For the treatment technique of shallow ultra-soft soil foundation formed by hydraulic reclamation,the ground settlement is not strictly controlled,so the existing unloading criterion does not apply to such foundations.In view of this,the unloading criterion is established by theoretical methods for the treatment technique of shallow ultra-soft soil foundation formed by hydraulic reclamation.Then it is demonstrated in engineering practice that the theoretical criterion is one of the effective complement methods for the existing unloading criterion.