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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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Butscher, Christoph (Contributor), Einstein, Herbert H. (Contributor), Huggenberger, Peter (Author)
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (Contributor)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Geophysical Union (AGU), 2013-03-12T19:13:12Z.
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Online Access:Get fulltext
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100 1 0 |a Butscher, Christoph  |e author 
100 1 0 |a Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering  |e contributor 
100 1 0 |a Butscher, Christoph  |e contributor 
100 1 0 |a Einstein, Herbert H.  |e contributor 
700 1 0 |a Einstein, Herbert H.  |e author 
700 1 0 |a Huggenberger, Peter  |e author 
245 0 0 |a Effects of tunneling on groundwater flow and swelling of clay-sulfate rocks 
260 |b American Geophysical Union (AGU),   |c 2013-03-12T19:13:12Z. 
856 |z Get fulltext  |u http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/77636 
520 |a [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. 
546 |a en_US 
655 7 |a Article 
773 |t Water Resources Research