Gradually replacing old and collapsing concrete steps on steep slope in
garden.

Started at the top as these were in the worst state, and began on the
principle that it would help keep back the slope if I overlapped the top one
slightly, with the next one down.

After doing a few, I begin to notice that this method was actually adopted
on the original steps, and they have all canted forward. Now these
originals were not all that well made, and had quite a heavy front face of
concrete, but the 'tail' if you like was just a thin skim over a row of
bricks, and these in turn rested on black earth rather than subsoil. They
had become undermined by roots and worms, and then tipped forward.

So, now I begin to think, perhaps I should be concentrating on holding down
the back of each new step with the weight of the one above. This, though
might reduce the ability of the whole staircase to act together to hold back
the slope.

What is the 'normal' way to overlap stairs? I suppose I could start back
down at the bottom and then overlap them both ways, but then I'm a bit vague
on how to space them to meet comfortably in the middle.

Having said all this, the originals may have been there for a century,
despite their poor construction, but I would like to at least try and get it
right this time.

S