Groundwater Lowering in Deep Excavation (Case Study: Foundation Excavation of Shahid Madani Dam)

In many big civil constructions, deep excavation is an essential part of project and groundwater control in excavation process is the prominent tasks. In this paper while mentioning the risks of deep excavation, the solutions of underground water control have been explained and different methods of groundwater control in regard to financial conditions, different soil condition and various depths have been investigated. Groundwater control in foundation excavation of Shahid Madani Dam as a case study is presented. Depth of foundation excavation was about 50 meters in tight valley and excavation was performed under groundwater table. This excavation is one of the deepest excavations in Iran and it has some specific problems related to topographical and geotechnical condition in dam site. Finally the proper methods for groundwater control are presented and recommended. Measurements in excavation period and in the middle of dam body construction have shown that this design method had a good performance