Numerical modeling of the transient hydrogeological response produced by tunnel construction in fractured bedrocks

Groundwater inflows into tunnels constructed in fractured bedrocks not only constitute an important factor controlling the rate of advancement in driving the tunnel but may pose potential hazards. Drawdowns caused by tunnel construction may also induce geotechnical and environmental impacts. Here we present a numerical methodology for the dynamic simulation of the hydrogeological transient conditions induced by the tunnel front advance. The methodology is based on the use of a Cauchy boundary condition at the points lying along the tunnel according to which water discharge, Q, is computed as the product of a leakage coefficient, α, and the head difference, ( H− h), where H is the prescribed head at the tunnel wall and h is the hydraulic head in the fractured rock in the close vicinity of the tunnel. At a given position of the tunnel, α is zero until the tunnel reaches such position when it is assigned a positive value. The use of step-wise time functions for α allows an efficient and accurate simulation of the transient hydrogeological conditions at and around the tunnel during the excavation process. The methodology has been implemented in TRANMEF-3, a finite element computer code for groundwater flow in 3D fractured media developed at the University of A Coruña, Spain, and has been used to simulate the impact of a tunnel on the groundwater system at the Äspö island (Sweden). This tunnel was constructed to access an underground laboratory for research on radioactive waste disposal. The large amount of available data at this site provides a unique opportunity to test the performance of the numerical model and the proposed methodology for tunnel advance. With just minor calibration, the numerical model is able to reproduce accurately the measurements of inflows into the tunnel at several reaches and hydraulic heads at surface-drilled boreholes. These results obtained at the Äspö site lead us to conclude that accurate predictions of the transient hydrogeological responses induced by tunneling works in fractured bedrocks, can be achieved provided that a sound hydrogeological characterization of large-scale fracture zones is available.