11.

Ground movements due to

construction dewatering

W. POWRIE, Department of Civil Engineering, Queen Mary and

Westfield College, University of London

The factors which should be taken into account in assessing the ground movements
which may result from construction dewatering operations are discussed, with
reference to case histories.

Introduction
The principal aim of a construction dewatering system is to reduce pore water
pressures in the soil surrounding an excavation, so that the sides and base of
the excavation will remain stable. Since the vertical total stresses in the soil
outside the excavation will remain substantially unaltered, this reduction in
pore water pressure must be accompanied by an increase in vertical effective
stress. The resulting consolidation and settlement of the soil can, especially
in urban areas, cause damage to buildings and buried services.
The magnitude and extent of ground movements will in general depend
on the characteristics of the soils present, the changes in pore water pressure
which result from pumping, and the geometry and layout of the excavation
and the dewatering system. Soil settlements can be minimized by preventive
measures such as physical cut-offs and recharge systems, but these will
usually entail additional expenditure. The aim of this Paper is to discuss the
issues governing the magnitude and extent of soil settlements, and ways in
which they can be minimized or prevented, with reference to case records
from dewatering systems in a variety of ground conditions.
A second possible cause of ground movements associated with dewater-
ing systems is the movement of soil particles. This might occur because the
wellscreens and filters are inappropriate for the ground conditions, allowing
the continued removal of fine particles. Alternatively, the degree of pore
water pressure reduction achieved by the dewatering system may be insuf-
ficient to prevent instability, either globally or locally, perhaps due to
unexpected inhomogeneities such as high permeability lenses or shoestrings.
These situations are outside the scope of this Paper, which is concerned solely
with ground movements caused by the reductions in pore water pressure
and the accompanying increases in effective stress which result from the
removal of water from the soil pores.
Groundwater problems in urban areas. Thomas Telford, London, 1994 237

Downloaded by [ University of Ottawa Library System] on [15/09/16]. Copyright ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 FALLING GROUNDWATER LEVELS

Surface t e n s i o r T , ^ ^
T ^ ^ ^ \ ; -j Pore water at
}) .Y'U suction Ue relative
A
'r a t
k . y/y'\~ t o
atmospheric pressure
v
atmospheric j ^^ -
pressure
Hemi spher i caI
meniscuS
-Soil particles
Fig. 1. Calculation of gauge pore suction at air entry
Mechanisms of pore water pressure reduction
The mechanism of pore water pressure reduction will depend on the soil
type, and in particular the pore (particle) size. As the pore size is reduced, the
pressure difference Ue between the pore water and the atmosphere required
for air to enter the voids is increased. The condition of equilibrium applied
to an idealized model of the air/water interface (Fig. 1) leads to the expression
U e = 4T/d (1)
where Ue is the gauge pore water suction at air entry (i.e. measured relative
to the ambient air pressure), T is the surface tension of the water/air interface
(= 7 x 10~5 kN/m at 10C) and d is the effective pore diameter.
If Hazen's (1892) relationship between permeability k and particle size Dio
for clean, uniform filter sands
k (m/s) = 104 . Dio2 (m2) (2)
is assumed to apply across the range, Fig. 2 (Preene, 1992) shows the idealized
relationships between soil permeability and gauge pore water suction at air
entry using equation (2) with d = Dio and d = Dio/5, where 10% by weight
of the soil particles are smaller than Dio.
If it is attempted to increase the pore water suction beyond the value at air
entry, the soil will gradually become completely desaturated as air displaces
the pore water from all but the smallest voids, in which equation (1) can still
be satisfied. Thus as the pore pressure is reduced in a coarse soil of per-
meability 5 x 10" m/s or above, the soil will become unsaturated as drainage
occurs by air entry into the voids.
Changes in volume of a partially saturated soil are dependent on the stress
parameters (o - ua) and (ua - u w ), where a is the total stress, u w is the pore
water pressure, and u a is the pore air pressure. The importance of the second
of these parameters, the matrix suction, decreases with saturation ratio
(Fredlund, 1979), and it seems reasonable to suppose that at low saturation
ratios, volumetric changes are controlled primarily by the parameter (a - u a ).
The gauge pore pressure in a coarse soil which has become unsaturated may
therefore be taken as zero.
238

Downloaded by [ University of Ottawa Library System] on [15/09/16]. Copyright ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 PAPER 11: POWRIE
Ue (kPa)
120 n
d =D
0.2 D
10

-4 -3
10 " 10 10
Permeab i I i t y k, m/s
Fig. 2. Relationship between soil permeability and gauge pore
suction at air entry (Preene, 1992)

By contrast, in soils of low permeability, negative pore pressures may

develop, leading to effective stresses in excess of the total stress and addi-
tional soil settlements. This is especially significant, since fine soils (silts and
clays), which are able to sustain large negative pore pressures, are generally
more easily compressible than coarse soils (sands and gravels), where pore
pressures are unlikely to fall significantly below zero. If a fine soil remains
saturated, drainage of water from the pores must be accompanied by consoli-
dation of the soil skeleton. This means that soil settlements will not occur
instantaneously, but at a rate governed by the reduction in pore water
pressure generated by the dewatering system, the drainage boundary condi-
tions, and the consolidation characteristics (permeability and stiffness) of the
soil.

Calculation of settlements: general principles

Soil settlements must be calculated from the changes in effective stress
imposed by the processes of pore pressure reduction due to dewatering and
stress relief due to excavation, acting in combination. In fine soils, the time
dependence introduced by the consolidation process must also be taken into
account. In general, the calculation of soil settlements is a complex three-
dimensional problem for which an exact solution is probably unattainable,
except perhaps using numerical modelling techniques. Even then, the uncer-
tainties concerning field boundary conditions, together with the difficulty of
modelling realistically the relevant aspects of soil behaviour, would probably
defeat all but the most complex of models and the most dedicated of mod-
ellers. The aim of this Paper is not to present a general solution to the problem

239

Downloaded by [ University of Ottawa Library System] on [15/09/16]. Copyright ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 FALLING GROUNDWATER LEVELS
0

Made ground
S. (GWL 3m b g l )

Al l u v i a l clay

Depth, m Flint gravel

Fig. 3. Ground conditions for case
study no. 1

of calculating soil settlements, but to illustrate qualitatively the effect of

certain boundary and soil conditions: this purpose can be achieved quite
adequately using simple methods such as Dupuit-based flow analyses, flow-
net sketching and one-dimensional consolidation theory.
Sophisticated computational techniques are no substitute for sound engin-
eering judgement, and it is more important that the conceptual model used
for analysis should not neglect any aspect of real behaviour which is likely
to be significant. In particular, all relevant boundary conditions must be taken
into account in estimating the changes in pore pressure which will result from
a given dewatering operation: inhomogeneities such as high permeability
lenses and shoestrings, which could act as close sources of recharge, can be
especially troublesome (Preene, 1992). Also, the soil parameters used to
calculate settlements must be obtained from laboratory or field tests carried
out with regard to the stress history and stress state of the soil in the field,
and the changes in stress to which it is likely to be subjected.
The pore pressure regime above the line of zero gauge pore pressure can
have a significant influence on the soil settlements which result from the
operation of a construction dewatering system. This may be illustrated with
reference to the ground conditions shown in Fig. 3, which comprise 3 m of
made ground and 6 m of alluvial clay, overlying 5 m of flint gravel and upper
chalk. It is proposed to lower the groundwater level, which is initially close
to the top of the alluvial clay, to the interface between the alluvial clay and
the flint gravel to facilitate the construction of a large excavation for a section
of cut-and-cover tunnel. There is concern, however, about possible settlement
damage to an old industrial building, whose load-bearing stanchions are
founded on concrete blocks between 1.5 m and 3 m deep.
The eventual compression of the clay layer may be estimated using the
following parameters. The alluvial clay has unit weight y = 17 kN/m , and
one-dimensional vertical modulus E'v = 1.5 MN/m (E'v = l / m v where m v

240

Downloaded by [ University of Ottawa Library System] on [15/09/16]. Copyright ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 PAPER 11: POWRIE

is the coefficient of one-dimensional compressibility). The made ground has

unit weight y =18 kN/m . Two different steady-state pore pressure regimes
might be considered
(a) zero pore water pressures throughout the stratum, corresponding to
recharge from the ground surface or the steady downward percolation of
rainwater and a hydraulic gradient of unity
(b) pore water pressures varying linearly from zero at the bottom of the
stratum to -60 kPa at the top, corresponding to the development of nega-
tive pore water pressures at a hydrostatic gradient above the base.
In both cases, the soil remains saturated. However, the first pore pressure
regime results in an estimated long-term settlement of 118 mm, while the
second pore pressure regime, under which the increases in effective stress are
much greater, gives 238 mm. Neglecting evaporation, the rate of recharge
required to maintain steady downward percolation under a hydraulic gra-
dient of unity is given by the permeability of the soil, which is in this case
10" m/s or approximately 9 mm per day. This flow rate is unlikely to be
provided by rainfall alone, so some thought would need to be given as to its
source before the more beneficial pore pressure regime were adopted as a
basis for the calculation of settlements.
Either of these figures would probably give cause for anxiety but it is
difficult in this case to see how significant settlements can be avoided. A
system of recharge wells between the building and the excavation could in
principle be used to maintain groundwater levels in the alluvial clay beneath
the building, but this is not practicable here because the building is too close
to the excavation. The installation of a recharge system beyond the building
would increase hydraulic gradients and rates of change in effective stress
with horizontal distance in the soil below it, which might well make matters
worse.
In the calculations of settlement in fine soils described in this Paper, it is
assumed that the soil remains saturated. The validity of this assumption in
any particular case should be checked by comparing the maximum pore
water suction which the soil is required to sustain in order to remain saturated
with the pore suction at air entry, as indicated by Fig. 2. Provided that the
degree of saturation remains in excess of 90%, the error introduced by the
use of stress parameters appropriate to saturated soils should be small. If
desaturation does begin to occur, or if vertical cracks allow volume changes
to take place by horizontal shrinkage, the calculations presented in this Paper
will tend to overpredict the magnitude of vertical ground movements (e.g.
Chandler et al., 1992).
Shrinkage cracks are more likely to occur where high pore water suctions
develop, and would therefore tend to reduce the discrepancy between the
two estimates of settlement given above.
241

Downloaded by [ University of Ottawa Library System] on [15/09/16]. Copyright ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 FALLING GROUNDWATER LEVELS

Assessment of risk
Damage to the superstructure of a building is often caused by angular
distortion due to differential rather than uniform settlements (Burland &
Wroth, 1974). Thus factors such as the variation in drawdown across a site
(as indicated at least approximately by the slope of the line of zero gauge pore
water pressure), and inconsistencies in foundation load factors (which could
result from partial underpinning, or the provision of piles under part of the
building only) might be thought to contribute more significantly to damaging
settlements than the compressibility of the soil per se. There are several
reasons, however, why the likelihood of a uniform settlement profile de-
creases as the compressibility of the soil increases. The risk of significant
differential settlements due to variations in the thickness of the compressible
stratum and other inhomogeneities increases with the general magnitude of
the settlement. More compressible soils tend to be of comparatively low
permeability: as the zone of influence of a dewatering system generally
decreases with soil permeability (Somerville, 1986), hydraulic gradients and
variations in pore pressure (and hence effective stress) with horizontal dis-
tance will tend to be more severe. Also, as described in the previous section,
the ability of low permeability soils to sustain negative pore pressures can
lead to increased effective stresses and greater settlements.
Powers (1991) cites the presence of a compressible stratum as the most
significant cause of settlement damage to buildings resulting from dewater-
ing operations. Factors such as the magnitude of the drawdown (which will
affect the change in effective stress), and a variation in foundation type and
loading, will often be of only secondary importance. The settlements caused
by pumping water from an aquifer overlain by a compressible stratum are
likely to be greater than the settlements caused by pumping from an aquifer
which has a compressible stratum below it. This is because the stiffness of the
compressible layer will tend to increase with depth, and because the distribu-
tion of pore pressure reduction may, depending on the geometry, be such
that the increases in effective stress in an overlying compressible stratum are
more significant. Effective stresses in an overlying compressible layer would
be increased still further by the development of negative pore pressures.
It was mentioned earlier that in fine soils where the mechanism of pore
pressure reduction is consolidation, settlements will take some time to de-
velop. If pore pressure reduction is required in the low permeability stratum,
the dewatering system must be operated for a period in advance of the
excavation process, and the accompanying settlements are inevitable. How-
ever, where the stratum of fine soil is not the principal aquifer, and pore
pressure reduction therein is not required, it may be possible to operate the
dewatering system for a limited time before significant soil settlements occur.
This will depend on the consolidation characteristics of the compressible

242

Downloaded by [ University of Ottawa Library System] on [15/09/16]. Copyright ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 PAPER 11: POWRIE

(GWL 0.3m bgl)

Peat
1.7
Soft peaty clay
(alIuvi urn)

3.7
Glacial sand
and gravel
Depth, m
Fig. 4. Ground conditions for case study
no. 2

stratum, together with its thickness and any other boundary conditions
which affect the drainage path length. In cases such as these, the time for
which the dewatering system is required to operate may be a significant
factor in the assessment of risk.

Aquifers overlain by compressible strata

The problems which may arise when construction dewatering is carried
out in an aquifer overlain by a compressible stratum of relatively low per-
meability may be illustrated with reference to a case study, where the ground
conditions were as shown in Fig. 4. Up to approximately 4 m of topsoil, peat
and soft alluvial clay were underlain by a glacial sand and gravel aquifer. A
conventional wellpoint dewatering system was installed in order to lower
the water table by 4 m or so from its original position, 0.3 m below ground
level, in connection with a number of small excavations enclosed within an
area less than 30 m square on plan. After about three weeks' pumping,
owners of property at distances of up to 500 m away began to complain of
structural damage, and the dewatering system was switched off.
The reduction in groundwater level in the sand and gravel aquifer will
have occurred quite quickly, probably within a few days, allowing the
compressible strata of alluvial clay and peat to consolidate by vertical drain-
age of pore water down into the sand and gravel. Oedometer test data for
samples of the alluvial clay and peat indicated moduli in one-dimensional
vertical compression E'v of 500 kPa and 195 kPa respectively, measured over
appropriate stress increments. The unit weight y of the clay was estimated to
be 15.7 kN/m 3 , and that of the peat 10.8 kN/m 3 . Assuming that the long-
term pore water pressures in both strata are maintained at zero by the
downward percolation of rain or surface water, the eventual average increase
in vertical effective stress in the peat is 6.9 kPa, and in the alluvial clay 23.5
kPa. The corresponding long-term compression of the peat is 50 mm, and of

243

Downloaded by [ University of Ottawa Library System] on [15/09/16]. Copyright ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 FALLING GROUNDWATER LEVELS

D pore Excess pore

pressure pressure
i ncreasing
t
i ncreas i ng,
t
D D
Depth Depth
a) Pore pressure b) Excess pore pressure
Fig. 5. Isochrones of pore pressure and excess pore pressure for vertical drainage
downward into a pumped aquifer

the clay 94 mm, giving an overall soil surface settlement of 144 mm. If strong
pore suctions were assumed to develop in the clay and the possibility of
shrinkage cracks were neglected, the calculated settlement would be much
greater.
This is essentially a problem of one-dimensional consolidation. The initial
variation of pore water pressure with depth is triangular, and excess pore
pressure dissipation occurs by one-way vertical drainage, downward into the
sand and gravel aquifer. Assuming that the peat and the clay can be con-
sidered to behave as a single layer with uniform consolidation characteristics,
isochrones showing the variation of pore pressure and excess pore pressure
with depth are shown in Fig. 5. An approximate solution to this problem may
be obtained by assuming that the isochrones are parabolic in shape. The
results are conventionally presented non-dimensionally (Terzaghi, 1943), as
a relationship between the proportional soil surface settlement R = p/pult and
the time factor T = (c v t/d ), where p is the settlement at an elapsed time t,
pult is the ultimate settlement, cv is the consolidation coefficient kvE'v/Yw, E'v
is the stiffness of the soil in one-dimensional vertical compression, kv is the
vertical permeability, and d is the maximum drainage path lengthin this
case the thickness of the compressible layer. According to this approximate
calculation, the settlement due to the compression of the soft layers after a
period of 20 days is 84 mm if the permeability of the clay is 10 m/s, and
27 mm if the permeability is 10" m/s. If the permeability is 10" m/s or
greater, consolidation is effectively complete within this time.
This idealized model suggests a uniform rate of proportional settlement
d(p/p u lt)/dt across the area over which the piezometric level in the sand and
gravel aquifer is drawn down to below the bottom of the soft clay. Differential
settlements could result from variations in the thicknesses of the soft strata,
or from other inhomogeneities. Six boreholes at the site indicated peat to a
depth of between 0.6 m and 2 m, and a thickness of soft clay of between zero
and 2 m, while in two further boreholes towards the edge of the site, neither
stratum was present.
244

Downloaded by [ University of Ottawa Library System] on [15/09/16]. Copyright ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 PAPER 11: POWRIE

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this case is the distance from the
excavation of some of the properties alleged to have suffered settlement
damage. Fig. 6 shows piezometric levels in the sand and gravel aquifer at
various times following the cessation of pumping; it may be seen that there
is very little variation in drawdown with horizontal distance up to 250 m
away from the excavation. The distance of influence of the dewatering system
might have been predicted using Sichart's formula (Somerville, 1986)
Lo (metres) = C.H.Vk (3)
where H is the overall drawdown in metres, k is the permeability of the soil
in m/s and C is an empirical factor of between 1500 and 2000 for plane flow
when the units of Lo, H and k are as stated. The permeability of the sand and
gravel aquifer was estimated on the basis of particle size distribution data to
be approximately 3.6 x 10" m/s: with a drawdown of 4 m, equation (3)
suggests a distance of influence in the range 360 m to 480 m. If this were so,
the drawdown at a distance of 250 m would not be expected to be more than
20% of the maximum drawdown, i.e. 0.8 m (Somerville, 1986). The flatness
of the actual drawdown curves suggests either that the distance is very much
greater than 480 m, or that the aquifer is bounded laterally rather than of
effectively infinite extent. The very slow rate of recovery of the groundwater
level in the aquifer indicated by Fig. 6 suggests that the second of these
explanations is probably the more likely.
Two further points of interest emerge from this case. One is that the
furthest property from the excavation at which settlement damage was
claimed coincides exactly with the edge of the peat deposit indicated on the
geological map of the area. The second is that there are some types of
construction which are vulnerable even to uniform settlements. One of the
properties allegedly affected was a supermarket, whose car park occupied

Distance, m
50 100 150 200 250

1-
O- O O 0-0 18 days
2- 0 a O JJ D 11 days
4)0 0 4 days
1 4 f- End of pumping (0 days)
4-

Drawdown,
m
Fig. 6. Drawdowns as a function of distance, case study no. 2

245

Downloaded by [ University of Ottawa Library System] on [15/09/16]. Copyright ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 FALLING GROUNDWATER LEVELS

the site of a former industrial building. Uniform settlements should not have
been a problem, were it not for the fact that the piled foundations of the old
building had been left in place beneath the surface of the car park. The
resulting regular array of humps in the surface of the car park was at best
unsightly, and at worst potentially dangerous.

Vertical settlement of a compressible stratum due to

horizontal drainage
In the case study described above, settlements occurred due to the consoli-
dation of a low permeability layer by vertical drainage into an underlying
aquifer from which groundwater was being pumped. If the compressible
layer were homogeneous and of uniform thickness, these settlements should
in theory develop at the same rate over a wide area: differential settlements
would be attributable to local variations in ground conditions. A rather
different situation was encountered during the temporary works dewatering
for the A55 North Wales Coast Road Conwy Crossing, the results of a field
trial for which were reported by Powrie & Roberts (1990).
At Conwy, it was necessary to reduce pore pressures in a stratum of
laminated glacial lake deposits just below the formation level of a large
excavation (200 m x 300 m on plan and 10-15 m deep). The horizontal per-
meability of the lake deposits was estimated from a previous pumping test
to be approximately 4 x 10" m/s. As conventional dewatering systems are
usually ineffective in soils of this permeability (Roberts, 1989), an ejector
system was installed in order to assist the drainage of groundwater into the
wells by the application of a vacuum. The vertical permeability of the lake
deposits was perhaps two orders of magnitude less than the horizontal
permeability, so that drainage of pore water from the lake deposits was
effectively horizontal towards the line of ejector wells. This is again a problem
of one-dimensional vertical consolidation, but because the direction of drain-
age is horizontal rather than vertical, the distribution of excess pore water
pressure at any time is independent of the depth rather than the distance

Excess
pore
pressure

increasing time

0 Distance
Fig. 7. Isochrones of excess pore pressure for horizontal
drainage to a pumped slot
246

Downloaded by [ University of Ottawa Library System] on [15/09/16]. Copyright ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 PAPER 11: POWRIE

Distance, m
,0 45

18 days
S
6 days
3 days
8
Drawdown,
m
Fig. 8. Theoretical isochrones and measured drawdowns for case study no. 3 (Powrie
& Roberts, 1990)

(Fig. 7). Theoretical isochrones calculated for the Conwy field trial using the
procedure and parameters described by Powrie & Roberts (1990) are reason-
ably close to the measured data, except for the drawdown near the ejector
line during the initial period of pumping (Fig. 8).
In these circumstances, the drawdown at any time varies with distance
from the dewatering system. Thus the increase in effective stress, which is
assumed to be the same throughout the depth of the compressible layer, will
do likewise, and differential settlements must be expected even in a homo-
geneous stratum of uniform thickness. It should be noted that the rate of
consolidation is controlled by the one-dimensional modulus in vertical com-
pression and the horizontal permeability of the soil, and that settlements
cannot be prevented because the whole purpose of the dewatering system is
to reduce pore pressures in the compressible stratum.

Minimization of settlements by recharge of groundwater

It may be possible to minimize settlements outside an excavation by the
installation of a recharge system. Fig. 9 shows a cross-section through a 10 m
deep excavation, 75 m x 90 m on plan, in Quaternary deposits (comprising
about 5 m of alluvial loam and peat and 5 m of valley gravels) overlying
chalk. The sides of the excavation were retained by a vertical in situ concrete
wall. The natural water table was approximately 2 m below ground level, so
that a system of dewatering wells was required in order to reduce piezometric
levels immediately below the floor of the excavation by at least 8 m. However,
the excavation was located in the centre of a city, and was surrounded on all
four sides by buildings at a distance of about 10 m. Some of these buildings
were founded on the comparatively compressible alluvium, and there was
concern that the reductions in pore water pressure outside the excavation

247

Downloaded by [ University of Ottawa Library System] on [15/09/16]. Copyright ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 FALLING GROUNDWATER LEVELS

Diaphragm - 0
Alluvial GWL s . - 2
loam and peat T / wall
- 5
Sandy gravel Excavation
-10
Chalk

Fig. 9. Cross-section through excavation, case study no. 4

which would result from the operation of the dewatering system could lead
to damage to their superstructure. A system of wells was therefore installed
to recharge the alluvium and the gravels with a proportion of the ground-
water pumped from the chalk below the bottom of the excavation. The rate
of recharge was controlled with reference to the pore water pressures in the
Quaternary deposits outside the excavation, which were monitored using an
array of standpipe piezometers. Approximately 55% of the extracted ground-
water was pumped back into the Quaternary deposits via the recharge wells
in order to maintain pore water pressures within normal seasonal limits, and
no problems with settlement damage to buildings were encountered.
The geological conditions shown in Fig. 9 were such that the recharge
system could be operated reasonably easily and with maximum benefit. The
permeability of the valley gravels was probably in excess of 10~ m/s, while
that of the chalk acting in fissure flow was estimated to be about 10" m/s.
The recharge of groundwater into the high-permeability gravels created in
effect a hydraulic buffer zone between the compressible alluvial deposits and
the chalk. In this way, it was possible to confine pore water pressure reduc-
tions to the stiff chalk, where any deformation arising from the increases in
effective stress would be negligible.
Conditions at the site described above were generally favourable in a
number of other ways. Although the physical cut-off provided by the in situ
concrete retaining wall around the perimeter of the excavation was in any
case essential because of the high permeability of the valley gravels, some
reduction in pore water pressure in the alluvial deposits would have been
inevitable without it. Permission was obtained to locate the recharge wells
outside the site boundaries; if this is not forthcoming, space considerations
would militate against the specification of a recharge system on a valuable
and congested urban site. The quality of the groundwater recirculated
through the recharge system is very important, as recharge wells can become
rapidly blocked by fine particles in suspension. Chalk groundwater is re-

248

Downloaded by [ University of Ottawa Library System] on [15/09/16]. Copyright ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 PAPER 11: POWRIE

nowned for its clarity, although problems can occur if chemical contamina-
tion from an outside source raises the pH resulting in the precipitation of
calcium carbonate. Biof ouling by the iron-related bacteria Gallionella can also
cause difficulties in areas where the iron content of the groundwater is high
(Powrie et al, 1992). Special precautions, including anaerobic operation, will
be required in recharge systems in such conditions, otherwise wells and
pipework may become clogged after 24 hours or less.

Conclusions
A construction dewatering system, even when properly designed, in-
stalled and operated, can cause settlements of the surrounding soil as a result
of increases in effective stress due to pore pressure reduction. The mechanism
of pore pressure reduction will depend on the permeability of the soil. Soils
of permeability greater than about 5 x 10" m/s will drain primarily by air
entry, while soils of permeability less than approximately 10~ m/s will tend
to remain saturated and drain by consolidation. The development of negative
pore pressures in low permeability soils, combined with their generally
higher compressibility, will tend to lead to larger settlements.
In estimating soil settlement due to dewatering operations, it is better to
carry out simple calculations based on realistic behavioural models and
correct data than complex analyses based on inadequate or misleading
information. Important considerations include the accuracy of the hydraulic
boundary conditions and the relevance of the soil parameters. In low per-
meability soils, the pore pressure regime above the line of zero gauge
pressure can have a significant effect on calculated settlements, especially if
the possibility of cracking due to horizontal shrinkage is neglected.
Pumping from an aquifer which underlies a compressible stratum can
cause particularly large settlements. In theory these settlements would be
uniform if the compressible layer were homogeneous and of constant thick-
ness. Differential settlements, however, which are generally more damaging
to buildings than uniform settlements, will usually occur in practice because
of variations in the thicknesses of the soil strata and other inhomogeneities.
The effects of these will be amplified if the overall magnitude of settlement
is high. Where the foundations of a building or a pavement are not designed
to a consistent load factor, even uniform settlements can cause damage.
Pumping from a compressible stratum directly will inevitably lead to settle-
ments which, if the flow is substantially horizontal, will vary with distance.
In some cases, recharge systems can be installed to minimize drawdowns
and settlements outside excavations. However, the recharge system must be
carefully sited, and the viability of a such a system may depend on both the
facility to install recharge wells outside the site boundary, and the availability
of clean water for recharge.

249

Downloaded by [ University of Ottawa Library System] on [15/09/16]. Copyright ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 FALLING GROUNDWATER LEVELS

References
Burland, J. B. and Wroth, C. P. (1974). Settlement of buildings and associated
damage. Proc. BGS Conf. on the settlement of structures, Cambridge, pp.
611-654. London: Pentech Press.
Chandler, R. J., Crilly, M. S. and Montgomery-Smith, G. (1992). A low cost method
of assessing clay desiccation for low-rise buildings. Proc. ICE Civil Engineer-
ing, 92, May, pp. 82-89.
Fredlund, D. G. (1979). Appropriate concepts and technology for unsaturated
soils. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 16, pp. 121-139.
Hazen, A. (1892). Physical properties of sands and gravels with reference to their
use in filtration. Report of the Massachussetts State Board of Health, p. 539.
Powrie, W. and Roberts, T. O. L. (1990). Field trial of an ejector well dewatering
system at Conwy, North Wales. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology,
23, pp. 169-185.
Powrie, W., Roberts, T. O. L. and Jefferis, S. A. (1992). Chemical and microbio-
logical effects on construction dewatering systems. Proc. Int. Conf. on Chem.
and Microbiology in Civ. Engng, Bristol.
Preene, M. (1992). The design of pore pressure control systems in fine soils. PhD
dissertation, University of London, Queen Mary and Westfield College.
Roberts, T. O. L. (1989). Seepage in shallow unconfined aquifers: permeability
limits for gravity drainage. PhD dissertation, University of London, King's
College.
Somerville, S. H. (1986). Control of groundwater for temporary works. Construc-
tion Industry Research and Information Association, Report 113. London:
CIRIA.
Terzaghi, K. (1943). Theoretical soil mechanics. New York: Wiley.

250

Downloaded by [ University of Ottawa Library System] on [15/09/16]. Copyright ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.