Bull Eng Geol Environ (2010) 69:105–109
DOI 10.1007/s10064-009-0222-1
ORIGINAL PAPER
Determining areas of leakage in the Da Ye Dam
using multi-electrode resistivity
Qingyun Di Æ Miaoyue Wang
Received: 20 October 2008 / Accepted: 10 June 2009 / Published online: 8 July 2009
Ó Springer-Verlag 2009
Abstract The paper describes a multi-electrode resistivity
survey in the area of the Da Ye Dam in Shan Dong Prov-
ince, China, undertaken to elucidate the most likely zones of
observed/potential leakage. Two profiles were established,
which indicated the presence of four faults and a karstic
zone in the limestone bedrock. Where previous grouting
had been undertaken, the rocks appeared more homoge-
neous. The study concluded that this is a useful technique
which can realistically indicate potential zones of water
leakage. Such geophysical profiles can assist in the target-
ing of intrusive investigations and/or remedial measures.
Keywords Da Ye Dam
Resistivity survey

Water leakage
Karst
Grouting
Da Ye Dam

China
Introduction
In the 1950s, many reservoirs were built in Shan Dong
Province, east China, which has played an important role in
the development of industry and agriculture as well as the
supply of potable water. With time, the condition of these
dams has deteriorated, due in part to the limitations of
knowledge/technology at the time they were constructed,
such that water leakage has become a major problem. With
some dams the water seepage/leakage is through the base,
in others it is through the sides, through the dam itself or
through the strata in which the reservoir was constructed.
In many areas where the dams were built, the geology is
Q. Di (&)
M. Wang
Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy
of Sciences, P.O.Box 9825, Beijing 100029, China
e-mail: qydi@mail.iggcas.ac.cn
complex. As a consequence, some dams have become
dangerous and are in urgent need of remediation.
Two-dimensional electrical imaging surveys for envi-
ronmental and geotechnical studies provide a relatively
accurate picture of the sub-surface resistivity distribution
in areas of complex geology where conventional, one-
dimensional sounding surveys are inadequate (Griffiths and
Barker 1993). A multi-electrode resistivity system was
developed between the 1980s and 1990s (Griffiths et al.
1990; Shima 1992; Loke and Barker 1995) making it
practical for such surveys to be carried out routinely on a
commercial basis. The 2D surveys have widespread
application in many energy resource studies (Uchida 1990;
Arai 1995), environmental studies (Bernstone and Dahlin
1998; Benson et al. 1997) and engineering exploration
studies (Dahlin 1996; Johnson 2003; Titov et al. 2000).
Niederleithinger (1994) reports electrical resistivity imag-
ing surveys of a covered waste site in Germany, in order to
map the leakage of chemical pollutants.
This paper reports a 2D resistivity survey undertaken
along the Da Ye Dam using data collected from a multi-
electrode resistivity meter system (McOHM-21). The main
purpose of the survey was to determine whether it was
possible to assess the likely leakage positions from the
geology established by geophysical methods and to check
the accuracy of these predictions against the actual leakage
observed in the field.
Multi-electrode resistivity meter system
Resistivity surveys determine the sub-surface ground con-
ditions by passing an electrical current along many dif-
ferent paths. The surveys were carried out using a system
of four electrodes placed in to the ground surface. When
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current is passed into the ground through the two elec-
trodes, the resulting potential difference values (V) allows
the apparent resistivity value (qa) to be calculated.
qa ¼ kR;
where k is the geometrical factor which depends on the
type of electrode array and R is the resistance of the
ground. The apparent resistivity (qa) is related to the true
sub-surface resistivity.
Two-dimensional electrical imaging surveys are nor-
mally carried out using a number of electrodes placed in a
straight line at constant spacing. The two-dimensional
resistivity data can be collected using a recently developed
multi-electrode resistivity meter system (McOH-21)—see
Fig. 1. The apparent resistivity values from these surveys
are commonly arranged and contoured in the form of a
pseudosection (Hallof 1957). The system can be pro-
grammed to automatically collect the resistivity data for a
number of different electrode arrays, such as Wenner,
pole–pole, dipole–dipole etc. In this study the pole-pole
electrode array was used as the data are more easily
acquired in the field and processed while other formats can
easily be used by transforming the pole-pole data (Wang
1993).
Case study—the Da Ye reservoir dam
The Da Ye earth dam was built in 1958 across the Miao
River. Significant water leakage occurred from the dam,
Fig. 1 The multi-electrode
resistivity meter system
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Q. Di, M. Wang
which has resulted in serious problems over a number of
years. Various attempts have been made to reduce the
leakage using grouting. Unfortunately it appears that the
contact between the diorite and Ordovician limestone on
which the dam was built (Fig. 2) was not adequately
cleaned at the time of construction, such that some per-
meable material remained beneath the dam.
Measurements and data inversion
Four N–S resistivity lines were conducted during the study
(Fig. 3): two across the dam (south survey lines) and two to
the north of the dam (north survey lines). At both locations,
the lines were parallel to each other, 15 m apart and referred
to as the east and west lines. The remote poles for current
and potential were located on the same side of the survey
line and perpendicular to the line direction. The spacing
between the measured potential electrodes was 5 m.
As the results from the two parallel lines were similar, in
each case only the eastern line was interpreted and corre-
lated with the known geology. The inverted resistivity
imaging results are shown in Figs. 4 and 5 for the southern
and northern lines respectively. It was assumed that a
resistivity greater than 150 Xm was related to fresh lime-
stone or diorite, based on a knowledge of the geology from
investigations and exposed rocks. Between 50 and 150 Xm
was considered to be associated with a weak weathered or
unsaturated zone while a resistivity of less than 50 Xm was
assumed to indicate the ground was saturated, intensely
weathered or karstified.
Determining leakage from Da Ye Dam
Fig. 2 Geological cross section
of Da-Ye reservoir
Fig. 3 Layout of the engineering scheme at Da-Ye dam with the
north and south survey lines superimposed
Assessment of the southern line
The assessment of the southern survey line, which passed
through the dam, is shown in Fig. 4. The material can be
divided into three zones.
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1. The upper Zone (A), shown in blue, is characterized by
low resistivity (\50 Xm). In the northern part it
extends from approximately ?45 to ?425 m and is
thickest (30 m) at ?350 m where the geophysical
evidence indicates it extends to a depth of 50 m. South
of -25 m, the zone is thinner where the Cenozoic and
weathered material is present.
2. The lower Zone B, shown in red and yellow, has a
medium to high resistivity ([150 Xm). It is closest to
the surface in the southern part and at around ?100 m,
north of which it becomes progressively deeper. There
is no Zone B material between ?40 and ?70 m. This
zone is interpreted as fresh and slightly weathered
limestone.
3. The intermediate Zone C is characterised by moderate
resistivity values (100–250 Xm). It is deepest between
?310 and ?425 m in the north where it is interpreted
as diorite. Between ?20 and ?80 m the low resistivity
values are considered to indicate a zone of buried
karstic terrain.
In the upper part of the dam, the resistivity increases
with depth, implying less heterogeneity; this may in part be
due to the geology and/or the effect of grouting.
The low resistivity anomalies in the limestone at ?30,
-30 and -90 m are interpreted as fault zones, which were
designated F1, F2 and F3.
Based on the above interpretation, it is considered likely
that the water leakage recorded in the southern part is
through the buried karst and a number of faults. It is rec-
ommended that where these features occur, a grouting
exercise is undertaken.
Assessment of the northern line
As seen in Fig. 5, the strata in this area can again be
divided into three zones A, B and C.
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108
Fig. 4 Structural and geological interpretation of the south survey line
Fig. 5 Structural and geological interpretation of the north survey line
1. Zone A (\50 Xm) has a maximum depth of 35 m at
?465 m. The material is interpreted as Cenazoic sedi-
ments and the upper weathered surface of the diorite.
2. Zone B has relatively high resistivity ([150 Xm),
which is considered to be limestone.
3. Zone C has moderate resistivity values (100–250 Xm)
which are considered to be a diorite intrusion which
extends from approximately ?250 to ?380 m.
The pronounced sloping feature at ?270 m is inter-
preted as a fault (F4). It is concluded that this feature
formed the main zone of leakage. This is consistent with
the known zone of leakage.
Summary and conclusions
The study was undertaken to ascertain whether anomalies
identified from a geophysical survey were consistent with
known areas of leakage, such that this method of investi-
gation could be used to both clarify areas where remedia-
tion works would be required in the Da Ye dam/reservoir
and identify leakage/potential leakage in other projects.
(a) In the 1999 survey reported here, no obvious anom-
alies were recorded where the dam was grouted in
1974, 1984 and 1989.
123
Q. Di, M. Wang
(b) The geophysical interpretation indicated the presence
of four faults (F1–F4). Faults, F2 and F4 are associated
with the water leakages along the river bank and west
part of spill way (Fig. 3), hence it is suggested that
the further preventative measures should be taken in
these areas.
(c) Although no obvious anomalies were seen at the
junction between the base of the dam and the
underlying strata, a very thin anomaly was detected,
which has been interpreted as loose material or
material containing small cavities. Although this area
is unlikely to be a major zone of leakage, nevertheless
it is considered an area of potential leakage and
warrants further attention.
(d) It is recommended that the fault zones F2 and F4 and
the karstic areas identified beneath the dam body near
F1 should be grouted, to prevent current/potential
leakage.
It is concluded that the 2D resistivity survey was a
useful technique to establish and map the orientation and
location of the faults, karstic cavities and weathered zones
within the reservoir site at Da-Ye. The multi-electrode
technique is sufficiently sensitive to vertical discontinuities
in the limestone to allow the location of faults to be
determined; the saturated fault zones being characterised
Determining leakage from Da Ye Dam
by relatively low resistivity compared with the massive
limestone.
The multi-electrode imaging system has been shown to
be particularly useful in diagnosing the potential defects in
a dam area. It can result in significant cost savings by
targeting specific areas for intrusive investigations and/or
remedial measures.
Acknowledgment We thank the financial support from the projects
KZCX3-SW-134 and 2002CB412702 to do this research.
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