26th US Symposiumon Rock Mechanics/Rapid City, SD / 26-28 June 1985

Crossholeseismicinvestigation
for characterization
of therockfoundationat thesiteof a largerockfill dam
T.L. BY

Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, Oslo, Norway

INTRODUCTION

The Norwegian Geotechnical

Institute
the field
of geodynamic investigation
The

results

from

this

work

modulus of deformation
and
major joints
and fractured
This paper describes
how
to investigate
weak rock.

can

be

(NGI) is
of rock
used

to

engaged in research
and soil quality.

determine

the

in

in

situ

other
rock mass properties,
and to locate
zones.
the cross hole seismic
method can be used
The material
under consideration
forms the

foundation
rock for a large rock fill
dam called
the Oddatjrn
dam.
More spescfically,
the quality
of the foundation
for the central
core
was evaluated
by means of acoustic
measurments through 40 meter long
boreholes.

The Oddatjrn

Norways largest
smaller
lakes
are connected

dam is

one of

several

hydro power reservoir

have been regulated
into
by a system of tunnels.

The B1Asj reservoir

is part

dams constructed

called

Bisj.

one big

of the Ulla-Frre

reservoir.

to establish

A number of
These

lakes

Hydro Power Scheme in

south-westNorway. Th project utilizes the water powerfroma number

of rivers
in a 2000 km mountaineous
region
80 km north-east
of the
town of Stayanger.
Atmospheric
low pressures,
steadily
coming in
from the Atlantic,
give high precipitation,
up to 2000 m pt. year,
in
this
region.
The State Power System, one of the four directorates
of the Norwegian
Water Resources and Electricity
Board, is responsible
for the planning
and construction
work of the project.
Construction
was started
in
1974

and

will

continue

towards

1990.

The contribution
of the project
to the national
firm power production
capacity will amount to 5663 GWh pt. year.
The total
cost of the planning and construction
work will
be approximately
US $ 2000 in 1984
prices.

THE ODDATJRN DAM

The Oddatjrndamis a rock fill

damof 5.7 mill. m3 volumewith a tra-

ditional
central
core of moraine material,
figure
1.
The construction
work was started
in the beginning
of the Ulla-Frre
project
and the dam
will
be completed in 1987-88.
The rock in the dam foundation
consists
partly
of a hard, massive

281

7.0

Figure 1. OddatjrnDamis a rock fill

has

a traditional

gneis.
highly

The left
fractured

central

core

of

damof 5.7 mill m3 volumeand

moraine

material.

abutment is of variable
quality
pegmatites
which are not very

and includes
some
suitable
for foundation

purposes.

The quality
of the rock which forms the foundation
of the central
core, is further
diminished
due to blasting
operations
immediately
above
the left
abutment in a quarry used for dam material
production.
Core
drillings
have located
permeable
zones down to more than 80 meters below the surface.
Some major weakness zones cross the foundation
of
the

central

core.

The smallest
distance
from the quarry to the dam abutment is down to
50 meters and the maximum charge weight pt. interwall
was 4000 kg of
explosives.
The maximum peak ground vibration
level
is unknown.
However, as the
results
from the seismic
investigations
will
illustrate,
the rock
quality
was definitely
affected
by the close proximity
of the blasting.
The footing
for the central
core was to be fully
grouted.
The
quality
of this anti-seepage
grouting
is traditionally
investigated
by
means of core rillings
and water leekage tests.
To complement these
tests,

the

of

rock

the

State

Power

Board

ordered

cross

hole

seismic

measurements

conditions.

The cross hole seismic monitoring

through the grout curtain
was to
take place in several
steps:
phase 1: Before grouting
(August 1984)
phase 2:
After
grouting
(June 1985)
phase 3:
After
magazine filling
The,winter
at Oddatjrn
lasts
from October until
June.
There are no
activities
at the project
during this season.
This aper
describes
the results
from phase 1.
The results
were
used to irove
and to control
the grouting
effectiveness.
Zones of
extremely
low quality,
i.e.
highly
fractured
zones were located
to
assist
the grouting
crew.
As we shall
see, the accordance
between the
seismic
survey results
and the grout consumption were good.

282

Discstorage
Nicotef &O9&

o( o digitart
o o o o

oscittoscope

Poer supply
B & K 2807

Firingbattery

Etectricat detonator

B & K 8101

Figure

2.

CROSS

B & K 8101

Cross

HOLE

hole

SEISMICS

seismic

FOR

investigation,

CONTROL

OF

THE

principle

LEFT

sketch.

ABUTMENT

OF

THE

ODDS-

Seismic or sonic methods for investigation

of rock quality,
make it
possible
to predict
the in situ mechanical
properties
of rock masses.
One special
approach is the elastic
characterization
of rocks for
foundation
engineering.
Other purposes are prediction
of fracture
frequency,
localization
of weak or poor zones, grouting
control
and
assessment
of blast
damage adjacent
to rock faces.
The technique
involving
the propagation
of seismic waves between
boreholes,

the

cross

hole

method,

was chosen

because

of

its

reliabi-

lity
and simplicity.
Such seismic investigations
as described are now
established
as a regular
service
at the NGI and the cross hole seismic
device has proved to be dependable.
To investigate
the grout-curtain
zone in the left
abutment from
1030-1060 m.a.s.l.,
three 5" diameter
boreholes
were permanently
established.
The boreholes were 40 meter long with a 60 inclination.
The NGI device for borehole seismics normaly require
only 48-76 m
diameter holes.
The device exploits
2 Brel & Kjr hydrophones as
signal
receivers.
This make it necessary to_keep
water in the holes.
As the rock in the actual area was highly fractured
and unable to
retain
water, and because of the wish to keep the boreholes permanent
during
the remaining
dam construction
work, it was decided to line
the boreholes with 3" diameter PVC plastic
tubes.
Because of the very oor rock quality,
especially
down to 15 meters,
it

was

difficult

to

establish

the

holes.

The

bottom

of

the

tubes

were

283

to simplify
entering
of the holes,
equiped with steel
cones.
The space
around the tubes was filled
with grout.
The principle
of the cross hole method is illustrated
in figure
2.
In very poor rock, borehole
lining
is preferable
because of the good
acoustic
coupling
with the rock.
Mechanical
clamping is of course
preferred
where the borehole
quality
ensures that the clamps give a
reliable
and constant
contact
with the rock.
In our Oddatjrn
project,
fragments
of rock fell
into the boreholes
from the sides of the hole.
This made a good mechanical
clamping uncertain
because of the variable
borehole

3.1

diameter.

Device

To involve

specifications
the

desired

rock

volume,

electrical

detonators

were

used

as

transmitters
to get a signal
of enough energy.
To attain
a good acoustic
coupling
with the rock,
the boreholes
were, as mentioned,
filled
with water.
Brel & Kjr hydrophones with internal
preamplification
were

used

as

receivers.

The

transmitted

waveforms

were

recorded

on

4 channel
digital
storage
oscilloscope,
Nicolet
4094.
An example of
recorded
signals
is shown in firgure
3.
NGI has constructed
a special
device
for measurements
in inclined

holes.
lining,
borehole

To ensure repeatability
and to avoid damage on the borehole
it was important
to keep both transmitter
and receiver
in the
center.
Figure
4 shows this
borehole
seismic
device.

INTERPRETATION

OF

SEISMIC

SIGNALS

From research
and field
experience,
the P-wave first
arrival
rise
time,
the rise
velocity,
the amplitude,
the power spectrum and the travel
time are known to be acoustic
parameters
all
reflecting
changes in the
rock mass quality.
In homogenous rock, the frequency
spectrum,
the rise velocity
and
the rise times are the most sensitive
parameters.
Even small physical
contrasts

can

be

deteced.

In poor rock, however,

the rise times are long and amplitudes
low.
This makes these
parameters
less reliable
because of the very low
values and unsatisfactory
signal
to noise ratio.
As the signal
velocity
(here the P-wave velocity)
is a less sensitive
parameter,
it reflects
quality
variations
in highly
fractured
rock more reliably
than rise times and amplitudes.
In the actual
rock characterization
project,
the P-wave velocity
was
used as the main acoustic
parameter.
Figure
5 shows the sound velocity
as a function
of borehole
depth.
The cross hole seismic
investigation
showed that the rock down to 20
meters was heavily
fractured.
The sound velocity
varied
from 500 m/s
to 2500 m/s in this area.
From 21 meters the quality
increased and
the typical
sound velocity
were 5000 m/s.
Geological
investigation
suggested a major joint
set crossing the
foundation

rock

severely
affected
low this
jointed
ground vibrations.

284

at

20

meters.

The

rock

above

by the production
blasting
zone the rock was apparently

this

in the
little

zone

seemed

to

be

rock quarry.
Beaffected
by these

Figure
mitted

3.
Examples of signals
through 8 meters (top)

double curves illustrate

4.1

Control

of

the

grout

Time 2,5 ms/division

i

from one electrical

detonator,
transand 16 meters of competent gneis.
The

the repeatability.

curtain

quality

The main purpose of the Oddatjrn

project
is to record the relative
changes in the acoustic
parameters
before and after
the grouting
process and after
magazine filling.
The problem is to locate
zones or areas of poor quality
grouting
and
to perform both a detailed
and general
estimation
of the grouting
effect.

To evaluate
the improvement
grouting and thereby indirectly
lity,
the sonic investigation
bear

lot

of

information.

The experience
from the
tion of the great quality
area

down

The grout

to

of the mechanical properties

caused by
assessing the reduction
in permeabiof the rock between the boreholes
will

20

seismic
investigation
served as a verificaof grout injected
into the heavily
fractured

meters.

consumption

in the imediate
dam foundation,
i.e.
down to
10 meters below surface was 80.000 kg for the 40 meter long investigated area of the left
abutment.
In one surface
injection
hole the consumption exceeded 13.500 kg.
In some areas the consumption was so
high that it was necessary
to add sand to the grout to limit
the flow.
The worst zone was where the mentioned major joint
set crossed the
285

Figure
4.
Borehole
seismic
device.
Top:
Signal
transmitter,
i.e.
one electrical
detonator
Below: Signal
receiver,
i.e.
special
hydrophon arrangement.

core foundation.
and confirmed
the

Below this
zone the grout consumption
decreased
relative
high sound velocities
in this
area.

CONCLUSION

The cross hole seismic project

at Oddatjrn
dam showed great
variations
in rock mass quality.
The extremely
low P-wave velocity
in the upper part
of the investigated
area is probably
caused by the
production
blasting
in the stone quarry
situated
50-100 meters from
the

rock

fill

The results
ensured
filled

dam

abutment.

are

dependable

by means of

a special

and repeatable,
borehole

device

figure

3.

for

inclined

This

is

water

holes.

The grout consumption

is compared with the seismic quality
interpretation
and a good agreement is achieved.
The next phase of the project,
i.e.
the acoustic
assessment of the
grout curtain
quality,
is going to be executed during the 1985 summer
season.

286

12

500

1000

2000

3000

/000

5000

6000

SOUND VELOCITY I P-WAVE ) m/s

Figure
5.
Sound velocity
distribution
in the
heavily
fractured
foundation
rock at the left
abutment
of the Oddatjrn
Dam.
The more competent
rock below the fracture
zone starts
at
a borehole
depth of 20-22 meters.
As the
velocity
plot shows, the ground conditions

down to

15 15 meters

are

extremely

poor.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The project

at Oddatjrn

dam is partly

Council
for Scientific
and Industrial
is ordered
and supported
by the State

founded by the Royal Norwegian

Research
(NTNF).
Power Board.

The

field

work

287