Methods of Groundwater Control in

Excavations at Construction Sites

Groundwater causes extreme geotechnical problems in excavations such as

sand running for most of construction projects such as tunneling. So, issues
caused by ground water would increase construction budget and extend
construction time unless the ground water is properly controlled which is the
root cause of the problems.

There are two major methods for controlling ground water including
pumping technique and exclusion technique as shown in figure-1.
 Fig.1: Ground Water Control in Excavations by Exclusion

Fig.2: Controlling Ground Water in Shafts

Methods of Ground Water Control in Excavations
o Motivations or reasons that encourage the utilization of exclusion methods to
control ground water in excavations
o Exclusion methods used to control ground water in excavations

Motivations or Reasons that Encourage the Utilization of

Exclusion Methods to Control Ground Water
There are cases in which the application of pumping techniques to control
ground water is not recommended, for example, in water bearing rock
formation and high permeability ground.

This is because utilization of large capacity pumps, which are required for
high permeability ground and formation of well points in rock formation
would be considerably costly.

So, it would be economical to consider exclusion methods in the

aforementioned situations and alike cases.
 Exclusion Methods to Control Ground Water in
Excavations
There are number of techniques by which ground water exclusion are
obtained:

o Forming impervious barriers by grouting with cement, clay suspension

o Chemical consolidation for controlling ground water in excavation
o Ground water control by compressed air
o Freezing ground water control

Forming Impervious Barriers by Grouting with Cement, Clay Suspension or

Bitumen
This strategy is considered in water bearing rock formation or high
permeability ground where the use of high pump capacity or digging well
point is expensive.

In this technique, the permeability is reduced by creating an impervious

barrier by injecting suspension material or fluids into the fissures of rocks or
pore spaces. Fineness of fissures in rocks or soil particle size distribution
would control types of materials used for grouting.

This means that the grout material particle size should be considerably
smaller than the pore spaces. Figure-3 illustrates limiting particles sizes of
materials which may be grouted by different types of grout.
Fig.3: Various Types of Soils Which can be Grouted with Different Types of Grouting
Material
Additionally, groutability ratio, which is the ration between D.15 size of soil
to the D.85 size of grouting material particle, is also used to determine
suitability of suspension grouts.

So, suspension grouts would not be appropriate choice for the soil under
consideration unless the groutability ratio is higher than 5:15 for clay grouts
and 11:25 for cement grouts.

Furthermore, it is necessary to pay attention to the quantity of materials

used for grouting since it could be costly if the excessive amount is
employed. This concern might be dealt with by considering chemical grouts
even though its cost is higher than clay and cement for the same quantity.
As far as fluid gout is concerned, it is more effective than suspension grout
since it fills all pores and spaces in soil whereas small size pores would be
left empty in the case of suspension grout.

When grouting technique is considered, it is required to practice great care

regarding structures and facilities such as sewer sanitary system around the
grouting area. This is because grouting is conducted under great pressure,
so it might impair considerable damage to these facilities.

Fig.4: Distribution of Grouting Pipes Around Excavation Area

Finally, there are three major methods for injecting grouts which are
provided in Table-1 along their application conditions and procedures.

Table-1: Principle Methods for Grout Injection

Grouting Suitable
Grouting Procedure
Methods Conditions

Firstly, grouting pipe, which its lower end closed by

Very coarsely
an expandable plug and upper end is sealed on the
graded soils or
Open hole surface, is driven into the soil. Secondly, grout is
rocks with
forced into the pipe and driven out the plug and wide
broad fissures
fissures will be filled with grout.

In this method, a hole is drilled in advance then a

Stage lance is inserted after that grouting is carried out by
Not specified
grouting either bottom up method or top down method. In the
former, the hole is dug and a lance is inserted into
 the hole then grouting is proceeded. The latter
approach, the upper part of the hole is grouted and
after its setting, the lower part would be grouted.

It makes use of Tube-a-Manchette as shown in

Figure-5. After a hole is drilled to a determined depth
and cased a sleeve tube is inserted and surrounded
Sleeve Suitable for by partially plastic grout. Then, the case is pulled up
grouting grouting soils and perforated injecting pipe is inserted into the
sleeve pipe. finally, the grouting material is injected
and plastic grout would be broken and the grout
material will spread through the ground.

Fig.5: Tube-a-Manchette Used for Grouting in Soils

Chemical Consolidation for Controlling Ground Water in Excavation
Chemical consolidation method is suitable for sandy gravels and fine grading
sands. The most usual chemical material used for chemical consolidation is
the sodium silicate. If the sodium silicate is mixed with other chemicals,
moderately strong and insoluble silica gel can be produced.
Two approaches have been practiced to conduct chemical consolidation,
namely, two shot process and one-shot process. By and large, the latter
process which is the most common one has replaced the former process.

In two shot process, two pipes with spacing of 50cm are forced into the
ground, then sodium silicate are driven to one pipe and calcium silicate
injected into the other while they are pulled up gradually.

Alternatively, one chemical is injected while the pipe is driven into the
ground, the other chemical material is driven though the pipe as it is
withdrawn.

As far as one-shot process is concerned, chemical grouts are usually created

prior the injection process. So, the most important consideration in this
technique is to postpone the formation of grout gel. This is because grout
penetration would be easier and more efficient when its viscosity is low.

Fig.6: Chemical Grout Formation prior to Injection

Therefore, it is desired to have low viscosity grout during injection and the
increase in grout viscosity occurred after the completion of injection process.

Finally, several attempts have been made to achieve gouts with such
favored property, for example, resins and lignins and acrylic polymers.

Fig.7: Acrylic Polymers

Control Ground Water in Excavation by Compressed Air Method
There are several factors that motivate the application of compressed air to
control ground water in excavations. For example, the use of other ground
water control methods is not possible due to hydrological conditions.

The use of compressed air is advised in the case where environmental

concerns are encountered specifically when ground water employed as a
reservoir for drinkable water, consequently the use of solid materials like
cement is prevented.

Compressed air technique is commonly employed for controlling ground

water in excavations of tunnels and shafts.

Controlling ground water by compressed air cannot be carried out unless

certain conditions are met. Firstly, the side walls and lid of the structure in
which air is kept should be nearly impermeable. Secondly, compressed air
static pressure shall be equal to the hydrostatic pressure of ground water at
 the lowest point of the to be maintained dry. Thirdly, air static pressure
throughout the entire dry hollow space of the structure is should be constant

In order to achieve the above conditions, the following construction

procedures should be considered.

o Construct diaphragm wall as shown in Figure-8 along the side of the planned
structure such as tunnel. The depth of the wall should extend below the final
bottom slab of the structure.

Fig.8: Preparation for Compressed Air Technique to Control Groundwater,

Diaphragm Wall Construction
o After that, construct a lid for the tunnel and the joint between the lid and
diaphragm wall should be compressed airtight. In this stage, preliminary
drainage may be employed provided that the conditions do not pose
obstacles. It should be bore in mind that both diaphragm wall and the lid
should be airtight as well.
o Construct a dividing wall or bulkhead with locks for workers and materials at
one portal of the tunnel to avoid the escape of air toward the other end of
the tunnel. Complementary momentary diaphragm wall might be placed at
specified spacing along longitudinal axis of the tunnel and at its far end
portal.
o Configuring mechanical and electrical machineries for waste material disposal as shown in
Figure-9, compressed air provision and supporting plant.

Fig.9: Removing Waste Materials from Excavations

o Finally, the excavation processes and compressed air utilization will be
started under the lid at the tunnel portal.

In this technique, substantial care should be practiced to prevent undesired

events since compressed air techniques involves high level of risk that could
lead to human loss.
 Fig.10: Excavation and compressed air application, PL: air pressure height in the
tunnel, Dtt: distance between artesian ground water and invert WK: artesian
Tithonian water pressure
Control of Ground Water in Excavations by Freezing
Controlling excavation ground water by freezing is not recommended to use
unless all other methods fails to provide desired result or inappropriate to
choose due to certain factors. This is because the cost of controlling ground
water by freezing is significantly high due to large number of boreholes
required to be drilled around the excavation area.

However, there cases in which freezing is the only practical method to

control ground water for example in extremely deep shaft excavation where
the pressure of ground water is seriously high.

To prevent the formation of unfrozen spaces in the frozen area, boreholes

shall be exactly vertical and errors must be kept as minimum as possible in
addition to provide small spacing between boreholes.
Regarding disadvantages of freezing method, considerable time needed for
the completion of drilling boreholes, installing plants, freezing grounds and
certain types of soils might experience heaving.

Added to that, compressed air operation is possible to hinder due to low

temperature of excavation and construction activities such as concreting will
face difficulties.

Nonetheless, it should be known that the most outstanding benefits of

freezing technique is the effective controlling of ground water which other
methods are lacking.

Freezing procedure involves drilling boreholes around excavation area, then

inserting an outer plastic or steel tube with diameter of 10-15cm and an
inner tube of 3.8-7.5cm into the boreholes, the outer tube end is closed
whereas the inner tube end is opened.

The upper end of inner tube is connected to refrigeration plant from which
cooled brine is pushed into the inner tube and after that returns to the
refrigerator plant. The time during which the ground is frozen ranges
between 1 to 4 months.
 Fig.11: Controlling Ground Water in Excavation by Freezing Method
Finally, it is recommended to use liquid nitrogen rather than brine because
freezing time would be reduced considerably. One might argue that the
liquid nitrogen is expensive but its low construction cost may offset that and
it freezes the ground five times faster than case where brine is used.