Groundwater control for construction: theory, practice and regulation

Overview

Groundwater control for excavations is vital for many projects and is subject to increasing environmental regulation. Groundwater control measures are often required when construction excavations are made below groundwater level.

A range of techniques is available to avoid or mitigate the effects of uncontrolled groundwater inflows and groundwater pressures.

The methods can be grouped into those that deal with groundwater by pumping, by exclusion or by the application of fluid counter pressures.

Dr Martin Preene, technical director at Coffey Geotechnics, will discuss the theory behind groundwater control methods, and how these methods are put into practice in the real world in uncertain and complex geological conditions.

We will also explore how environmental regulation in the UK affects the application of groundwater control measures on construction sites.

Further information on groundwater control can be found in a recent open-access paper in ICE Proceedings, Geotechnical Engineering, of which Dr Preene was a co-author.

The paper is available at this link: https://www.emerald.com/jgeen/article/179/3/457/1364399/Range-of-application-of-pumped-groundwater-control

This lecture is available to join in-person or online, via MS Teams.

Programme