Non-Invasive Characterization of Subsurface Barriers Constructed via Deep Soil Mixing for Contaminated Land Containment

Xiaohan Wang, Benyi Cao (), Guoqing Jiang, Tongxiao Shang and Jian Xu
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Xiaohan Wang: State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Soil Environmental Management and Pollution Control, Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China, Nanjing 210042, China
Benyi Cao: School of Sustainability, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
Guoqing Jiang: Technology Innovation Center for Ecological Monitoring and Restoration Project on Land (arable), Ministry of Natural Resources, Geological Survey of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing 210018, China
Tongxiao Shang: Technology Innovation Center for Ecological Monitoring and Restoration Project on Land (arable), Ministry of Natural Resources, Geological Survey of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing 210018, China
Jian Xu: State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Soil Environmental Management and Pollution Control, Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China, Nanjing 210042, China

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 8, 1-10

Abstract: Deep soil mixing has been widely used to construct subsurface barriers (cut-off walls) in contaminated sites for contamination containment. Non-invasive geophysical methods are promising for the characterization and assessment of such barriers. The aim of this study was to assess and compare the characterization performance of four geophysical methods (i.e., electrical resistivity tomography, ground-penetrating radar, seismic imaging, and the transient Rayleigh surface wave method) for a subsurface barrier built using soil-mixing technology. The electrical resistivity tomography results show that the overall resistivity of the stratum on the barrier wall increased markedly, and local defects such as pockets of clay appeared as low-resistance anomalies on the resistivity profile. In contrast, the ground radar method failed to make a reasonable evaluation of the quality of the barrier wall because the surrounding environment caused great noise interference. The seismic mapping method had a better performance when the lateral geological conditions were studied. It is also suggested that to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the surface wave signal, a vibrator with stronger energy should be used, and if conditions permit, the surrounding vibration sources should be shut down during geophysical tests. It is therefore recommended that decision makers and engineers consider using a combination of geophysical methods to evaluate the quality of barrier walls. They should also pay close attention to the specific geological conditions of a survey area, such as the presence of saltwater layers and interference from nearby structures, in order to choose the most appropriate method.

Keywords: non-invasive characterization; subsurface barriers; geophysical methods; electrical resistivity tomography; contaminated site (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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