Abstract:Decompression and dewatering in confined aquifer is essentially an unloading process, and calculating overlaying soil settlement of confined aquifer can be used to derive formulas based on the elastic half-space of Mindlin displacement solution. Analysis shows that influence of dewatering time of unsteady seepage in infinite confined aquifer on soil settlement is significant compared to the steady seepage. Soil settlement caused by decompression and dewatering of confined water increases with increase of distance from ground and the maximum value emerge on the roof of confined aquifer. In seven parameters affecting ground settlement, influence of Possion’s ration and confined aquifer’s permeability coefficient on ground settlement is very little. Ground settlement will decrease gradually with increase of overlaying soil’s thickness and confined aquifer’s thickness, The influence of elastic modulus on ground settlement is great when its value is small but influence of that gradually weakened with increase of elastic modulus. Ground settlement increase with increase of out-water volume of single well and water head drawdown, furthermore, the relation ship between them nearly to linear relationship, then, out-water volume of single well, confined aquifer’s thickness, water head drawdown and elastic modulus of overlaying soil not only affect value of ground settlement, but also affect the spatial distribution of ground settlement.