Abstract
Retrofitting existing dams for the installation of modern monitoring instrumentation requires confidence in one’s knowledge of the dam’s internal structures. In 2010, the operator of the Mactaquac Generating Station wished to install a fibre optic distributed temperature sensing (DTS) cable as close as possible to the sub-vertical contact between the concrete diversion sluiceway and the clay till core of the adjacent zoned embankment dam. Given a lack of detailed as-built drawings, a plan was developed to image the interface by GPR or seismic reflection surveying from a sub-parallel borehole, offset by approximately 1 m at surface and by an estimated 4 m at the dam’s foundation, near 50 m depth. Seismic reflection imaging, although novel for this application, emerged as the favoured approach after the range of borehole GPR surveys proved inadequate, due to high electrical conductivity in the concrete. A very high resolution wall-clamping seismic tool, with piezoelectric source and eight receivers, was operated in the dry borehole at 60 cm increments. Two surveys with different tool orientations were conducted to favour the reception of either P-wave or S-wave reflections from the interface, although such reflections were obscured, in the shot records, by relatively slow surface waves travelling along the borehole wall. A relatively simple processing flow involving bandpass filtering, CMP (common midpoint) stacking, and mean trace subtraction was successful in revealing an interpreted S-wave reflection from the interface, having a dominant frequency near 7 kHz representing a wavelength of about 35 cm. Interference from residual surface waves and apparent scattering from concrete layers, rebar or other heterogeneities near the borehole was very significant, but near-agreement of the interpreted reflection with the interface shown on engineering design plans provided confidence to proceed with the installation of two monitoring boreholes estimated to lie with 50 cm of concrete/clay contact.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bing, W., Guo, T., Hua, W., and Bolei, T., 2011, Extracting near-borehole P and S reflections from array sonic logging data, Journal of Geophysics and Engineering, 8, 308–315.
Butler, K.E., Ringeri, A., MacQuarrie, K.T.B., Shija, N.P., Colpitts, B.G., and McLean, D.B., 2014, Installation and early performance of a seepage surveillance system at the Mactaquac Dam, New Brunswick, Symposium on Application of Geophysics to Eng. and Env. Problems (SAGEEP 2014), Mar. 16–20, Boston.
American Society of Civil Engineers, 2017, 2017 Infrastructure Report Card – Dams, https://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/cat-item/dams/ accessed July 29, 2018.
CEATI International Inc., 2018, Dam Safety Interest Group, https://www.ceati.com/collaborative-programs/generation/dsig-dam-safety/ accessed July 29, 2018.
Chabot, L., Henley, D. C., Brown, R. J., and Bancroft, J. C. 2002, Single‐well seismic imaging using full waveform sonic data: An update. SEG Technical Program Expanded Abstracts: pp. 368–371.
Conlon, R. and Ganong, G. 1966, The foundation of the Mactaquac rockfill dam, Engineering Journal, April: 33–38.
Cosma, C. 1995, Ultra Acoustic Tomography for Characterizing the Excavation Disturbed Zone, 57th EAGE Conference and Technical Exhibition, Glasgow, Scotland.
Cosma, C., Enescu, N., Powell, B. and Wood, G., 2006, Structural mapping for uranium exploration by borehole seismic, EAGE Near Surface 2006 conference, Helsinki, Finland.
Cosma, C., Enescu, N. and Heikkinen, E., 2010, Very high resolution hard rock seismic imaging for excavation damage zone characterization, EAGE Near Surface 2010 conference, Zurich, Switzerland.
Cosma, C., Wolmarans, A., Eichenberg, D. and Enescu, N., 2007, Kimberlite delineation by seismic side-scans from boreholes. Workshop 6 paper, Exploration ‘07, Toronto, Canada, Publicly accessible at http://www.dmec.ca/ex07-dvd/E07/proceedings.html.
Daley, T.M., Gritto, R., Majer, E.L., and West, P., 2003, Tube-wave suppression in single-well seismic acquisition, Geophysics, 68, 863–869.
Emersoy, C., Chang, C., Tichelaar, B., and Quint, E., 1998, Acoustic imaging of reservoir structure from a horizontal well, The Leading Edge, 17, 940–946.
Emsley, S., Olsson, O., Stenberg, L., Alheid, H.J. and Falls, S., 1997. ZEDEX – A study of damage and disturbance from tunnel excavation by blasting and tunnel boring, SKB Technical Report 97–30, Publicly accessible at http://www.skb.com/publications/.
Enescu, N. and Cosma, C., 2010, EDZ Seismic Investigations in ONKALO, 2009. Factual Report Posiva Workreport 2010-26, 114 pages, Publicly accessible at http://www.posiva.fi/en/databank/workreports.
Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2005, The National Dam Safety Program Research Needs Workshop: Seepage through Embankment Dams, FEMA report 535, https://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/1033?id=1452 accessed July 29, 2018.
Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2015, FEMA National Dam Safety Program Fact Sheet, FEMA P-1069, https://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/5865 accessed July 29, 2018.
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 2017, Engineering Guidelines for the Evaluation of Hydropower Projects, Chapter 14: Dam Safety Performance Monitoring Program, Appendix J: Dam Safety Surveillance and Monitoring Plan Outline, https://www.ferc.gov/industries/hydropower/safety/guidelines/eng-guide/chap14.pdf, accessed July 29, 2018.
Fell, R., MacGregor, P., Stapledon, D., and Bell, G. 2005, Geotechnical Engineering of Dams, A.A. Bakema Publishers, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Franco, J.L.A., Ortiz, M.A.M., De, G.S., Renlie, L., and Williams, S., 2006, Sonic investigations in and around the borehole, Oilfield Review, 18, 14–33.
Gilks, P., May, T. and Curtis, D. 2001, A review and management of AAR at Mactaquac Generating Station, Proceedings of the Canadian Dam Association 2001 Annual Conference, pp. 167–177.
Giroux, B., Butler, K.E., and McLean, D.B., 2011, Borehole radar investigation at the Mactaquac Dam, Proceedings of the Canadian Dam Association 2011 Annual Conference, Oct. 15–20, Fredericton, NB, 10 pp.
Greenwood, A., J. C. Dupuis, H. Abdulal, and Kepic, A. 2012, Rigid corrugated baffle system for tube-wave suppression in deep boreholes, 82nd Annual International Meeting, SEG, Expanded Abstracts, https://doi.org/10.1190/segam2012-0972.1.
Hornby, B.E., 1989, Imaging of near-borehole structure using full-waveform sonic data, Geophysics, 54, 747–757.
Mattsson, G., Hellstrom, J.G.I. and Lundstrom, T.S. 2008, On Internal Erosion in Embankment dams, Research report, Vol. 14, 1402–1528, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden.
Milligan, P.A., Rector, J.W., and Bainer, R.W., 1997, Hydrophone imaging at a shallow site, Geophysics, 62, 842–852.
Ringeri, A., Butler, K.E., and McLean, D.B., 2016, Long term monitoring and numerical modeling of self-potential for seepage surveillance at Mactaquac dam, New Brunswick, Canada. Paper 3901, Proceedings of GeoVancouver 2016, the 69th Canadian Geotechnical Conference, Oct. 2–5, Vancouver, 8 pp.
Shija, N.P. and MacQuarrie, K.T.B., 2015, Numerical simulation of active heat injection and anomalous seepage near an earth dam–concrete interface, Int. J. Geomech., 15, https://doi.org/10.1061/(asce)gm.1943-5622.0000432.
Tang, X.M., Zheng, Y., and Patterson, D., 2007, Processing array acoustic-logging data to image near-borehole geologic structures, Geophysics, 72, E87-E97.
Tawil, H., and Harriman B. 2001, Aquifer Performance Under the Mactaquac Dam, Proceedings of the Canadian Dam Association 2001 Annual Conference, pp. 99–109.
Yun, T., 2018, Investigation of Seepage near the Interface between an Embankment Dam and Concrete Structure: Monitoring and Modelling of Seasonal Temperature Trends, MSc Thesis, University of New Brunswick.
Yun T., Butler, K.E., MacQuarrie K.T., Mclean, B., & Campbell, I., 2018, Seasonal temperature monitoring and modelling for Seepage Reconnaissance in an Embankment Dam. Extended abstract, 24th European Meeting of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics, EAGE, 5 pp., Sep. 9–13, 2018, Porto, Portugal.
Yun, T., Ringeri, A., Butler, K.E., and MacQuarrie, K.T.M., 2016, Seepage Reconnaissance in an Embankment Dam using Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS): Monitoring and Modelling of Seasonal Effects, Poster NS33B-1978, AGU Fall Meeting, Dec 12–16, San Francisco.
Acknowledgements
UNB students Andrew Ringeri and Jessie Brown provided assistance in the field and in processing the FWS data. Vibrometric Field Engineer Cristian Vasile provided expertise in acquisition of the PS-8R data. We thank John Fletcher and Ian Campbell of NB Power for logistical support. This project was part of research into seepage surveillance technologies funded jointly by NB Power and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) through a Collaborative Research and Development Grant. The manuscript was improved through the helpful recommendations of two anonymous reviewers.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Butler, K.E., McLean, D.B., Cosma, C., Enescu, N. (2019). A Borehole Seismic Reflection Survey in Support of Seepage Surveillance at the Abutment of a Large Embankment Dam. In: Lorenzo, J., Doll, W. (eds) Levees and Dams. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27367-5_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27367-5_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-27366-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-27367-5
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)