ABSTRACT
A common engineering problem which often involves unsaturated soils is that of shallow foundation that rests above the ground water table. In many cases a capillary zone exists above the groundwater level (G.W.L), where the soil unsaturated. Typical footing analyses ignore this zone and assume that the soil above the ground water table is dry. This type of analyses underestimates the soil strength but, more importantly, ignores well known features of unsaturated soils such as collapse upon wetting.
