Calculation of groundwater head distribution with a close barrier during excavation dewatering in confined aquifer

When pumping is conducted in confined aquifer inside excavation pit(waterproof curtain),the direction of the groundwater seepage outside the excavation changes from horizontal to vertical owing to the existence of the curtain barrier.There is no analytical calculation method for the groundwater head distribution induced by dewatering inside excavation.This paper first analyses the mechanism of the blocking effects from a close barrier in confined aquifer.Then,a simple equation based on analytical solution is proposed to calculate groundwater heads inside and outside of the excavation pit with waterproof curtain(hereafter refer to close barrier)in a confined aquifer.The distribution of groundwater head is derived according to two conditions:(i)pumping with a constant water head,and(ii)pumping with a constant flow rate.The proposed calculation equation is verified by both numerical simulation and experimental results.The comparisons demonstrate that the proposed model can be applied in engineering practice of excavation.

Numerical evaluation of the ground response induced by dewatering in a multi-aquifer system

This study presents a numerical investigation of dewatering-induced settlement and wall deflection during pumping tests in Tianjin,China.Based on the measured groundwater head and building settlement during the pumping test,a three-dimensional liquid-solid coupling model is established by using the finite element method(FEM).The void ratio,hydraulic conductivity,and elastic modulus of each layer are back-calculated through the numerical model.The groundwater drawdown,seepage field,ground settlement,horizontal ground displacement,and diaphragm wall lateral deflection are analyzed using the FEM model.The simulated results demonstrate that(i)the maximum ground settlement outside of the excavation reaches to 82 mm due to the leakage effect of aquitards;(ii)large horizontal displacement occurs in the soil during the pumping test with a maximum value of 28.3 mm,and the installation of the diaphragm wall in the aquifer can reduce the horizontal displacement of the ground;(iii)long-term pumping causes a large lateral deflection of the diaphragm wall,and a maximum value of 23.2 mm occurs at the layer where the screens of the wells are located;and(iv)long-term large-scale pumping should be avoided before excavation.