Effects of tunneling on groundwater flow and swelling of clay-sulfate rocks
[1] Swelling of clay-sulfate rocks is a major threat in tunneling. It is triggered by the transformation of the sulfate mineral anhydrite into gypsum as a result of water inflow in anhydrite-containing layers after tunnel excavation. The present study investigates the hydraulic effects of tunneling...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2013
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/77636 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4074-4736 |
| _version_ | 1826193519075655680 |
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| author | Butscher, Christoph Einstein, Herbert H. Huggenberger, Peter |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Butscher, Christoph Einstein, Herbert H. Huggenberger, Peter |
| author_sort | Butscher, Christoph |
| collection | MIT |
| description | [1] Swelling of clay-sulfate rocks is a major threat in tunneling. It is triggered by the transformation of the sulfate mineral anhydrite into gypsum as a result of water inflow in anhydrite-containing layers after tunnel excavation. The present study investigates the hydraulic effects of tunneling on groundwater flow and analyzes how hydraulic changes caused by excavation lead to water inflow into anhydrite-containing layers in the tunnel area. Numerical groundwater models are used to conduct scenario simulations that allow one to relate hydrogeological conditions to rock swelling. The influence of the topographic setting, the excavation-damaged zone around the tunnel, the sealing effect of the tunnel liner, and the geological configuration are analyzed separately. The analysis is performed for synthetic situations and is complemented by a case study from a tunnel in Switzerland. The results illustrate the importance of geological and hydraulic information when assessing the risk of swelling at an actual site. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:40:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/77636 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:40:25Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publisher | American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/776362022-09-26T12:58:48Z Effects of tunneling on groundwater flow and swelling of clay-sulfate rocks Butscher, Christoph Einstein, Herbert H. Huggenberger, Peter Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Butscher, Christoph Einstein, Herbert H. [1] Swelling of clay-sulfate rocks is a major threat in tunneling. It is triggered by the transformation of the sulfate mineral anhydrite into gypsum as a result of water inflow in anhydrite-containing layers after tunnel excavation. The present study investigates the hydraulic effects of tunneling on groundwater flow and analyzes how hydraulic changes caused by excavation lead to water inflow into anhydrite-containing layers in the tunnel area. Numerical groundwater models are used to conduct scenario simulations that allow one to relate hydrogeological conditions to rock swelling. The influence of the topographic setting, the excavation-damaged zone around the tunnel, the sealing effect of the tunnel liner, and the geological configuration are analyzed separately. The analysis is performed for synthetic situations and is complemented by a case study from a tunnel in Switzerland. The results illustrate the importance of geological and hydraulic information when assessing the risk of swelling at an actual site. 2013-03-12T19:13:12Z 2013-03-12T19:13:12Z 2011-11 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0043-1397 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/77636 Butscher, Christoph, Herbert H. Einstein, and Peter Huggenberger. “Effects of Tunneling on Groundwater Flow and Swelling of Clay-sulfate Rocks.” Water Resources Research 47.11 (2011). https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4074-4736 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011wr011023 Water Resources Research Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ application/pdf American Geophysical Union (AGU) Other University Web Domain |
| spellingShingle | Butscher, Christoph Einstein, Herbert H. Huggenberger, Peter Effects of tunneling on groundwater flow and swelling of clay-sulfate rocks |
| title | Effects of tunneling on groundwater flow and swelling of clay-sulfate rocks |
| title_full | Effects of tunneling on groundwater flow and swelling of clay-sulfate rocks |
| title_fullStr | Effects of tunneling on groundwater flow and swelling of clay-sulfate rocks |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of tunneling on groundwater flow and swelling of clay-sulfate rocks |
| title_short | Effects of tunneling on groundwater flow and swelling of clay-sulfate rocks |
| title_sort | effects of tunneling on groundwater flow and swelling of clay sulfate rocks |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/77636 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4074-4736 |
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