Chapter 15: Groundwater profiles and effective stresses

This chapter covers the generation of profiles of effective stresses and pore water pressures within the ground for use in geotechnical engineering calculations. Total stresses and pore water pressures are usually determined independently, with the effective stress calculated as the difference between them. The calculation of geostatic and hydrostatic vertical total stresses and pore water pressures arising from the self-weight of the soil and the water, respectively, is described. Non-hydrostatic pore pressure profiles (corresponding to artesian conditions of higher pore pressures in an underlying aquifer and underdrainage into an underlying, more permeable stratum) are discussed. Finally, the difficulties of estimating pore water pressures above the water table, and lateral soil stresses, are considered.