Water Retention Curve–Based Design Method for the Artificial Ground Freezing: The Isarco River Underpass Tunnels within the Brenner Base Tunnel Project
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 149, Issue 3
Abstract
The paper presents an interpretation of the temperature monitored during the application of artificial ground freezing in the Isarco River Underpass tunnel, within the Brenner Base Tunnel project. The observations gathered in the in situ monitoring provided an opportunity to (1) examine the response of a heterogeneous glacial and river deposit composed of gravelly loose sand and boulders subject to seepage, upon freezing; and (2) set up a coupled (thermohydraulic) theoretical formulation, which accounts for the water retention curve and relative permeability function, able to properly simulate the artificial ground freezing process on a heterogeneous coarse subsoil under seepage. The simulation was able to provide a satisfactory representation of the development of the in situ monitoring data and it revealed the dependence between the freezing process, the retention properties of the subsoil, and the seepage velocity. A sensitivity analysis was also carried out to examine the potential effect of water retention parameters on the frozen wall formation in terms of thickness and closing time. The critical examination of in situ observations and the results of the numerical analyses allowed the definition of a new criteria to define the freezing temperature of the soil based on the water retention curve features and the residual degree of saturation, with the aim to optimize the design of the artificial ground freezing process by maintaining the safety level against waterproofing of the excavation area.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
Dr. Giulia Guida obtained the financial support of the Regione Lazio through the support of her position as a fixed-term researcher (POR-FSE 2014/20 Contributions for the permanence of excellence in the academic world, No. 65629/2020). We would like to thank the WEBUILD SPA Company and its technicians for the contribution offered in the drafting of this article and for the opportunity given to us to visit the construction site during the various phases of artificial ground freezing.
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Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 149 • Issue 3 • March 2023
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© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 26, 2022
Accepted: Oct 19, 2022
Published online: Jan 12, 2023
Published in print: Mar 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Jun 12, 2023
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