Document Type

Thesis - University Access Only

Award Date

1996

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department / School

Civil Engineering

First Advisor

Vernon R. Schaefer

Abstract

A field study was conducted at the Sioux Falls Runge Landfill to determine the effects of fractures on the hydraulic conductivity of glacial till deposits in eastern South Dakota. During the summer of 1994, an infiltration trench system was constructed at the site. A chloride tracer was injected into the trench system during the summer of 1995 to determine the impact fractures have on solute transport in the upper three meters of till. Chloride samples were periodically taken from wells within the trench system to construct breakthrough curves to estimate the seepage velocity and hydraulic conductivity. Slug tests were conducted in each well for comparison with the tracer results. Stochastic and deterministic models were also utilized to simulate transport in the fractured till based upon the tracer data. These results were then compared with the flow-based results. The piezometer slug tests yielded mean values of 4.9 x 104 cm/sec, compared with a mean value of 4.8 x 104 cm/sec from the flow-based results. The seepage velocity values from the tracer-based results suggest that the chloride tracer was retarded approximately one order of magnitude, possibly due to matrix diffusion. The research also suggests that the bulk hydraulic conductivity of fractured till can be reasonably and economically appraised by conducting slug tests.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Hydraulic fracturing
Soil permeability
Drift -- South Dakota

Format

application/pdf

Publisher

South Dakota State University

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Rights Statement

In Copyright