation. The main objective of this research was monitoring and analysing a 40m high soil nailed slope excavation. Due to this unique height, the upper nails were installed with 24m length. The slope behavior was influenced by several factors, such as the construction technique and a subsequent excavation at one adjacent site. The results indicated a significant increase of reinforced mass displacements and of the nail s mobilized tension during the progress of the excavation. These did not cease after the end of the excavation, due to the adjacent work. During and after construction, the nails worked predominantly in tension. Estimated tension loads in the project phase were compared with the instrumentation s results. The stress distribution was influenced by local geology. The maximum axial force (Tmáx) increased exponentially with the progress of the excavation and its position, in each nail, varies with the slope s depth and inclination. The magnitude of the axial load in the excavation face is observed to be between 0,3 and 0,6 of Tmáx. The mobilization of the reinforcement elements was smaller than 35% qs.