Advances in Water Related Geotechnical Engineering

Dear Colleagues,

Water-related processes play a fundamental role in geotechnical engineering, governing the mechanical behavior, stability, and long-term performance of soil and rock masses. Challenges such as excessive settlement, slope failure, erosion, and foundation instability are often rooted in complex interactions between hydraulic and geotechnical factors.

This Special Issue aims to show the latest advances in water–soil interaction mechanisms, and their implications in geotechnical engineering applications. We seek contributions that deepen the theoretical understanding, improve predictive capabilities, and offer innovative solutions to engineering problems involving seepage, pore pressure, and hydrological variability.

We welcome original research and comprehensive reviews that employ analytical modeling, numerical simulation, physical experiments, or field-based monitoring. Submissions exploring the integration of AI-based approaches, remote sensing, and multi-physics coupling in geotechnical water-related problems are particularly encouraged.

In the following, we list some potential topics to guide the submission, while one should note that the involved topics are not limited to those.

• Seepage, infiltration, and pore pressure evolution in soils
• Hydro-mechanical coupling in slope, foundation, and retaining systems
• Ground deformations induced by dewatering, recharge, or rainfall
• Water-related failure mechanisms in unsaturated and soft ground
• Erosion, internal instability, and piping phenomena
• Ground improvement for hydraulically challenged soils
• Impacts of climate change on water-driven geotechnical behavior
• Smart sensing, data analytics, and early warning technologies

This Special Issue provides a platform for interdisciplinary research that bridges geotechnics, hydrogeology, and environmental engineering, aiming to promote sustainable, resilient, and data-informed geotechnical practice.

Dr. Chaofeng Zeng
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.