^aHydraulic Engineering Research Institute, Bucharest Romania

Loessial soils, wetted above the limit of collapsibility, remain in the category of difficult foundation grounds. Some case histories are presented herein: surpassing soil bearing capacity and non-stabilized settlements of buildings after initially dry loess wetting; slow but nondamped settlements or damped but great and, eventually, non-uniform settlements of structures erected on wet loess; supplementary settlements by water level lowering in loessial ground; great settlements of deep foundations passing through the collapsible loess to the underlaying wet but noncollapsible loess. Research on wetted loess performed in the laboratory (oedometer, triaxial) or in situ (full-scale experiments or real constructions) have emphasized the dependence of the soil structural resistance, deformability (compressibility and deformation under constant volume) and final resistance on both the moisture content or stress-state and on their history; the depth propagation of the active zone of surface loadings on wetted loess is different from that of the linear elastic theory; some suggestions to estimate the depth of the active zone are presented. The usual foundation systems on wetted loessial grounds, or in their vicinity, adopted in Romania include: loessial or gravel cushions; surface compaction (very efficient results of intensive dynamic compaction); foundation “stamping” or loessial ground “reinforcing”. It is recommendable to take into consideration: surveyed wetting under construction until maximum moisture content of the loessial ground; in situ columns of stabilized loess; the efficiency of geotextiles for filter-drainage and antierosional functions in loessial soils.