Thinking Conceptually About Groundwater Problems – The John Mitchell Lecture

Synopsis

Many excavations and tunnels experience problems and instability caused by uncontrolled groundwater inflows or pressures. Groundwater control measures are used to overcome these problems and create stable and workably dry conditions below groundwater level.

A key challenge for designers is that the performance of the various different techniques is strongly influenced by the hydrogeological conditions at a site. Furthermore, the available ground investigation data may have data gaps or considerable uncertainty regarding key parameters such as permeability or hydraulic boundary conditions. This means that, when working with real-world data sets there are some groundwater problems where analysis involves so many assumptions and uncertainties that the design outcomes are of little practical value.

This lecture will discuss how thinking conceptually about groundwater problems can be of great benefit when developing groundwater control schemes, and that a robust conceptual model helps reduce the risk of designs being developed using inappropriate techniques. Examples will be given of cases where developing a conceptual understanding of groundwater conditions was vital in developing practical engineering solutions.