INSITU

TESTING PROCEDURES
& THEIR IMPORTANCE

TYPES OF INSITU
PERMEABILITY TESTS
IN ROCKY STRATA :
• SINGLE PACKER METHOD
• DOUBLE PACKER METHOD

IN SOILS :
• JAPANESE METHOD
• PUMPING IN TEST
• PUMPING OUT TEST
 IMPORTANCE OF PERMEABILITY DATA

• CORE LOGGING OF A BORE HOLE

PROVIDES INFORMATION ON THE
PHYSICAL CONDITION OF THE ROCK MASS
• WATER PERCOLATION TESTS –
PERMEABILITY RESULTS OF A STRATA
SUPPLEMENTS INFORMATION ON THE
DRILL HOLE DATA
• WHAT CAN BE THE LOSS DUE TO
FEATURES SUCH AS THESE IF STORAGE
STRUCTURES CONTEMPLATED?

PERMEABILITY

• THE STATE OF WATER MOVEMENT BELOW THE

SURFACE THROUGH A MEDIUM IS CALLED
PERCOLATION AND THE MEASURE OF MOVEMENT
CALLED PERMEABILITY
 DARCY’S LAW

• THE FLOW RATE IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE CROSS

SECTIONAL AREA OF A MEDIUM THROUGH WHICH THE
WATER FLOWS
• FOR UNIT CONDITIONS THE EQUATION CAN BE WRITTEN AS
Q= KA h/l where
K= Co-efficient of permeability
Q= quantity of water discharge per unit area of time
A= cross sectional area through which it flows
h= hydraulic head variation
l= the distance in which the head is lost
• The Eqn can be re-written as K= Q/A . L/h
• Temp and viscosity although affect they are not considered because
the effect on flow of water is insignificant

WHAT IS LUGEON VALUE?

• THE UNITS ARE NORMALLY EXPRESSED IN
feet/year; cm/sec; m/sec; feet/day etc.
• Another unit commonly used is Lugeon named after a
French Engineer M.Lugeon who conceived carrying out
water pressure tests
• One lugeon is defined as the quantity of water lost in
litres/min per metre cross sectional area of bore hole at a
pressure of 10 bars
• Because of adoptability water tests in river valley
projects use this unit which is equivalent to 10 feet/year
or 10-5 cm/sec or 10-7 metre/sec
 PACKER TESTS OR PUMP IN METHOD

• SINGLE PACKER METHOD AS THE

BORE HOLE PROGRESSES OR
• BY DOUBLE PACKER METHOD AFTER
COMPLETION OF BOREHOLES
• EQUIPMENT REQUIRED ARE DRILLING
EQUIPMENT, PRESSURE GAUGE,
PUMP, WATER FEEDER LINES, DRILL
ROD, PERFORATED ROD AND OTHER
FITTINGS WATER METER ETC

METHODOLOGY

• A MEASURED QUANTITY OF WATER IS PUMPED

INTO THE BOREHOLE UNDER KNOWN PRESSURE
FOR A UNIT LENGTH OF SECTION
• WATER LOST OBSERVED FOR 3 CONTINUOUS
READINGS FOR SPECIFIC TIME DURATION.
• LUGEONS CALCULATED
 PRECAUTIONS

• SATURATION OF THE TEST SECTIONS FOR A

SPECIFIED PERIOD
• CALIBRATION OF PRESSURE GAUGES, WATER
METRES ETC
• USE OF CLEAN WATER TO PREVENT CLOGGING OF
THE FEATURES- USE OF SETTLING TANKS
• OTHERWISE PERMEABILITY CALCULATIONS CAN
BE GROSSLY MISLEADING

PROCEDURES

• TESTS TO BE PERFORMED UNDER UNCASED

SECTIONS AND UNGROUTED SECTIONS AND
WHERE DRILLING MUD USED TO BE AVOIDED
• PRELIMINARY DRILLING DATA SUCH AS CORE
LOSS, COLLAPSED SECTIONS, CHANGE IN
LITHOLOGY THEREORE CHANGE IN PERMEABILITY
CHRACTERISTICS, POSSIBILITY OF PACKER
GETTING STRUCK OR WIDER SECTIONS WHERE
PACKER WILL NOT BE SEATED PROPERLY TO BE
GATHERED
• SINGLE PACKER TESTCAN BE PERFORMED IN
HOLES CASING NOT REQUIRED EVEN FOR SOFT
SANDSTONE ETC OR WHERE HIGHLY
FRACTURED/SHEARED SECTION OF BORE HOLE
• IN DOUBLE PACKERS THOUGH EFFICIENT LEAK
THROUGH THE LOWER PACKER CAN GO
UNNOTICED LEADING TO ERRONEOUS RESULTS

• TEST SECTIONS IN ANY CASE SHOULD NOT BE

LESS THAN FIVE TIMES THE DIAMETER OF THE
BOREHOLES
• CYCLIC TESTS ARE PERFORMED TO DETERMINE
WASHABILITY AND GROUTABILITY OF JOINTS
• PRESSURES TO BE APPLIED IS EITHER GOVERNED
BY THE COVER OF ROCK
• OR THE FOUNDATION THAT CAN WITHSTAND
WITHOUT HEAVING SUBJECT TO MAXIMUM HEAD
OF THE RESERVOIR TO BE IMPOUNDED
 LUGEON CALCULATIONS:

Lugeon Value = Intake water in Lt/min/mt X 1MPa

Test Pressure (MPa)
2
1 Kg/cm = 10 m head
Q = 1.25 Lt/5 min or
= 0.0833 Lt/min/mt for 3 m test section
H1 = 8.68 m or 0.868 Kg/cm2
H2 = 10 m or 1.00 Kg/cm2
Test Pressure = 1.868 Kg/cm2
= 0.1868 MPa
Lugeon Value = 0.833/0.1868 = 0.45 Lugeons
H1 = Distance between centre of test section & swivel
H2 = Applied Pressure

SIZES OF DRILL HOLES

Size of Casing Dia. of hole in mm.

EX 38.1

AX 48.4

BX 60.3

NX 76.2
 JAPANESE METHOD:

2 ft X 4 ft pit ¼ : 1 slope
Leave first two readings for one hour each. Then take
another minimum of 3 – 4 readings hourly.

4 ft X 4 ft …. Repeat same procedure.

BUT…. DEPTH = 1 ft 9 inches and @ 3 inches, tie
thread to measure water.

Find difference in discharge

Difference X 21.2 = k X 10-6 cm/sec

GROUTABILITY VS PERMEABILITY

• MEDIA INDICATING LESS THAN ONE LUGEON

NORMALLY COULD NOT BE GROUTED
• BETWEEN ONE TO FIVE LUGEONS USE OF
APPROPRITAE PRESSURES AND DETERMINATION
OF POST GROUT PERMEABILITY TESTS REQUIRED
FOR CROSS CHECKING