The necessity for offshore oil exploration to reach greater depths, pushed the demands for semi-submersible exploration and production units. Presently, steel catenary risers (SCR) appear to be the best recommended technical solution for oil and gas exploration.Concerning to the fatigue analysis there are two critical stress points to be considered: close to the platform connection and a second one at the touch down point - TDP. SCR is currently one of the main solutions for deep and ultra deep water projects. It is the only technical solution available for water depths beyond 1500m where flexible lines cannot yet be used due to excessive external pressure.The present work presents a study on the interaction between SCRs and soil. It is divided in two parts. The first describes an experiment (physical model) which was carried out at the laboratories of IPT (Instituto de Pesquisas Tecnológicas) in São Paulo. The second part presents a numerical, finite element analysis of the soil-SCR interaction. The comparison between experimental and numerical results allowed the determination of a simplified constitutive model for the representation of soil-pipe contact under horizontal loads.