  To provide a complete local monitoring of the state of an unsaturated soil
sample during triaxial testing, a local water content measurement device was
adapted to a triaxial device comprising the measurement of local displacements
(Hall effect transducers) and suction (High capacity transducer). Water content
was locally monitored by means of a resistivity probe. The water
content/resistivity calibration curves of an intact natural unsaturated loess
from Northern France extracted by block sampling at two depths (1 and 3.3 m)
were carefully determined, showing good accuracy and repeatability. The
validity of two models giving the resistivity of unsaturated soils with respect
to their water content was examined.
