Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Groundwater and The

Engineering Geology
Problems

Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Three Phases in Soils/Rocks

S : Solid

Soil/rock particle

W: Liquid

Water

A: Air

Air

Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Engineering Applications (w)

For fine-grained soils, water
plays a critical role to their
engineering properties.

For example ; the quick clay

usually has a water content w
greater than 100 % and a card
house structure. It will behave
like a viscous fluid after it is fully
disturbed.
(Mitchell, 1993)

Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Rock properties affecting groundwater

Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Hydraulic Conductivity & Intrinsic Permeability

K
w:
g:
:
k:
K:

density of water
accelration of gravity
viscosity
intrinsic permeability
hydraulic conductivity

1 m2

= 104 cm2

k w g

[kg/m3]
[m/sec2]
[kg/(m.sec)]
[m2]
[m/sec]

= 1.013x1012 Darcy

Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Laboratory Measurements of K
Empirical relations
Lab measurements
Field tests
Whats the most reliable?

Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Empirical Approaches
Application: unconsolidated materials sand to gravels

Hazen

K Cd

2
10

Dimana:
K
hydraulic codncutivity (cm/s)
d10
ukuran butir efektif
C
konstanta (1/cm.s) dengan harga 40 -150
40 80 pasir sangat halus sampai pasir halus gradasi buruk
80 120 pasir medium sampai pasir kasar gradasi buruk
120 150 pasir kasar gradasi baik

Harleman
k permeability (cm2)

4)

k (6.54x 10 d

2
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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Grain-Size Distribution

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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Laboratory Measurements
1. Constant-head test
2. Falling-head test
Application:
Unconsolidated materials
Consolidated materials
Sedimentary rocks no fracture

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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

QL
K
Ah

h0
aL
K 2.3
log10
A (t1 t 0 )
h1

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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Permeability Test: example

Pada uji permeabilitas falling head, tinggi energi
awal 1,00 m jatuh menjadi 0,35 m dalam 3 jam,
diameter pipa tegak 5 mm. Contoh tanah
memiliki panjang 200 mm dan diameter 100
mm, hitunglah permeabilitas/hydraulic
conductivity tanah tersebut!

h0
aL
K 2.3
log10
A (t1 t 0 )
h1

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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Field tests Lugeon test / packer test

K=

Q/L ln R/rw
2 (h)

K = 1.12

Q/L
h

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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Application: fracture rocks

LUGEON TEST RESTRICTED TO ABOUT 30 FEET FROM THE HOLE TEST WITH TEST
INTERVAL 10 FEET
1 Lu unit = 1 x 10E-7 m/s
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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

FAULTS &
Permeability zones

zone A is the fault core

consisting of fault rocks that are
assumed to be basically
impermeable
zone B represent a part of the
fault core solely or together with
zone A and consists of a high
density of short fractures
revealing mainly porosity
Zone C is characterized by long,
parallel fractures and are
regarded as the zone with
highest hydraulic conductivity
Zone D is characterized by two
sets of long fractures, which has
fairly low permeability due to low
fracture frequency and thereby
connectivity
Zone E is a transition zone
towards background fracturing in
the host rock.

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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Stability of the engineering construction

related to groundwater:
1. groundwater pressure/pore pressure
2. leakage of water
3. consolidation/compaction/subsidence
3. chemical attack

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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Effect of groundwater conditions on slope stability of rock

For the purpose of slope stability analysis one might divide rock
slopes into three categories:
(1) Those consisting of solid rock,
Is rare, fluid pressures can play no important role in the stability of solid rock slopes

(2) Those with a small finite number of intersecting joint surfaces,

Is common, fluid pressures play important role in the type of such rocks

(3) Those that constitute heavily jointed rock masses.

Is not significantly different from that for soil slope stability analysis

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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Effect of groundwater conditions on slope stability of soil

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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Effect of groundwater conditions on slope stability of rock

expect very irregular pore pressure
distributions in jointed slopes
porosities of jointed rock are extremely
small (0-10/") in comparison with those for
soils (20-50%)
This leads to large, rapid, water-table
fluctuations in jointed slopes in response to
rainfall events
Pore pressure increases are therefore
higher in rock slopes than in soil slopes for
a given rainfall, and the potential capacity
of rainfall events as a triggering mechanism
for slope failures is correspondingly higher
in rock slope

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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Leakage of Water
Piping/Inner erosion/suffosion
Under the action of GD, the fine soil grain will be
carried away through chinks among coarse soil grain

GD rw IkN / m3

rw
I

unit weigh of water

hydraulic gradient

G D dynamic water pressure

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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Land subsidence: Water level drawdown

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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Land Subsidence: Water Level Drawdown

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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Land Subsidence: Water Level Drawdown

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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Ground subsidence
Suffosion: Suffosion
occurs when loose soil, or
other non-cohesive
material lies on top of a
limestone substrata
containing fissures and
joints.

Rain and surface water

gradually wash this
material through these
fissures and into caves
beneath.Overtime, this
creates a depression on
the landscape of varying
depth.
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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Groundwater Aggresivity
The impact on engineering structures due to the
groundwater chemistry change is related with the
increase of aggressive ions/salts concentration.
Mechanisms of concrete-foundation damage by
chemical attack is caused by the ingress of salts into
cementitious materials, and the reactions with cement
hydrates resulting in either the deterioration of the matrix
or loss of corrosion protection of the steel reinforcement
(Bucea et al. 2005).

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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Water aggresivity
Parameter

Class of aggressivity
weak

strong

Very strong

pH

5.5 6.5

4.5 5.5

< 4.5

CO2 content
(mg/L)

15 40

40 - 100

> 100

Ammonium
content (mg/L)

15 - 30

30 40

> 40

Magnesium
content (mg/L)

300 - 1000

1000 - 3000

> 3000

Sulphate content
(mg/L)

200 - 600

600 - 3000

> 3000

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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Sulphate attack
It has been well known that sulphates present in groundwater
surrounding a concrete structure poses a major threat to the long
term durability of the concrete.
Sulphate attack is a complex process involving a sequence of
different chemical reactions. There are mainly three mechanisms
related to sulphate attack: ettringite (3CaOAl2O33CaSO431H2O),
gypsum (CaSO42H2O) and thaumasite (CaSiO3CaCO3
CaSO415H2O) formation.

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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Sulphate attack

In general, sulphate attack of concrete may lead to

cracking,
Associated with ettringite and
gypsum formation, respectively
expansion,
(Bucea et al. 2005)
mass and strength loss
softening of the cement paste matrix
Associated with thaumasite formation
(Crammond 2003).

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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Sulphate Attack

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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Chloride Salts Attack

Two parameters govern the chloride diffusion and the related risk of
corrosion:
(a) diffusion resistance of the concrete, which primarily depends
on the pore size distribution and the chloride ion concentration
gradient
(b) binding capacity of the concrete with respect to chloride ions
(both physical and chemical binding) as this binding capacity
influences both the penetration rate and the ratio of bound to
free chloride ions in the pore water.

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Geological Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering

Sodium Chloride Attack

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