The influence of geological factors on rocks and rock masses 27
flow in rock masses will be a function of the discontinuities, their
connectivity and the hydrogeological environment. Both the stress and the water flow are significantly affected by engineer- ing activity. As will be explained later in greater detail, all excavation affects the stress state because all the unsupported excavation surfaces are principal stress planes and all excavations act as sinks because the in situ hydraulic pressure is reduced to atmospheric pressure on the excavation boundary. Thus, in the present context we need to understand the nature of perme- ability and water flow in fractured rock mass systems. Moreover, as will be discussed in Chapter 14, there can be interactions between the stress and the permeability, both naturally and as they are affected by engineering activities. Depending on the engineering objective, the above considerations may be enough-but there are some applications in which an understanding of fluid flow through intact rock can be critical, e.g. in reservoir engineering for the petroleum industry. Alternatively, a case where the water flow through the fracturesis particularly important is in hot dry rock geothermal energy projects where the success of the whole project depends on achieving the required borehole-to-borehole water flow. An extreme example is the case of radioactive waste disposal where the engineer can only state that the design of the waste repository is valid if the radionuclide dosage back to the biosphere can be calculated, and this can only be done if the three-dimen- sional flow of water through fractured rock masses can be accurately modelled. Because of the long operational life in this latter application, the permeabilities of both the intact rock and the fractured rock mass must be understood as well as other factors such as sorption of radionuclides onto rock fracture surfaces. Many groups have studied the age of the water present in the rock to assist in the approach to this problem, again reinforcing the point that an understanding of the geological setting is fundamental. There are several other aspects of pore fluids and water flow that may be important in specific cases, such as groundwater chemistry, the formation of caves and rock alteration by fluid movement. The subject of water flow recurs throughout this book.
2.3.5 Influence of time
Another major factor of importance is the influence of time. On the one hand, our engineering material is millions of years old and, on the other, our engineering construction and subsequent activities are generally only designed for a century or less. Thus, we have two types of behaviour: the geological processes in which equilibrium will have been established, with current geological activity superimposed; and the relatively rapid engi- neering process. Over the millions of years, in some areas, the in situ rock stresses will have been continually in a stable state yet, in other areas, the stresses will have been continually altered by tectonic activity. Similarly, the pore pressures even in the most impermeable of rocks will have stabilized, but geological activity could be causing overall hydrogeological changes. In contrast, the reponse of the rock to engineering occurs over a very short time.
Bukowski-bromek-Augustyniak-2006-Using The Drastic System To Assess The Vulnerability of Ground Water To Pollution in Mined Area of The Upper Silesian Coal Basin