Restoring groundwater levels after tunneling: a numerical simulation approach to tunnel sealing decision-making

Tunneling is often unpopular with local residents and environmentalists, and can cause aquifer damage. Tunnel sealing is sometimes used to avoid groundwater leakage into the tunnel, thereby mitigating the damage. Due to the high cost of sealing operations, a detailed hydrogeological investigation should be conducted as part of the tunneling project to determine the impact of sealing, and groundwater modeling is an accurate method that can aid decision-making. Groundwater-level drawdown induced by the construction of the Headrace water-conveyance tunnel in Sri Lanka dried up 456 wells. Due to resulting socio-environmental problems, tunnel sealing was decided as a remedy solution. However, due to the expectation of significant delays and high costs of sealing, and because the water pressure in the tunnel may prevent groundwater seepage into the tunnel during operation, there was another (counter) decision that the tunnel could remain unsealed. This paper describes groundwater modeling carried out using MODFLOW to determine which option—sealed or unsealed tunnel—is more effective in groundwater level recovery. The Horizontal Flow Barrier and River packages of MODFLOW were used to simulate sealed and unsealed tunnels, respectively. The simulation results showed that only through tunnel sealing can the groundwater level be raised to preexisting levels after 18 years throughout the study area. If the tunnel remains unsealed, about 1 million m³/year of water conveyed by the tunnel will seep into the aquifer, reducing the operational capacity of the tunnel as a transport scheme. In conclusion, partial tunnel sealing in high-impact sections is recommended.

     

Optimizing urban stormwater control strategies and assessing aquifer recharge through drywells in an urban watershed

Hydrogeology Journal - A coupled simulation-optimization model (SOM) is developed in this work that links the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) with a...     

Linear flow behaviour of matched joints – case study on standard JRC profiles

Roughness on rock joints produces a variable aperture across the joints and increases the flow path length. These conditions should be taken into account for a good approximation from cubic law. In this paper, the concept of local true aperture and tortuosity is applied to assumed joints where surfaces are matched to each other and correspond with standard Joint Roughness Coefficient (JRC) profiles. Furthermore, the hydraulic behaviour of JRC profiles is studied by a new laboratory experiment setup. The analytical approach provides new insights into the effects of roughness on hydraulic properties of rock joints. The results indicate that for a constant mechanical aperture, both the minimum local aperture and hydraulic aperture decrease with increasing JRC. Furthermore, tortuosity and standard deviation of local true aperture increase with JRC increment. The trend obtained between different parameters and JRC shows an obvious fluctuation for JRC lower than 10. On one hand, the results of this study along with a critical review of previous studies demonstrate that JRC profiles cannot present a precise roughness increment when JRC is less than 10. A new laboratory setup was designed to study the flow behaviour of JRC profiles. The results obtained from laboratory experiments under linear flow conditions validate the accuracy of the applied analytical method.     

The Influence of Shearing Velocity on Shear Behavior of Artificial Joints

In this paper, the effects of shear velocity on the shearing behavior of artificial joints have been studied at different normal stress levels. Here, artificial joints with planar and rough surfaces were prepared with the plaster (simulating soft rock joints) and concrete (medium-hard rock joints) materials. The rough joints had triangular shaped asperities with 10° and 20° inclination angles. Direct shear tests were performed on these joints under various shear velocities in the range of 0.3–30 mm/min. The planar plaster–plaster and planer concrete–concrete joints were sheared at three levels of normal stress under constant normal load boundary condition. Also, the rough plaster–plaster and concrete–concrete joints were sheared at one level of normal stress under constant normal stiffness boundary condition. The results of the shear tests show that the shearing parameters of joints, such as shear strength, shear stiffness and friction angle, are related to the shear velocity. Shear strength of planar and rough plaster–plaster joints were decreased when the shear velocity was increased. Shear strength of concrete joints, except for rough joints with 10° inclination, increased with increasing shear velocity. Regardless of the normal stress level, shear stiffness of both planar plaster–plaster and concrete–concrete joints were decreased when the shear velocity was increased.     

Land subsidence pattern controlled by old alpine basement faults in the Kashmar Valley, northeast Iran: results from InSAR and levelling

Fluid storage systems, such as oil, gas, magma or water reservoirs, are often controlled by the host rock structure and faulted terrain. In sedimentary basins, where no direct information about underlying structure is available, the pattern of ground deformation may allow us to assess the buried fault arrangement. We provide an example in the semi-arid area of Iran, in the Kashmar Valley, a region subject to land subsidence due to water overexploitation. Geodetically determined subsidence rates in the Kashmar Valley exceed 15–30 cm yr⁻¹. The pattern of surface deformation is strongly non-uniform and displays NE–SW elongated bowls of subsidence. The trend resembles old Cretaceous-to-Tertiary faults that evolved during early alpine tectonic deformation. Although these early alpine structures are considered tectonically inactive in the present day, the observed land subsidence pattern indicates significant structural control on the geometry of the aquifer basin and its deformation during reservoir drainage.     

Prediction of Vibration Velocity Generated in Mine Blasting Using Support Vector Regression Improved by Optimization Algorithms

Natural Resources Research - Ground vibration generated from blasting is a detrimental side effect of the use of explosives to break the rock mass in mines. Therefore, accurately predicting ground...     

Analytical solutions for the capture zone of a pumping well near a stream

The capture zone for a fully penetrating well in an aquifer with regional flow to a stream boundary under steady-state conditions was delineated using complex algebra and image well theory. Regional flow in the aquifer was allowed to take different directions relative to the stream axis. Two critical pumping rates, Q _C1 and Q _C2, produce three capture-zone pattern scenarios: (1) at low pumping rates (Q?<?Q _C1) water is solely withdrawn from the aquifer and no water from the stream enters the aquifer, (2) at medium pumping rates (Q _C1?<?Q?<?Q _C2) a portion of stream water enters the aquifer but it is not captured by the well, and (3) at high pumping rates (Q?>?Q _C2) pumped water is supplied from both the aquifer and the stream with different proportions. For the second and third scenarios, the stream length interval through which stream water enters the aquifer was determined and found to be more sensitive to pumping rate as the regional flow direction approaches the stream axis. The portion of pumped water supplied by the stream was determined in the third scenario. Finally, the capture-zone asymmetry with respect to its axial line was delineated.