Tunnels and Underground Cities: Engineering and Innovation meet Archaeology,

Architecture and Art – Peila, Viggiani & Celestino (Eds)

© 2019 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-1-138-38865-9

A 3D numerical model for the evaluation of the tunneling water

inflow: The Fortezza – Ponte Gardena case study

F. Marchese, S. Rodani, A. Sciotti & S. Vagnozzi

Italferr S.p.A., Rome, Italy

G. Bernagozzi, F. Sciascia & A. Scuri

Enser s.r.l., Engineering Company, Faenza (RA), Italy and DICAM, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

L. Piccinini
Geoscience Department, University of Padova, Padova, Italy

L. Borgatti
DICAM, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

G. Benedetti
Enser s.r.l., Engineering Company, Faenza (RA), Italy

ABSTRACT: The Brenner Base Tunnel (BBT) is being built to connect Italy with Austria.
The southern access connects Ponte Gardena with Fortezza by two railway tunnels named Gar-
dena and Scaleres. A 3D groundwater flow model, extended through an area of about 200 km2,
has been built using MODFLOW code to evaluate the water inflow. The model thickness is
1200 m, divided into 8 layers varying from 100 m to 400 m. The model has been solved in transi-
ent conditions, allowing the water inflow both during 6 excavation stages reproducing the
design excavation time schedule and during the subsequent equilibrium phase to be evaluated.
Based on the geological and geotechnical model, the excavation methods have been defined; the
results of the evaluation of water inflow and of the possible impact on the hydrogeological
resources have been taken into account by defining risk mitigation measures to ensure hydraulic
ante-operam conditions.

1 INTRODUCTION

The construction of a tunnel can in principle determine the alteration of the natural hydrogeo-
logical regime and the drainage of groundwater. In the design phase it is therefore important
to estimate the total water inflow in order to assess the potential impacts on the hydrogeo-
logical system, with the purpose to design proper mitigation measures.
In Italy, one of the most recent case study is the Bologna-Firenze segment of the high-speed
railway line, which represents a detailed hydrogeological investigation regarding the inter-
actions between underground constructions and aquifers (Gargini et al., 2006; Gargini et al.,
2008; Vincenzi et al., 2009; Piccinini & Vincenzi, 2010; Vincenzi et al., 2014).
Two tunnels, named Scaleres and Gardena represent the southern access to the Brenner Base
Tunnel (BBT), the longest railway tunnel in the world. These two tunnels, respectively 15 km
and 6 km long, have a typical overburden up to 800 m and a minimum between 100 and 45 m.
This context has been reproduced in a 3D numerical groundwater flow model adopting the
equivalent porous medium (EPM) approach with the finite difference code MODFLOW, that
has allowed the water inflows drained during the excavation phase and during the 6 stages of
construction phases to be estimated.

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 The results of these studies have been used in the design of the tunnels as far as the
hydraulic conditions are concerned.

2 REFERENCE GEOLOGICAL MODEL

The geological layout of the area is characterized by the presence of a metamorphic base-
ment prevalently formed by quartz-rich phyllites (Arboit et al., 2018), with the occurrence of
localized Permian granitic and dioritic intrusions. Thick Quaternary deposits (fluvio-glacial
and alluvial deposits) usually cover the slopes and the valley floor of the Isarco River
(Rodani et al., 2019).
The reference geological model has been built using 18 deep boreholes reaching the
maximum depth of 615 m below ground level and 76 boreholes reaching 150 m depth
maximum. A total of 133 Lefranc tests on Quaternary deposits, 215 Lugeon packer tests
on bedrock, 176 dilatometric tests, 69 hydraulic fracturing tests, 385 Standard Penetra-
tion Tests, 97 soil pressuremeter – rock dilatometer tests were carried out during the
boreholes drilling. A total of 823 samples of rocks and soils were collected to perform
laboratory tests.
Two long-term pumping tests were also performed using an extraction well and 3 control
piezometers to quantify the hydraulic conductivity (K) of the two main tectonic features, i.e.
the so-called Funes and Scaleres fault zones.
Geophysical surveys were also carried out, for a total of 50 seismic refraction profiles
acquiring P and S-wave velocity, 29 geoelectrical tomography profiles, 63 HVSR, 33 seismic
passive and active arrays (Re.Mi. and MASW), 4 down-hole and 5 cross-hole P and S-wave
velocity profiles and 33 magnetotelluric stations.
The geological field survey counts up to 575 observational points and 91 geomechanical sta-
tions for rock mass characterization.
The monitoring data acquired from a total of 96 water points were used for the definition
of the hydrogeological conceptual model: 667 springs, 14 wells, 15 rivers and 67 piezometers
(41 of them used for the calibration of the numerical model).

3 HYDROGEOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION

The Quaternary deposits are permeable by porosity: they are mostly composed by loose or
slightly cemented fluvio-glacial and alluvial deposits, debris flow and colluvial deposits. The
hydraulic conductivity is extremely variable, mainly as a function of the amount of the fine
fraction (silt and fine sand). Their thickness can reach tens of meters such as in the Isarco
river valley. The Quaternary deposits can host groundwater and, in some cases, they may con-
stitute a permanent supply for the underlying rock mass.
The bedrock is characterized by the presence of a metamorphic crystalline basement preva-
lently formed by quartz-rich phyllites with the occurrence of localized Permian granitic and
dioritic intrusions.
The superficial portion of the crystalline bedrock is partially weathered with a consequent
increase of the hydraulic conductivity, while at depth fractures and discontinuities tend to
close progressively. This phenomenon can be observed by plotting the K values obtained from
the Lugeon tests as a function of the depth from ground level. The graph of Figure 1 shows
the distribution of the hydraulic conductivity of the phyllites, expressed as Log10 K, with K in
m/s, as a function of the depth. The tendency of K to decrease with depth can be expressed by
the following Equation 1:

K ¼ 10ð 0:002 Z Þ 6:87 ð1Þ

Where K = hydraulic conductivity (m/s); and Z = depth (m).

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Figure 1. Lugeon tests on phyllites: hydraulic conductivity (K) vs. depth (Z).

In a similar way, the calculation was done for all the other lithotypes such as granites,
diorites, and paragneisses.
In the investigated area some regional fault zones can be found: the Funes fault, the Scaleres
fault and the Rio Bianco fault. The first two fault zones will be intercepted during the tunnels’
excavation. To identify a reference hydraulic conductivity value to be associated with these
two tectonic structures, two long-term pumping tests were carried out, one in the Funes
valley, the other in the Scaleres valley. The obtained values, however, are to be considered as
site specific, since the hydraulic conductivity along the fault zones can vary considerably
depending on local rocks mass conditions (see for example the Damage Index classification in
Bistacchi et al., 2010).

4 HYDROLOGICAL WATER BALANCE

The Scaleres and Gardena tunnel alignments cross 7 hydrological river basins: Varna Nord,
Varna Sud, Bressanone, Snodres, Chiusa, Funes and Laion (Figure 2). Before the implementa-
tion of the numerical model, the hydrological balance of these basins was calculated using the
following water balance (Equation 2) in a GIS environment:

P ¼ ET þ I þ D ð2Þ

where P = average annual rainfall (or equivalent water in case of snowfall) in mm/
year; ET = average annual evapotranspiration in mm/year; I = average annual infiltration
in mm year; and D = average annual surface runoff in mm/year.
P was calculated using the rainfall data available for the area. Data from 2008 to 2016 were
selected from 4 meteorological stations located along the bottom of the Isarco valley and from
3 stations located at high altitude to calculate the average annual rainfall and the temperature.
Figure 3 shows the altitude in m above the sea level (horizontal axis), the average annual
rainfall in mm/year (vertical axis on the left) and the average annual temperature in °C (verti-
cal axis on the right) for the selected stations.
The evapotranspiration ET was calculated through the formula of Turc (1954), while the
average annual infiltration (I) was calculated by the inverse balance method (Civita, 2005).

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Figure 2. Map of the 7 hydrological river basins and three of the seven meteorological stations.

Figure 3. Correlation between average annual rainfall vs altitude and average annual temperature vs
altitude.

In the 7 hydrological river basins the infiltration ranges from 99 to 160 mm/year. The I
values have been assumed as the vertical recharge of the deep groundwater in each hydro-
logical river basin included in the model domain. In correspondence of local relatively large
loose deposits, the infiltration values were increased in order to account for the specific local
conditions.

5 MODEL SET UP

The assessment of the inflow rates due to the excavation of the tunnels in transient conditions
and at the steady state was performed with MODFLOW 2005 (Harbaugh, 2005) using the
graphical user interface Model Muse (Winston, 2009; Winston, 2014).

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 The model refers to 3 phases: (1) an undisturbed condition, corresponding to the initial con-
dition with no excavation; (2) the excavation phase, referring to the period from the starting
of the works to the completion of the tunnels; (3) the stabilized condition, which refers to a
long-term condition after the ending of the works.
The model grid is composed of rectangular cells with variable dimensions and in particular:
the grid rows (x axis), following the average direction of the railway alignment, generally have
a dimension of 100 m which is progressively reduced to 50 m where it intersects the main tec-
tonic discontinuities. The grid columns (y axis) have a width of 200 m which is progressively
reduced to 50 m near the design path.
In order to take into account the variation of the hydraulic conductivity with depth, 8
layers of constant thickness were created being the top and bottom of the model domain
always parallel to the topographic surface, as shown in Table 1.
In the model it was assumed that the water inflow, i.e. the model recharge, originates exclu-
sively from the rainfall and that the outflows correspond to the discharges due to rivers and
springs and, both during the excavation phase and at the completion of the works, from the
drainage of the tunnels. The water exchanges with adjacent hydrogeological river basins were
considered negligible.
A drain package that matches with the topographic surface was inserted at the top of the
domain. It was thus assumed that the topographic surface acts as a draining surface. The
drains package discharges water from the model when the groundwater level reaches the topo-
graphic surface. The Figure 6 summarizes the applied boundary conditions.
The EPM approach assumes that the rock matrix including fractures and conduit networks
can be represented by an equivalent porous medium with equivalent hydraulic conductivity in
a certain area (Long et al., 1982), see Figure 4 on the left.
The main water inflows in the tunnel can be attributed to the interception of the main
regional tectonic discontinuities, while the common fracture networks in the rock mass tend
to cause diffuse drippings.

Table 1. Depth of the top and the bottom of the different layers with
respect to the ground level.
Layer 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

from m 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 800

to m 100 200 300 400 500 600 800 1200

Figure 4. On the left: conceptual diagram for the implementation of the tectonic discontinuities using
the EPM approach. A: joint and fractures at the outcrop scale. B: faults and discontinuity interpreted
from remote sensing data. C: faults of regional importance. D: real rock mass. E: modelled rock mass. 1:
fractured rock mass. 2: regional discontinuity. On the right: graphic summary of the model boundary
conditions. 3: infiltration I. 4: drains package. 5: boundary conditions.

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 The geological units outcropping in the investigated basin have been grouped into 7 homo-
geneous hydrogeological units: the most important for the parameterization are the units
including all phyllites lithotypes (BSS) and granitic lithotypes (GRA).

5.1 Calibration
A total of 41 piezometers are located on the design alignment and each point has been moni-
tored in the period 2013 – 2017. The hydraulic head variations detected in each point are gen-
erally lower than few meters. For this reason, the average groundwater level was considered as
the value to be used for calibration purposes. The calibration was performed using the MOD-
FLOW functions HOB (Head Observation package), which basically allows a reference piez-
ometer to be introduced into the model grid.
The calibration was carried out manually through a trial and error procedure (Anderson &
Woessner, 1992). The hydraulic conductivity associated to the 7 hydrogeological units was
updated several times to obtain the best fit between the calculated and observed hydraulic
head data. The Table 2 shows the hydraulic conductivity values assigned to the phyllites (BSS)
and granitic (GRA) hydrogeological units at the end of the calibration process.
The graph in Figure 5 shows the relationships between the observed and the simulated
values. The two dashed lines represent an ideal buffer of 25 m around the ideal calibra-
tion line.
This buffer can be considered as an error associated with the reconstruction of the topo-
graphic surface, created starting from a map having a distance of 25 m between the elevation
contour lines.
At the end of the calibration process the Root Mean Square RMS is 58.66 m. Considering a
maximum observed value of 1083 m and a minimum observed value of 464.1 m, it is possible
to calculate a normalized RMS (nRMS) of 9.5%. This value is less than 10% and therefore
falls within the limits of acceptability commonly used (Anderson & Woessner, 1992).

Table 2. Hydraulic conductivity values assigned to BSS and GRA hydrogeological

units after the calibration process.
Layer BSS GRA Layer BSS GRA

1 1.0∙10-7 2.0∙10-7 5 1.1∙10-8 1.0∙10-9

2 6.0∙10-8 2.0∙10-8 6 6.6∙10-9 1.0∙10-9
3 3.4∙10-8 8.0∙10-9 7 3.8∙10-9 1.0∙10-9
4 2.0∙10-8 5.0∙10-9 8 2.2∙10-9 1.0∙10-9

Figure 5. Observed vs. simulated hydraulic head values at the end of the calibration process.

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Figure 6. Construction time schedule: conceptual diagram of the tunnels’ discretization.

5.2 Simulation
The excavation time schedule was considered both for the simulation in transient and in
steady-state conditions. All the design tunnels (the main railway tunnels, the interconnection,
the service and construction tunnels) were discretized into a series of segments and each seg-
ment was activated at a certain time of the simulation in accordance with the excavation time
schedule. A third type boundary condition (BC), i.e. the drain package of MODFLOW
(DRN function) was used to simulate the drainage operated by the tunnels and the rivers or
streams, while a second type BC, i.e. the recharge package of MODFLOW was used to repro-
duce the infiltration process.
In total, 8 stress periods were considered: the first corresponds to the undisturbed condi-
tions and it was solved at steady-state. The stress periods from the second to the seventh rep-
resent 6 excavation stages and therefore simulate the situation in progress in transient
conditions. The eighth stress period was solved in transient conditions as well, using a 10
years period as the reference representing the situation at the end of excavation works.
Figure 6 shows the stress periods 1, 2, 3 and 8: the bold lines indicate the excavated tunnel
segments, while thin ones represent the segments still to be excavated.

6 DESIGN OF MITIGATION MEASURES

As mentioned above, the work includes the Scaleres Tunnel (length about 15 km) and the Gardena
Tunnel (length of about 6 km), separated by a short stretch crossing the Isarco River on a viaduct.

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 To ensure appropriate safety standards in operation, the configuration planned for all the
running tunnels (inner radius of 4.2 m) is that of double-tube single-track rail tunnels, with a
horizontal axis distance of 40 m and cross passages every 500 m.
The total length of all the underground works is approximately 62 km, including comple-
mentary works. In the Scaleres Tunnel (maximum overburden of 800 m) the rock mass is
mainly composed of Bressanone Granite and Quartz Phyllites. In the Gardena Tunnel (max-
imum overburden of 580 m) the rock mass is mainly made up of Quartz Phyllites. Both rock
masses generally display good geomechanical properties, although some fault zones can be
found, with a distribution that is sometime dispersed or concentrated in some sections. For
the line and interconnection tunnels both the conventional excavation method and the mech-
anized excavation are foreseen. In particular, the Scaleres Tunnel will be excavated using both
conventional method and mechanized method with two Hard Rock TBM-S, while the Gar-
dena Tunnel will be built using the conventional excavation method. Finally, the two intercon-
nection tunnels of Ponte Gardena (about 5 km in length overall) will be built using a TBM-
EPB; this last choice is due to the need to safely underpass an embankment and some founda-
tions of a Brenner motorway viaduct in an area where the cover is shallow.
Any hydrogeological impact and the possible risk of water resources depletion as a result of
tunnel excavation can be addressed and mitigated during the excavation with design and con-
struction solutions, such as the use of drainages in advance for the temporary and localized
reduction of hydraulic loads and the control of the water inflows to the tunnel and, in case of
high water discharge, the eventual use of interventions to reduce rock mass permeability. In
this case, in addition to the use of cement injections, the use of bicomponent organo-mineral
resins is also envisaged. The application of the interventions is based on the results of the
MODFLOW model and of the reference geological model which are aimed at ascertaining the
presence of the fault zones at the tunnel depth, examining the degree of fracturing and relative
permeability and verifying the presence of groundwater eventually connected to springs or
sensitive watercourses.
During the railway operation phase, for the sections excavated by means of TBM, the
installation of the lining made of precast concrete segments with hydraulic sealing gaskets
ensures the impermeability of the tunnel and the hydraulic ante-operam conditions up to
hydraulic load values compatible with the structural characteristics of the final lining. For sec-
tions excavated by conventional method, in the undercrossing of hydraulically sensitive zones,
the tunnel will be waterproofed over the entire perimeter.

Figure 7. Tunnel cross section: inner drainage system.

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 As far as the the tunnel water management, during its operation the disposal system pro-
vides for the separation of any water coming from rock mass and those coming from the train
platform. For platform waters, a system of collection and disposal of hazardous liquids that
may accidentally spill from freight wagons on the railway platform is available (Figure 7).

7 CONCLUSION

This case study has required a series of specifically designed monitoring and modelling solu-
tions, in relation to the dimension of the investigated area and to its geological and geomor-
phological settings.
The Lugeon tests carried out on site effectively demonstrated that the hydraulic conductiv-
ity of the crystalline rock masses decreases with the increasing of the depth.
The EPM approach, integrated with the distinct introduction of regional tectonic discon-
tinuities, allowed MODFLOW to be adopted in a complex tectonic context with fractured
rock masses.
The upper boundary of the model was ideally covered by a draining surface. This surface
drains package prevented the groundwater from rising above the ground level even in the pres-
ence of strong topographic variations in altitude. At the bottom of the valley, the drains pack-
age allowed the water flow in the rivers and in the streams to be simulated.
The simple modelling approach that divides the entire tunnels path into several segments
activated at different time intervals to simulate the designed construction stages proved to be
reliable. This approach also allowed not only to perform a long-term forecast but also to esti-
mate the water inflows during the excavation. The results of the monitoring and of the model-
ling activities have been incorporated in the design of mitigation measures that ensure ante-
operam hydraulic conditions and no impacts on groundwater resources.
This work can represent a simple but rigorous methodological approach that can also be
applied to other mountain contexts where tunneling is been designed.

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