Water Influx into Large Underground Cavities

Excavation of cavities below the ground water level induces water influx from the surrounding aquifer. An estimate of the rates of flow prior to excavation operations may be of valuable information for the mining engineer. The present paper deals with water influx into cavities of the tunnel type, e.g., mine galleries, tunnels, etc. The solution of the flow problem was obtained by a numerical finite difference method. The results are presented in dimensionless form as a function of the parameters characterizing the location of the cavity in the aquifer.