Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 17
Motorway underpass
using geomembranes as
a groundwater barrier
Geomembrane construction installed by submerging
it into underwater excavated pit.
By Dick van Regteren
I
n some places in the Netherlands, there is an absence of natural
clay so groundwater flushes easily through the soil. As soon as
excavation starts, groundwater will be present. Groundwater must be
removed or taken care of to build roads, tunnels, etc. in dry conditions.
This article describes a technique using geosynthetic materials
for creating dry building pits.
To create two road tunnels under an existing motorway in Raalte
in the Netherlands, Genap submerged several prefabricated geotextile
and geomembrane panels to create a groundwater barrier underneath
the tunnel ramps of the two tunnels.
One of the project conditions was that the existing motorway could
not be closed for more than 48 hours on a weekend. The normal way
to build underpass access ramps by pit dewatering was impossible
because of the high groundwater table and the large influx of groundwater
that would cause too much discharge water. In this case, the
contractor chose to build the access ramps by using a geomembrane
construction, installed with a special submerging technique, to create
the groundwater barrier.
The Geosyntec groundwater barrier system consists of a threelayer
construction, a 40 mil (1 mm) thick PVC geomembrane underlain
and overlain by a nonwoven geotextile of 93 grams/foot² (1000
gr/m2) for protection.
Project implementation
The tunnel parts under the motor road were the first to be made
using sheet piles and underwater concrete. In one weekend, the
sheet piles were placed across the motor road and a prefab concrete
PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
GEOMEMBRANE INSTALLATION
LOCATION
N348 Raalte-Ommen Netherlands
Tunnel 1: GPS 52.48117473313358,
6.364705114997263
Tunnel 2: GPS 52.42441097067405,
6.333877127837819
OWNER
Province of Overijssel Zwolle
The Netherlands
GENERAL CONTRACTOR
BAM Infra Regionaal Nieuwleusen
The Netherlands
PRODUCTS GEOSYNTHETIC
CONSTRUCTION
Geotextile
Genatex PES non-woven 1000gr/
m², produced by Manifattura
Fontane Spa, Italy
Geomembrane
Aquatex PVC-P 1,0mm (Food
Applied), produced by SIKA
Germany GmbH
Dick van Regteren is CEO of Genap with
locations in The Netherlands, Canada, Mexico,
India and Kenya.
All figures courtesy of Genap B.V.
GeosyntheticsMagazine.com
17
http://www.GeosyntheticsMagazine.com
Geosynthetics April/May 2023
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Geosynthetics April/May 2023
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - Cover1
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - Cover2
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 1
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 2
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 3
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 4
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 5
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 6
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 7
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 8
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 9
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 10
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 11
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 12
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 13
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 14
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 15
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 16
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 17
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 18
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 19
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 20
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 21
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 22
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 23
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 24
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 25
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 26
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 27
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 28
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 29
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 30
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 31
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 32
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 33
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 34
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 35
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 36
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 37
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 38
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 39
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 40
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 41
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 42
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 43
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - 44
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - Cover3
Geosynthetics April/May 2023 - Cover4
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