Gord McKenna, BGC Engineering 1

Grouted-in
installation of
piezometers in boreholes:
Lessons from the
first 20 years
Gord McKenna PhD, PEng, PGeol
Senior Geotechnical Engineer
BGC Engineering Inc, Vancouver
Adjunct Professor, U of Saskatchewan
March 22, 2010
(With some pictures and data from the Internet)
Outline
Background / history
How it works
How it fails
Enhancements and
opportunities
Being a geotechnical
instrumentation purist
Efficacy and advocacy
Gord McKenna, BGC Engineering 2
Background / history
A paper by Vaughan
1969, largely overlooked
Ian Brown at Syncrude
started experimenting in
1988
McKenna experiments
and papers 1988-1995
Cautious adoption, work
by Sinco, a few papers,
better lab testing
Gaining wider
acceptance,but still novel
Vaughan 1969
A Note on Sealing Piezometers
in Boreholes, P. R. Vaughan,
Gotechnique, Volume 19,
Issue 3, pages 405 413, 1969.
a piezometer is installed in a
borehole which is sealed with a
grout of greater permeability
than the soil surrounding the
piezometer. It is shown that the
grout must have a permeability
considerably higher than that
of the ground for the
piezometer reading to have a
significant error.
It is shown that in certain
circumstances the filter
material commonly used to
surround the piezometer tip
may be omitted
Gord McKenna, BGC Engineering 3
How it works
The key to the success of the grouted-in
installation method is that modern diaphragm-type
piezometer tips require only a very small fluid
volume change for pressure equalization, and the
grout can transmit this volume over the short
distance from the formation to the tip quickly.
Some numbers help illustrate this. Suppose there
is a one psi increase in water pressure in the
formation. With a 3/4-inch standpipe, it would take
an inflow of 240 ml of water before this change
could be measured. However, with a VW piezometer,
the same change could be measured with an inflow
of only 0.00002 ml, approximately 12 million times
less.
Good performance
Gord McKenna, BGC Engineering 4
Poor performance
(dont forget the bentonite!)
More good performance
Gord McKenna, BGC Engineering 5
But will it work in the lab?
New lab experiments
Gord McKenna, BGC Engineering 6
But will it work in theory?
Time lag calculation
Hydrodynamic time lag



Piezometer type
Installation
method
Typical
intake
length
(cm)
Typical
intake
diameter
(cm)
Approximate
equalization
volume per 100 cm
water head (cm
3
)
Approximate
99% pressure
equalization
time
Sinco pneumatic
piezometer
Conventional 30 17 10
-4
<1s
Grouted 20 5 10
-4
10s
Geokon vibrating-
wirepiezometer
Conventional 30 17 10
-5
<<1s
Grouted 20 5 10
-5
1s
Sinco pneumatic
piezometer
Conventional 10 7.5 10
-4
1s
Grouted 10 5 10
-4
10s
2.5cm-diameter
standpipe
Conventional 60 17 500 10 days
Grouted 60 2.5 500 10 months

* based on formation permeability of 10
-7
cm/s and grout permeability of 10
-8
cm/s.
Gord McKenna, BGC Engineering 7
Grout Mixes for Piezometers
Grout Mix for Hard and Medium Soils
Materials Weight Ratio by Weight
Portland cement 94 lb (1 bag) 1
Water 30 gallons 2.5
Bentonite 25 lb (as required) 0.3
Mix cement with water first. Then mix in the bentonite. Adjust the amount of
bentonite to produce a grout with the consistency of heavy cream. If the grout is too
thin, the solids and the water will separate. If the grout is too thick, it will be difficult
to pump.
Grout Mix for Soft Soils
Materials Weight Ratio by Weight
Portland cement 94 lb (1 bag) 1
Water 75 gallons 6.6
Bentonite 39 lb (as required) 0.4
Drillers and grout
Drillers are
accustomed to
mixing water and
bentonite first, but
this will not allow
you to control the
water-cement
ratio. Mix water
and cement first.
Then add
bentonite.
The quantity of
the bentonite to
be added must be
adjusted to obtain
a suitable
consistency.
Do not leave too
watery.
Gord McKenna, BGC Engineering 8
Limitations
(McKenna 1995)
The permeability of the grout must be at equal to
or lower than the formation permeability for
almost all situations.
The grouted-in installation may not be practical
for a very high permeability soils where
excessive grout may be lost in the voids.
Stress transfer along stiff grout column in soft,
consolidating soils may cause a piezometric
error.
Grout may crack due to ground movements,
which could lead to higher macro-permeability.
For installations in remote areas, it may be
easier to transport sand and bentonite sealing
chips instead of a grout reservoir and pump.
Groundwater sampling using this method is
impractical because of the use of diaphragm-
type piezometer tips and the low permeability of
the grout.
Chemical contaminants in the soils (or extremely
saline pore water) may interfere with the long-
term mechanical properties of grouts
Need to develop more documented experience
worldwide.
Why bother?
(Change is hard)
It is a lot easier and more
reliable than trying to
establish bentonite seals
100ft down a borehole at -
20C
Less training, less
experience
Allows multiple piezos in
a single borehole (>3?)
Allows installation
alongside a slope
inclinometer
$$
BUT YOU HAVE TO DO IT
RIGHT!
Gord McKenna, BGC Engineering 9
Greater adoption
Vaughan, P. R , " A Note on Sealing Piezometers in
Boreholes" , Geotechnique 19, No 3, p405-413, 1969.
Laing et al Geotechnical Instrumentation of the
AOSTRA Mine-assisted Underground Steaming Trial,
Fourth Unitar/UNDP Conference on Heavy Crude and
Tar Sands, #112-3, p17-32. 1988
McKenna, G.T, " Grouted-in Installation of Piezometers
in Boreholes," Geotechnical Journal 32, pp 355-363,
1995.
Mikkelsen, P. Erik. 2002, Cement-Bentonite Grout
Backfill for Borehole Instruments, Geotechnical News,
December 2002.
Mikkelsen, PE and Green, E.G. 2003. " Piezometers in
Fully-Grouted Boreholes." International Symposium on
Geomechanics, Oslo, Norway. September 2003.
Contreras, Grosser, Ver Strate, " The Use of the Fully-
grouted Method for Piezometer Installation, "
Geotechnical News, pp 30 - 37, Vol 26, June 2008.
Promoted by suppliers
www.slopeindicator.com
Gord McKenna, BGC Engineering 10
New technology often takes 25 years
1
9
8
0
s
1
9
9
0
s
2
0
0
0
s
?
?
?
Time lag too long
Grouter higher than
formation
Very low k ground
Forgot bentonite
Cross-aquifer
contamination
Cracking due to
moving ground
Grout in the sinter
stone
How does it fail?
Gord McKenna, BGC Engineering 11
Time lag too high
Grout permeability higher than
formation
If you know the ground conditions, you can get away with high k grout
Gord McKenna, BGC Engineering 12
Beware some of the analysis may have
not considered the most severe cases
Frank Patton would ask
Just how well do you know your
hydrostratigraphy anyway?
Gord McKenna, BGC Engineering 13
Adjust grout to mimic ground stiffness
Gord McKenna, BGC Engineering 14
Grout in the sinter stone
Sinter stones often 50
micron
Cement is submicron
Seems to lock in the
formation pressure at
time of installation
May not appear as
problem in lab (may
occur under higher grout
column pressures)
Does not always happen
Easily solved with a sand
sock
Enhancements?
Preplug of bentonite
cement
Unsaturated readings
intimate contact
Mandatory
permeability or
strength test
Gord McKenna, BGC Engineering 15
Gords recommendations
If you think the ground might be
lower permeability than your
grout
When in doubt, chicken out
Go traditional with bentonite
seals and sand packs
Use cement bentonite grout
elsewhere in hole
Use a sand sock because it
works. Why not?
Take extra care to make sure your
grout mix is right. Trust no one.
Lets look at seeing how we might
use the method for measuring in
situ suctions
Be a geotechnical instrumentation
maven, maybe even a purist.
Publish in Geotechnical News.
Good practice in completing
your installation
Gord McKenna, BGC Engineering 16
Philosophy / Advocacy
Philosophy
Dont put something in the ground you dont understand
Dont put something in the ground that may give you the wrong
reading (unless you can tell)
For a new technology to replace the old one, the benefits have to
outweigh the risks (efficacy = the achievement of desired results)
Advocacy
active support of an idea or cause etc.; especially the act of
pleading or arguing for something
Promoting / Over promoting?
Responsibility?
Community
EXTRA
at no extra charge
Gord McKenna, BGC Engineering 17
Some references
Chapuis, R.P. and Sabourin, L., 1989. Effects of installation of piezometers and wells on groundwater characteristics and
measurements. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 26, pp 604-613.
Cioffi, R., Marroccoli, M, and Mascolo, 1989. On permeation effects of aqueous solutions through non-mature pastes of Portland-
pozzolana cement, Cement and Concrete Research, 19, pp 189-193.
Dunnicliff, J., 1988. Geotechnical Instrumentation for Monitoring Field Performance, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 577p.
Filho, P.R., 1976. Laboratory tests on a new borehole seal for piezometers, Ground Engineering, 9, pp 16-18.
Honda, A., Mashima, M., and Kunito, T., 1988. Influencing factors for impermeability of soil cement, Memoirs of the Faculty of
Engineering, Osaka City University, 29, pp 205-212.
Hvorslev, M.J., 1951. Time lag and soil permeability in ground-water observations, Bulletin Number 36, Waterways Experiment
Station, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, Vicksburg, Mississippi, USA.
Kurt, C.E., and Johnson, R.C. Jr., 1982. Permeability of Grout Seals Surrounding Thermoplastic Well Casing, Ground Water, 20, No.
4, p415-419.
Laing, J.M., Scott, J.D., Stokes, A.W., Suggett, J.C., and Wood, D.F., 1988 Geotechnical Instrumentation of the AOSTRA Mine-
assisted Underground Steaming Trial, Fourth Unitar/UNDP Conference on Heavy Crude and Tar Sands, Paper No. 112, 3, pp 17-32.
Morgenstern, N.R., Fair, A.E. and McRoberts, E.C., 1988. Geotechnical engineering beyond soil mechanics - a case study, Canadian
Geotechnical Journal, 25, pp 637-661.
Mossop, G.D., 1980. Geology of the Athabasca Oil Sands, Science, 207, pp 145-152.
Senger, J.A., and Perpich, W.M., 1983. An alternative well seal in highly mineralized ground water. 3rd National Symposium on
Aquifer Restoration and Ground-water Monitoring, Columbus, Ohio.
Vaughan, P.R., 1969. A note on sealing piezometers in boreholes, Geotechnique, 19, No. 3, pp 405-413.