Quantifying the permeability reduction of biogrouted rock fracture

• Main Authors: Wu, Chuangzhou, Chu, Jian, Wu, Shifan, Guo, Wei
• Other Authors: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Engineering::Civil engineering; Rock Fracture; Biogrouting
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/151278
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Uncontrollable seepage is one of the commonly encountered disasters in underground excavation projects (Gell and Wittke 1986; Gmünder and Arn 1993; Dhawan et al. 2004; Min et al. 2009; Walsh et al. 2013). Cementitious or chemical grouts are often used for seepage control by sealing the rock joints in the areas, where caverns or tunnels are going to be constructed (Warner 2004; Bruce et al. 2006; Tongwa et al. 2013; Wu et al. 2017). However, the viscosity of cement grout is high and the particle sizes may not be fine enough to penetrate through fine rock joints. Chemical grouts may also be used as an alternative However, such chemical grouts are expensive and the life span is between 10 and 20 years (Minto et al. 2016; El Mountassir et al. 2014; Phillips et al. 2015, 2016).