[en] This paper presents a structural analysis model for clay caps used in the landfill of low-level nuclear waste to minimize the migration of fluid through the soil. The clay cap resting on the soil foundation is treated as an axially symmetric elastic plate supported by an elastic foundation. A circular hole (concentric with the plate) in the elastic foundation represents an underlying cavity formed in the landfill due to waste decomposition and volume reduction. Unlike the models that commonly represent the soil foundation with equivalent springs, this model treats the foundation as a semi-infinite space and accounts for the work done by both compression and shear stresses in the foundation. The governing equation of the plate is based upon the classical theory of plate bending, whereas the governing equation derived by using Vlasov's general variational method describes the soil foundation. The solutions are expressed in terms of Basset functions. A FORTRAN program was written to carry out the numerical calculations