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A method of analysis is developed by integrating finite element (FE) and load-transfer analyses to predict the negative shaft resistance and settlement of piles due to ground water lowering. A program is written in MATLAB for linking the FE results of ground movements with the input interface system of a new pile load-settlement analysis program (named 'PILESET') developed by the author. PILESET is specially designed to allow automatic input of electronic site investigation data, although manual input of laboratory soil test data is also possible. Using PILESET, custom-defined load-transfer relationships can be either input manually or calculated internally by PILESET based on the input data from in situ or laboratory soil tests. To demonstrate the validity of the suggested analysis procedure, a case record is analyzed where sump pumping was to be carried out underneath a deep basement situated close to an existing building supported on 15 m long piles. Based on assumed steady-state flow conditions, ground settlements are calculated using FE analysis and used with site investigation data to predict the negative shaft resistance and settlement induced in the piles. The results are found to agree well with field measurements. Key words: ground water lowering, pile settlement, load-transfer analysis, finite element analysis, software development. Une methode d'analyse est developpee par l'integration des analyses par elements finis (EF) et du transfert de charge dans le but de predire la resistance negative de l'arbre et le tassement des pieux dus a l'abaissement de la nappe phreatique. Un programme est ecrit avec MATLAB pour relier les resultats d'EF du mouvement du sol au systeme d'entree de donnees d'un nouveau programme d'analyse de charge-tassement de pieux, developpe par l'auteur (appele PILESET). PILESET est concu specialement pour permettre l'entree automatique de donnees electroniques d'investigation de sites, et l'entree manuelle des donnees d'essais de laboratoire est aussi possible. Grace a PILESET, des relations de charge- transfert definies pour chaque cas peuvent etre entrees manuellement ou calculees par PILESET a partir des donnees d'essais de sols in situ ou de laboratoire. Afin de demontrer la validite de la procedure d'analyse suggeree, une etude de cas est analysee dans laquelle du pompage devait etre utilise sous un sous-sol profond, situe pres d'un batiment existant supporte par des pieux de 15 m de long. Les conditions d' ecoulement etant assumees en regime permanent, les tassements du sol sont calcules a l'aide de l'analyse par EF et sont utilises en conjonction avec les donnees d'investigation de site pour predire la resistance negative de l' arbre et les tassements induits dans les pieux. Les resultats correspondent bien avec les mesures de terrain. Mots-cles : abaissement de la nappe phreatique, tassement des pieux, analyse de transfert de charge, analyse par elements finis, developpement de logiciel. [Traduit par la Redaction], Introduction Geotechnical engineers are often faced with problems of substructure instability and foundation settlement caused by ground water level changes, which may be either intentional or unintentional. A simple and [...]

Storage and release functions of western U.S. traditional river valley irrigation systems may counteract early and rapid spring river runoff associated with climate variation. Along the Rio Grande in northern New Mexico, we instrumented a 20-km-long irrigated valley to measure water balance components from 2005 to 2007. Hydrologic processes of the system were incorporated into a system dynamics model to test scenarios of changed water use. Of river water diverted into an earthen irrigation canal system, some was consumed by crop evapotranspiration (7.4%), the rest returned to the fiver as surface return flow (59.3%) and shallow groundwater return flow that originated as seepage from canals (12.1%) and fields (21.2%). The modeled simulations showed that the coupled surface water irrigation system and shallow aquifer act together to store water underground and then release it to the river, effectively retransmitting river flow until later in the year. Water use conversion to nonirrigation purposes and reduced seepage from canals and fields will likely result in higher spring runoff and lower fall and winter river flow. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)IR.1943-4774.0000265 CE Database subject headings: Aquifers; Hydrologic models; Hydrogeology; Irrigation systems; Surface water; Groundwater; Groundwater recharge; Rio Grande. Author keywords: River-aquifer interaction; Hydrology; Hydrologic models; Hydrogeology; Irrigation systems; Surface water; Groundwater; Groundwater recharge; Rio Grande.

In this research, a data-driven modeling approach, support vector machines (SVMs), is compared to artificial neural networks (ANNs) for predicting transient groundwater levels in a complex groundwater system under variable pumping and weather conditions. Various prediction horizons were used, including daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, and bimonthly prediction horizons. It was found that even though modeling performance (in terms of prediction accuracy and generalization) for both approaches was generally comparable, SVM outperformed ANN particularly for longer prediction horizons when fewer data events were available for model development. In other words, SVM has the potential to be a useful and practical tool for cases where less measured data are available for future prediction. The study also showed high consistency between the training and testing phases of modeling when using SVM compared to ANN. While for the proposed SVM model the relative error of mean square error increased by an average of 42% from the training phase to testing the phase, the corresponding testing error of the ANN model raised by approximately seven times the training error. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)CP.1943-5487.0000043 CE Database subject headings: Neural networks; Aquifers: Water levels: Predictions; Climates; Comparative studies. Author keywords: Support vector machines (SVMs); Artificial neural networks (ANNs); Aquifer water level elevation prediction; Climate data.

A solution is developed for the evolution of buildup, steady, and postarrest dissipative pore-fluid pressure fields that develop around a finite-radius conical penetrometer advanced in a saturated linearly elastic porous medium. The analog with cone penetrometer testing is direct and is used to enable continuous distributions of permeability and diffusivity to be determined with depth. This analysis reveals the direct dependence of penetration rate on the induced fluid pressure field magnitudes, and predicts that a penetration rate threshold limit exists with respect to pore-pressure generation. This represents the essence of a partially drained system. The developed pore-pressure field is determined to be a function of the dissipation rate of the material, the penetration rate, and the storage effects of the advecting medium. Analysis of the pore-pressure field under start-up conditions reveals that the time required to reach steady state is strongly influenced by the penetration rate and the pressure-dissipation properties of the material. Analysis of the developed stable pressure fields illustrates the inversely proportional relationship that exists between penetration rate and pore-pressure magnitudes at the cone surface; representing the influence of storage in the medium on stable pore-pressure magnitudes. Stable pressure fields below the penetration threshold limit, [U.sub.D][less than or equal to] [10.sup.-1], form a spherical response around the cone tip transitioning to an elongated radial response for penetration rates above this limit. Postarrest analysis indicates that the prearrest penetration rate strongly influences the dissipation rate and pattern of dissipation. The developed analysis can be correlated with CPTu-recovered data to independently evaluate permeability magnitudes during steady penetration. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9399(2010)136:3(263) CE Database subject headings: Cone penetration tests; Soil permeability; Hydraulic conductivity; Groundwater; Pore pressure. Author keywords: Cone penetration test; Soil permeability; Hydraulic conductivity; Groundwater.

A kernel method is proposed for calculating transient rate and cumulative volume of well discharge under constant drawdown. The new method can also be used for obtaining the drawdown (in pressure head) in the aquifer at some distance away from the well. Employing the new method, an optimization method is used to estimate the aquifer parameters from transient well discharge or drawdown in the aquifer pressure head. The proposed method can also be used to model the recovery of drawdown (in aquifer pressure head) after the plug-in of the well. CE Database subject headings: Groundwater management; Wells; Aquifers; Parameters; Unsteady flow; Estimation.

A comprehensive analytical solution for the quantity of seepage into an array of fully penetrating ditches from a ponded surface has been obtained using hodograph and Schwarz-Christoffel transformation. The solution includes equations for the quantity of seepage from the seepage face part as well as the water depth part of the ditch. The solution also comprises expressions for the velocity potential at the stagnation point and the variation in seepage velocity. The variation in seepage quantity is like the shape of a curved channel whose boundary maps along a circle onto the hodograph plane. This shape is average of a semiellipse and a parabola. The seepage contribution from the nonseepage face is maximum for half full condition and it is half of the total seepage in an empty ditch (full seepage face). Irrespective of the spacing between ditches the quantities of seepage from the seepage face part and the nonseepage part are equal for one third full ditch. The solution also deals with special cases like single ditch, unequal spacing between ditches, and unequal depth of water in adjacent ditches. The expressions the quantity of seepage have been simplified in explicit algebraic equations through minimization of errors. The simplified expressions, which are near exact, result in answers in single step computations. Also, an example and graphs have been included to demonstrate the sensitivity of the parameters. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9437(2008)134:6(815) CE Database subject headings: Drains; Drainage; Leaching; Seepage; Mapping; Porous Media; Groundwater; Ditches.

A model to calculate the quantity and quality of river flows by simulating hydro-chemical processes in soil and the spatial/ temporal distribution of irrigation return flows is introduced. By simulating the hydro-chemical processes, the quantity and quality of the deep percolating water can be predicted. The spatial and temporal distribution of the deep percolating water is simulated by constructing a groundwater flow path and calculating the groundwater travel time using response functions. A probabilistic approach was developed to calculate the groundwater travel time taking into account the fact that some irrigated fields have subsurface drainage which shortens travel times. All related hydrological components are integrated into the computation of river flow quantity and quality including groundwater return flow, irrigation tail water, tributary inflow, river diversion, phreatophyte consumption, river channel losses, and river depletion due to pumping. An illustrative example is included to demonstrate the capabilities of the model. The results of this example show that river salinity is lower during the irrigation season and higher during the off season. Due to salts carried by return flows, downstream reaches have higher salinity levels than upstream reaches. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9437(2008)134:6(757) CE Database subject headings: Simulation models; Salinity; Water quality; Water chemistry; Groundwater quality; Water supply.

Computer simulations often are used to design and to optimize groundwater remediation systems. We present a new computationally efficient approach that calculates the reliability of remedial design at every location in a model domain with a single simulation. The estimated reliability and other model information are used to select a best remedial option for given site conditions, conceptual model, and available data. To evaluate design performance, we introduce the nodal failure index (NFI) to determine the number of nodal locations at which the probability of success is below the design requirement. The strength of the NFI approach is that selected areas of interest can be specified for analysis and the best remedial design determined for this target region. An example application of the NFI approach using a hypothetical model shows how the spatial distribution of reliability can be used for a decision support system in groundwater remediation design. CE Database subject headings: Remedial action; Groundwater pollution; Uncertainty principles; Computer aided simulation.

'Brownfields' are real estate properties with subsurface or surface contamination. The redevelopment of Brownfields is required to clean, improve, and protect the environment. Pile foundations are often used in Brownfields and other contaminated site situations to support structures. Regulators are concerned about the environmental safety of pile foundations in Brownfields sites, since piling in Brownfields may lead to transport of contaminants from the contaminated region to underground aquifers. This investigation is an extension of previous research programs on pile foundations in Brownfields or contaminated sites conducted at the University of New Orleans. The purpose of the overall investigation is to evaluate the potential for contaminant transport due to pile foundations in Brownfields. The current paper summarizes the research carried out to ascertain the potential for contaminant transport from concrete piles of different shape, depth of penetration, and method of installation. The results of bench scale model tests and numerical studies are presented. Under full penetration conditions, the square shaped and circular cast-in-place piles were found to have a higher potential for contaminant transport than circular driven piles. There is a low potential for contaminant transport in the case of piles penetrating less than 95% of an aquitard. Selected results from a previous program on wooden and steel piles are summarized for comparison. CE Database subject headings: Pile foundations; Soil pollution; Environmental issues; Groundwater pollution; Aquifers.

The highway deicing agent groundwater plume from an infiltration basin in the Plymouth-Carver Aquifer near State Route 25 in southeastern Massachusetts is modeled and measured in order to assess the impact of the basin on groundwater transport processes. The advective transport model superimposes the existing steady models of axisymmetric basin hydraulics of Zlotnik and Ledder in 1992 and the two-dimensional ambient flow of Gelhar and Wilson in 1974. The basin component incorporates a surface source of finite-radius into a Hankel transform model for unconfined aquifers, whereas the ambient component varies linearly in the horizontal and vertical directions. Contaminant streamlines describe the resulting groundwater plume, and highway deicing agent constituents provide useful tracers. A simple vertical dispersion model quantifies the spread of contaminants across the bottom of the plume. Deicing agent constituent data calibrate a 17 m basin radius, a 45 m plume width, a bottom streamline 6-10 m below the water table, and a vertical dispersivity of 34 cm. The latter value is comparable to the amplitude of vertical excursions caused by storm scale fluctuations of hydraulic head, as measured by Ostendorf et al. in 2007. Infiltration basins alter ambient advection by displacing streamlines downward and augment vertical mixing by imposing aperiodic vertical fluctuations on the ambient flow field. CE Database subject headings: Stormwater management; Deicing; Runoff; Infiltration; Massachusetts; Highways and roads.

Reactive transport modeling helps explain the origin of the microbiological zoning observed in pristine freshwater aquifers. Zoned aquifers have been described previously as either thermodynamic or kinetic phenomena, but neither interpretation has proved fully satisfactory. Drawing on concepts of population dynamics, the modeling reported here offers an alternative explanation of how certain microbes exclude others from zones: one functional group maintains conditions under which cells in another group die more rapidly than they can reproduce. The modeling also lends support to the idea that a group of microbes that appears to dominate a particular zone in an aquifer may in fact coexist with, or even be subordinate to, another group. Keywords: aquifer microbiology, microbial communities, sulfate-reducing bacteria, iron-reducing bacteria, methanogens.

A diagnostic curve of unimodal shape is developed for identifying the confined aquifer parameters from early drawdowns. A scaled well function is proposed for the diagnostic curve and computationally simple functions are developed for its accurate approximation. The diagnostic curve may be viewed as an alteration of the Theis' curve or as the generalization of a previous approach proposed by the writer. Plotting the pumping test data in a convenient form and matching it to the diagnostic curve with a parallel shift of axes identify the aquifer parameters. The unimodal shape of the diagnostic curve facilitates matching and reduces the personal errors. The proposed method is simple, easy to apply, and yields accurate estimates of aquifer parameters from only early drawdowns, which would save considerable time and money involved in conducting a long-duration pumping test. The estimates obtained using the new method are as good as those obtained from much more complex methods. The new method does not require either the initial guess for the parameter values or repetitive evaluation of the well function. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9437(2008)134:4(515) CE Database subject headings: Aquifers; Parameters; Drawdown; Ground water; Optimization; Pumps; Water storage; Coefficients.

We demonstrate the link between two terrestrial water reservoirs: the root-zone soil moisture and the groundwater, and contribute our simulated climatologic water table depth and soil moisture fields over North America to the community. Because soil moisture strongly influences land-atmosphere fluxes, its link to the groundwater may affect the spatiotemporal variability of these fluxes. Here we simulate the climatologic water table depth at 30-arc-s resolution as constrained by U.S. Geological Survey site observations. Then, we use this water table climatology as the lower boundary for the soil, and variable infiltration capacity (VIC)-simulated land surface flux climatology as the upper boundary, to calculate the soil moisture climatology (SMC) at 14 depths (down to 4 m). Comparisons with VIC, the North America Regional Reanalysis (NARR), and observations suggest the following: first, SMC is wetter than VIC, despite their having identical land surface flux; second, while climate is the dominant signature in NARR and VIC, the water table manifests itself in SMC, with wet soil over the shallow water table; third, while soils in VIC and NARR get drier with depth, soils in SMC get wetter in regions of a shallow water table; and last, SMC has the highest root-zone (top 2 m) total soil water storage. These differences may have implications for climate modeling. We make our simulation results available to any interested researcher, for applications such as model initialization and intercomparison.

Groundwater is the most widely used water resource in the Afram Plains area, Ghana. The objective of this study was to determine the distribution of fluoride, sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), and salinity (EC) in groundwater from the different aquifers in the Afram Plains area. The distribution of these parameters would enable a determination of the quality of groundwater from the different aquifer units for use in households and irrigation purposes. The inverse distance weighting, interpolator with a power of 2 was applied to 143 data points of each parameter to generate prediction maps for fluoride, SAR, and EC in the area. The distribution maps from this study show that the shale aquifers that underlie the southwestern sections of the area have the highest levels of fluoride, SAR, and EC. A narrow strip of the shale aquifer in the southwestern region produces groundwater whose fluoride level (2.2 mg/L) is higher than the World Health Organization minimum allowable fluoride concentration of 1.5 mg/L in drinking water. The feldsparthic sandstone, arkose, siltstone, and mudstone aquifers in the northeastern sections of the area produce groundwater with fluoride concentration in the range of 0.0-0.3 mg/L, which fall outside the minimum range of 0.7-1.2 mg/L required in drinking water for normal bone and dental health. The highest SAR and EC are also associated with the shale aquifers to the southwestern section of the area. Using the World Food and Agriculture Organization's guidelines for irrigation water quality, it was determined that groundwater from the Afram Plains area will generally have a mild to moderate effect on the hydraulic properties of soils when used as irrigation water. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9437(2008)134:2(222) CE Database subject headings: Ghana; Fluoridation; Sodium; Adsorption; Electrical conductivity; Potable water; Developing countries.

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2005.09.012 Byline: Yassert Gonzalez-Alvarez (a), Andrew G. Keeler (b), Jeffrey D. Mullen (c) Keywords: Water; Irrigation; Economics; Groundwater Abstract: We create a proxy for the cost of irrigation water in Georgia from a sample of Georgia irrigators by investigating the marginal cost of pumping groundwater. We then combine this proxy with agronomic and climatic variables to estimate the response of agricultural water use to differences in the marginal cost of irrigation. The results show that pumping costs are a significant determinant of water use, and imply that agricultural water use would be moderately affected by institutional changes that would explicitly price water. Author Affiliation: (a) Planning Department, Southwest Florida Water Management District, Brooksville, FL, USA (b) School of Public Policy and Management, The Ohio State University, 310-C Page Hall, 1810 College Road, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA (c) Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA Article History: Received 17 December 2004; Revised 29 August 2005; Accepted 21 September 2005

Because of increased public concern regarding the impact of tunneling on surrounding environments, the control of ground-water has become an essential part of the planning, design, and construction of a tunneling project. This paper presents the results of an investigation on interaction mechanism between tunneling and groundwater using a three dimensional stress--pore pressure coupled finite-element model. It is shown that the ground and lining responses are significantly influenced by the relative permeability of the lining, and that the circumferential pregrouting is an effective means for minimizing the tunneling and groundwater interaction. Also highlighted is the importance of the stress-pore pressure coupled analysis, in the numerical prediction of tunnel behavior. Practical implications of the findings from this study are discussed in great detail. CE Database subject headings: Tunneling; Ground water; Finite element method; Pore water pressure; Grouting; Tunnel linings; Settlement.

A computationally simple approximation of the Hantush M function is proposed. Using this approximation, an optimization method is proposed for identifying the aquifer parameters from early drawdowns around partially penetrating wells. The aquifer parameters are hydraulic conductivity and specific storage. The application of the method is illustrated using a field example. The proposed method results in a 120-fold saving in time when compared to the prior method. It is hoped that the proposed approximation and method will be of help to the field engineers and practitioners. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9437(2008)134:6(861) CE Database subject headings: Aquifers; Parameters; Wells; Drawdown; Hydraulic conductivity; Water storage; Estimation; Groundwater management.