Factors influencing groundwater inflows in a newly constructed cross-strike tunnel, eastern Massachusetts; 4, Occurrence and characterization of groundwater inflows

All occurrences of groundwater inflows in a 9 km long, 5-m diameter section of tunnel, 70 to 90 m below grade, were compared with subsurface fracture density, bedrock topography, surface topography, type of surficial deposits, proximity to surface water bodies, and the geographic distribution (domains; Mabee et al., this volume) of surface and subsurface fractures. Subsurface fracture density was calculated for the 320 fractures (through-going fractures) that intersect the entire circumference of the tunnel. Bedrock topography was determined using bore hole data collected during the design phase of the tunnel project. Surface topography is from 1:25,000 scale topographic maps and surficial geology is based on maps of the Framingham and Natick Quadrangles. Seven surface water bodies, primarily brooks and rivers, overlie the tunnel. Five surface fracture domains are based on 1513 fracture measurements collected from 21 outcrops within 3 km of the tunnel. In the tunnel, 413 fractures (all fractures, dips>45 degrees ) comprise seven subsurface fracture domains. High groundwater inflows generally correlate with areas of high subsurface fracture density and where four or more subsurface fracture domains overlap. In addition, high groundwater inflows are also generally located near surface water bodies and below permeable surficial deposits and topographic depressions, especially those with corresponding lows in the bedrock surface. Moreover, subsurface structures which correlate with prominent surface fracture domains produce the highest volume of groundwater inflow. However, not all tunnel sections exhibiting high fracture density and overlapping fracture domains exhibit high groundwater inflows. Also, there is no correlation between areas where two or more surface fracture domains overlap and the volume of groundwater discharging to the tunnel.