Study of the surface dissolution forms and development of groundwater in the part 4 of Ghomroud tunnel site

Part 4 of Ghomroud tunnel is located in the Sanandaj-Sirjan geological zone. In this area, due to the existence of numerous faults, crushed zones and significant development of major and minor catchments, the tunnel has been encountered with the risk of groundwater influx. On the other hand, due to some limitations such as thick(up to 600 meters in some localities)overburden over the tunnel and the lack of exploratory drilling down to the tunnel level, it has been difficult to forecast and estimate the groundwater flow in the tunnel route. Due to the existence of numerous faults in part 4 of the Ghomroud tunnel ,encountering of the drilling machine (Double Shield TBM) with high-pressure water could cause influx of large amounts of water into the tunnel and collapse of rock masses in the crushed zones. It hence could cause deviation of the machine and drilling stop. In this article, the lack of data from boreholes led us to try investigating the development of groundwater flow in the tunnel based on geomorphological evidence. Analytical modeling and geomorphological field survey in the area show a relative consistency between geomorphology and volume of water flowing in the tunnel excavation. Therefore, according to measurements conducted on the water entering the tunnel, about 80 liters per second of water flowed into the tunnel, which is in agreement with geomorphological studies. Results show that the study of morphology and surface features could provide useful information in order to identify more precisely the hydrogeologic conditions of the area.