Modelling study on the impact of deep building foundations on the groundwater system

Coastal areas are usually the preferred place of habitation for human beings. Anthropogenic activities such as the construction of high-rise buildings and underground transport systems usually require extensive deep foundations and ground engineering works, which may unintentionally modify the coastal groundwater system because the construction materials of foundations are usually of low hydraulic conductivity. In this paper, the impact of these building foundations on the groundwater regime is studied using hypothetical flow and transport models. Various possible realizations of foundation distributions are generated using stochastic parameters derived from a topographical map of an actual coastal area in Hong Kong. The effective hydraulic conductivity is first calculated for different realizations and the results show that the effective hydraulic conductivity can be reduced significantly. Then a hypothetical numerical model based on FEFLOW is set up to study the change of hydraulic head, groundwater discharge, and saltwater-fresh water interface. The groundwater level and flow are modified to various degrees, depending on the foundations percentage and the distribution pattern of the buildings. When the foundations percentage is high and the building foundations are aggregated, the hydraulic head is raised significantly and the originally one-dimensional groundwater flow field becomes complicated. Seaward groundwater discharge will be reduced and some groundwater may become seepage through the ground surface. The transport model shows that, after foundations are added, overall the seawater and fresh groundwater interface moves landward, so extensive foundations may induce seawater intrusion. It is believed that the modification of the coastal groundwater system by building foundations may have engineering and environmental implications, such as submarine groundwater discharge, foundation corrosion, and slope stability. Copyright  2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.