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INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR SOIL MECHANICS AND GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING This paper was downloaded from the Online Library of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE). The library is available here: https://www.issmge.org/publications/online-library This is an open-access database that archives thousands of papers published under the Auspices of the ISSMGE and maintained by the Innovation and Development Committee of ISSMGE. The paper was published in the proceedings of the 11th Australia New Zealand Conference on Geomechanics and was edited by Prof. Guillermo Narsilio, Prof. Arul Arulrajah and Prof. Jayantha Kodikara. The conference was held in Melbourne, Australia, 15-18 July 2012. Victoria Park Tunnel – Drawdown and Settlement in the Auckland Central Business District S. J. France1, G. Newby2 and A. L. Williams3 1Beca Infrastructure Ltd, P.O. Box 6345, Auckland 1141, New Zealand; PH (64) 300-9000; FAX (64) 300-9300; email: [email protected]. 2Beca Infrastructure Ltd, P.O. Box 6345, Auckland 1141, New Zealand; PH (64) 300-9172; FAX (64) 300-9300; email: [email protected]. 3Beca Infrastructure Ltd, P.O. Box 6345, Auckland 1141, New Zealand; PH (64) 300-9140; FAX (64) 300-9300; email: [email protected]. ABSTRACT Construction of the Victoria Park Tunnel (VPT) project required the excavation of a 450 m long, 3 lane road tunnel through Auckland’s CBD in close proximity to the Waitemata Harbour. The tunnel, constructed using cut and cover techniques, had a maximum excavation depth of 11 m bgl (some 9 m below the groundwater table) through contaminated fill, compressible alluvium and sedimentary rock. Although the tunnel is now sealed, short term dewatering to facilitate construction was necessary. A combination of low permeability diaphragm and secant pile walls was used to retain the excavation and limit groundwater inflows; however the base of the excavation was left open for periods of up to 4 months before the floor slab was laid. In order to evaluate the potential for consolidation settlement of existing structures including nearby historic buildings, the potential for contaminant and salt water migration, and guide detailed design, numerical groundwater modelling was undertaken. Groundwater level and ground settlement monitoring was undertaken before, during and following construction, with pre-construction monitoring providing valuable records of naturally occurring large seasonal variations. Recorded drawdown, settlement and inflows have generally remained within the consented levels. Some exceedances were recorded however a pragmatic approach to monitoring and management of these exceedances allowed works to continue with minimal disruption and no adverse environmental effects. This paper presents a brief comparison of calculated effects against those which occurred, with a focus on two isolated groundwater level trigger exceedances (their causes and management). Keywords: cut and cover tunnelling, groundwater, drawdown, settlement, groundwater modelling, monitoring 1 INTRODUCTION The Victoria Park Tunnel (VPT) project was undertaken to address the last major bottleneck on the central motorway network between the Auckland Harbour Bridge and Newmarket, in Auckland, New Zealand. The VPT project involved construction of a 450 m long, 3-lane north-bound tunnel. The tunnel was constructed by cut and cover methods and is located to the west of the existing Victoria Park Viaduct (Figure 1) having a maximum depth to underside of floor slab of 11 m, some 9 m below the groundwater table. The tunnel is located within the Central Business District in close proximity to businesses, residential apartments, historic buildings and the Waitemata Harbour. Materials excavated in tunnelling include contaminated fill and compressible alluvium. An understanding of the interaction between the tunnel (during construction and long term) and the groundwater system was required to inform tunnel design and assess (and as far as possible avoid), potential deleterious effects on the environment (ground settlement and spread of contaminants). Groundwater drawdown, total settlement and groundwater inflows recorded prior to, during and following construction are presented and compared to results of numerical modelling. Two exceedances that occurred during construction, their likely causes and the approaches to monitoring and management of them to allow works to continue are discussed. ANZ 2012 Conference proceedinga 101 New Westhaven N Auckland Zealand Marina Pre-reclamation shoreline St Mary's Bay Western Reclamation Cut and cover tunnel North Shore & approaches LEGEND Victoria Waitemata Harbour Park Reclamation Fill East Coast Bays Formation CBD Existing motorway 5 km ~500 m Auckland Existing viaduct 1 Figure 1: Location of Victoria Park Tunnel 2 HYDROGEOLOGICAL SETTING The project corridor occupies generally low-lying reclaimed land (Victoria Park) of the original Freeman’s Bay embayment. East Coast Bays Formation (ECBF) interbedded sandstone and siltstone forms the bedrock (Figure 2) and outcrops along the old cliff line and foreshore. Secondary hydraulic conductivity is dominant in these weak rocks with the majority of groundwater flow along bedding surfaces and defects. Hydraulic conductivity is typically of the order of 5 x 10-7 m/s but values of up to 5 x 10-6 m/s were recorded along the alignment of inferred paleo-valleys. The ECBF is overlain by a variable thickness of strongly anisotropic Tauranga Group alluvium comprising soft or loose, unconsolidated, compressible silty and sandy sediments. In-situ testing -7 indicates a mean hydraulic conductivity of 2 x 10 m/s. A KV/KH ratio of 0.01 to 0.1 is typical. A variety of fill types were encountered along the alignment, including hydraulic fill up to 5 m thick. Pockets of hydrocarbons and other contaminants resulting from the former industrial land use are found within the fill, as are areas of construction fill. Recorded groundwater levels indicate a relatively flat water table across the tunnel (a gradient of < 4 %), dropping from around 5 m RL (at the southern approach) towards 3 m RL (near the northern exit). Central Motorway Junction St Mary's Bay (to Newmarket) (to Harbour Bridge) finished ground level Northern Portal Southern Portal Fill groundwater level residual Alluvium ECBF finished tunnel ECBF floor level 10x vertical exaggeration Figure 2: Schematic geological long section along main tunnel alignment 3 CONSTRUCTION METHODOLOGY Retaining walls were installed prior to excavation to provide excavation support and a cut-off to groundwater. Both diaphragm and secant pile retaining walls were used (depending on depth to rock) to form the low permeability walls of the tunnel. Walls extended to the greater of either 4 m below underside of the base slab or 2 m embedment into rock. ANZ 2012 Conference proceedinga 102 Bulk excavation between the retaining walls commenced in September 2010 with the final base slab poured in September 2011. Excavation of the tunnel was undertaken progressively from three fronts with groundwater inflows pumped from the base of excavation. The floors of the excavations were left open and drained for periods of up to 4 months before being partially sealed with site concrete or fully sealed by pouring the structural base slab. 4 ASSESSEMENT OF EFFECTS USING NUMERICAL GROUNDWATER MODELLING Two-dimensional and three-dimensional groundwater modelling was undertaken using the programs GeoStudio SEEP/W and Visual MODFLOW Pro (Schlumberger) respectively (France, 2008). Modelling suggested that on average a maximum drawdown of up to 2.5 m might occur immediately adjacent to the tunnel walls in the ECBF. Where higher hydraulic conductivity ECBF was encountered (inferred paleo-valleys) a drawdown of 4.0 m to 7.5 m was considered possible. Within the compressible Tauranga Group, maximum drawdown immediately adjacent to the tunnel was predicted by modelling to be 0.7 m with measurable drawdown (0.1 m) extending 200 m to 500 m depending on the geological profile and presence of higher permeability drainage channels. One- dimensional consolidation settlement analyses suggest that this magnitude of drawdown could have the potential to induce consolidation settlements of up to 20 mm immediately adjacent to the tunnel reducing to 5 mm to 10 mm at the nearest buildings. Negligible drawdown was indicated by modelling within the fill, with groundwater flow reversal occurring over a limited extent in these near-surface materials such that both contaminant migration and saline intrusion were considered unlikely. Modelling indicated seepage of 20 m3/d to 50 m3/d of groundwater into the excavation as a result of drawing the water table down to excavation floor level in the ECBF during construction. 5 CONSTRUCTION MONITORING 5.1 Monitoring Programme A groundwater and settlement monitoring programme was developed on the basis of the pre- construction assessment of effects. Piezometer pairs were installed at 10 sites around the project, each with one standpipe screened at depth in the ECBF (where the greatest drawdown was expected to occur) and the other in the shallow alluvium or fill (where there was the greatest potential for adverse settlement effects to occur). Baseline monitoring undertaken over a 12-month period prior to excavation identified the typical seasonal variation to be generally 0.5 m within the ECBF rock and 0.9 m in the Tauranga Group Alluvium or Fill. Critically, this baseline monitoring also captured a very dry summer (January to April 2010 when less than 35 % of mean rainfall fell) which identified that groundwater levels could naturally drop a further 0.3 m to 0.5 m on average, but up to 0.8 m in some locations during periods of low rainfall. Forty-two ground and 96 building settlement pins were also installed around the project site and monitored some 12 months in advance of works to identify normal seasonal variations. At most pin locations the seasonal variation was found to be 2 mm to 6 mm, however 10 % of marker pins exhibited variations of 10 mm to 20 mm and 4 sites (including one building marker pin) were found to vary seasonally by more than 20 mm.