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Monitoring wells in clay: the apparently static water level and its influence during variable-head permeability tests

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Abstract

A permeability test in a monitoring well (MW) is used to assess the hydraulic conductivity, k, of clay. To interpret the test data, the piezometric level (PL) during the test must be known. A previous paper has concluded that due to a long time lag, the water level in the pipe is never a PL and any extrapolation of water level versus time gives an unreliable prediction of the PL. As a result, an incorrect PL yields an incorrect k value. This paper shows that a variable-head permeability test can provide a fair estimate of both the PL and the k value when it is interpreted using the central portion of the velocity graph. The first portion of the graph, when the head difference and the gradients are high, is curved by the expansion of the injection zone (undrained and drained wall displacement with eventually some creep), and thus cannot be used. The last portion of the graph primarily reflects, with some time lag, the natural variations of hydraulic heads in adjacent aquifers, and thus must not be used.

Résumé

Un essai de perméabilité dans un piézomètre sert à évaluer la conductivité hydraulique, k, d’une argile. Pour interpréter les données d’essai, le niveau piézométrique (NP) pendant l’essai doit être connu. Un article précédent a conclu qu’à cause d’un long délai de réponse, le niveau d’eau dans le tuyau n’est jamais un NP, et toute extrapolation du niveau d’eau en fonction du temps donne une prédiction peu fiable du NP. Par conséquent, un NP incorrect conduit à une valeur incorrecte de k. Cet article montre qu’un essai de perméabilité à niveau variable peut donner une bonne évaluation du NP et de k quand on l’interprète à l’aide de la partie centrale du graphe des vitesses. La première partie du graphe, quand la différence de charge et les gradients sont élevés, est incurvée par l’expansion de la zone d’injection (déplacement non drainé et drainé de la paroi, avec éventuellement du fluage), et ne peut donc pas être utilisée. La dernière partie du graphe reflète surtout, avec un certain retard, les variations naturelles des charges hydrauliques dans les aquifères adjacents, et ne doit donc pas être utilisée.

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Acknowledgments

This paper is a result of a research program involving theoretical analysis and fieldwork designed to improve the reliability of permeability and aquifer tests and sponsored by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada.

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  1. Department CGM, École Polytechnique de Montréal, Station CV, P.O. Box 6079, Montreal, QC, H3C 3A7, Canada

    Robert P. Chapuis, François Duhaime & El Mehdi Benabdallah

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  1. Robert P. Chapuis
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  2. François Duhaime
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  3. El Mehdi Benabdallah
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Correspondence to Robert P. Chapuis.

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Chapuis, R.P., Duhaime, F. & Benabdallah, E.M. Monitoring wells in clay: the apparently static water level and its influence during variable-head permeability tests. Bull Eng Geol Environ 71, 663–678 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-012-0433-8

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