The coefficients of collapsibility and the structural parameters at different water contents are obtained to show the variation characteristics of collapsibility and loess structure through confined compression tests in 3 different loess areas of Lanzhou City of Gansu Province

Yangling District of Shaanxi Province

and Gongyi City of He'nan Province.The results illustrate that the contributions of coupling and arrangement characteristics to and their effects on structural characteristics of loess can be seen directly through the distribution of the confined compression curves.Loess structural parameters change greatly with water content at the early time of test

but loess structural parameters and the coefficients of collapsibility decrease with increased water content beyond a certain compressive stress.The value at the critical point change regularly with location.The structural parameter is much more sensitive and efficient than the collapsibility coefficient to show the early structural variation of loess.