Effect of Subground Dam Properties on the Groundwater Lowering Strategy in the Ancient Babylon City

A three dimensional finite difference model have been applied to simulate the groundwater system using a well-known computer code called Visual MODFLOW. Twenty-one wells of 1500m3/sec with two subground dams proposed to construct at the east and west of the Ancient Babylon City have been proposed to lower water table elevation. The study concerns the effect of subground dam’s properties (subground dam thickness and hydraulic conductivity) on the groundwater lowering in the Ancient Babylon City. According to results, subground dams installation in the studied region provides flexibility in the decision of groundwater lowering strategy where it found that there is a range of dam thickness- hydraulic conductivity combination can result suitable groundwater elevations for safe archaeological exploration. Keywords: hydraulic conductivity, Groundwater lowering, dam thickness, Subground dams, Visual MODFLOW