This paper at first reports an experimental work to test the thermal conductivity of formulated sandy soil specimens of different porosities and water contents. Both needle probe and hot-plate methods were conducted and compared. It has been confirmed that the needle probe method has a better accuracy for the measurement of unsaturated soil thermal conductivity, and that the pore size distribut...

Railway track-bed materials are mostly in unsaturated state, and their hydro-mechanical properties depend strongly on their water contents or suctions. In France, problematic soils such as collapsible loess and swelling marl can be origin of instability problems for new lines for high speed trains, while the hydro-mechanical behaviour of interlayer soil formed mainly by interpenetration of ball...

A simple method for the installation of groundwater lysimeters in peat soils was developed which reduces both time and financial effort significantly. The method was applied on several sites in the Rhinluch, a fen peat land 60 km northwest of Berlin, Germany. Over a two-year period, upward capillary flow and evapotranspiration rates under grassland with different groundwater levels were measure...

An analytical solution of macrodispersivity was derived for the adsorbing solute transport in physically and chemically heterogeneous unsaturated soils under the condition of gravity-dominated flow. The unsaturated hydraulic conductivity and water content were treated as spatial random functions. The chemical adsorption was described by a linear equilibrium isotherm, and the adsorption coeffici...

the majority of hydraulic processes under a natural condition in a field are carried out under unsaturated flow conditions. the soil moisture retention curve (smrc) is the most important hydraulic characteristic of an unsaturated soil whose knowledge is of prime importance in soil-water studies such as soil conservation, soil erosion, land evaluation, soil reclamation, and water resources manag...