Shear Strength Applications in Plastic and Limit Equilibrium - Unsaturated Soil Mechanics in Engineering Practice - page 659

Figure 12.103 Position of groundwater table and pore-water
pressure contours at elapsed time of 120 min.

Figure 12.105 Position of groundwater table and pore-water
pressure contours at elapsed time of 1080 min.

Figure 12.104 Position of groundwater table and pore-water
pressure contours at elapsed time of 480 min.

Figure 12.106 Matric suction profile for section X - X at various
elapsed times.

elapsed time. At this time, the saturation front has moved
deeper as the water is redistributed deeper within the slope.
As a result, the groundwater table corresponding to the final
steady-state condition (Fig. 12.105) is higher than its position
corresponding to the initial conditions (Fig. 12.101).
Figure 12.106 illustrates the pore-water pressure profiles
for section X - X at various elapsed times. The negative

pore-water pressures at depth increase to zero (i.e., the
matric suction is dissipated) as the saturation front moves
downward. Under final steady-state conditions, the upper
10m of the slope has gained back only a fraction of its
initial matric suction, while the lower part of the slope has
lost its initial matric suctions.