HAZARDOUS WATER INFLOWS IN SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

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Figure 3. Case B; Geological conditions.

Some sixty cubic meters of material were removed, but the water kept
carrying new material until it filled the tunnel at Station K 6+098 and
extended down to Station X 6+230. The following day, the water flow
increased to 100 l/s, and carried even more material. An emergency
inspection was carried out from the portal up to Station K 6+900, and
it was observed that the invert was covered with blocks of clay. The
size of these clay blocks increased approaching the face. It was also
observed that the invert had been eroded. Twenty minutes after this
inspection was completed, four very sizable waves of mud and water
were observed at the portal of the tunnel, more than one kilometer
from the face. It is assessed that approximately 50,000 cubic meters
of material were involved. Material came out of three penstock tunnels
as well. The surface powerhouse under construction was partly
flooded, as was the switchyard. A concrete plant adjacent to the
portal was destroyed.

All the equipment, ventilation pipes, and drainage pipes in the

tunnel were ripped out. Steel sets in the tunnel that had not been
embedded in shotcrete were carried out as well. Some of them were
later found as "ringers" around telephone poles outside and away from
the portal. A Cat 96 loader that had been standing about 60 meters
away from the portal was moved by the mud flow. At the portal, the
last flow of material left only about one meter of space between the
crown and the material.

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