Abstract
The Paris basin contains 35,000–40,000 mines, most of which are abandoned, having mined chalk, a rock very sensitive to water. Although they have been excavated above the groundwater level, some of the mines can be temporarily or permanently flooded, due to (some) exceptional rainfall events. We have thus instrumented the chalk mine of Estreux (Nord department) to measure the impact of the oscillations of the water table on the stability of one of its pillars. It is a mine dug around 20 m deep by the chambers and pillars method. Now abandoned, it is temporarily flooded when the water table, located a few meters below the mine floor, rises due to heavy precipitation, which occurs on average every 8 years. From 2004 to 2012, a pillar was equipped with a convergence rod and two extensometers. There is a correlation between the vertical and horizontal deformation rates of the pillar and the periodic rise in the water table. Chalk samples were also taken in situ and their geomechanical properties characterized in the laboratory. On this basis, a first 3D mechanical simulation of the behavior of this pillar has been carried out taking into account elasticity, plasticity and creep. The calculated mean values of deformation generally match the measurements, and the model succeeds in reproducing the annual fluctuations of these parameters in relation to those of the level of the water table. However, compared to the measurements carried out in situ, the current model exaggerates the vertical deformations compared to the horizontal deformations. However, with this first model, we can observe that the variations in the water table induce elastic and reversible deformations of the pillar, given the absence of plastification of the chalk. These deformations are complementary to those due to the creep induced by the weight of the overlying grounds. If we want to model the long-term behavior of the pillar, particularly under the effect of the fluctuations of the water table induced by the climate change in progress, it is necessary to improve this model, taking into account the hydromechanical couplings and the flows in unsaturated condition. In conclusion, it is proposed to use these data later in a complete mechanical model, still under development at INERIS.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Al Heib M, Duval C, Theoleyre F, Watelet JM, Gombert P (2015) Analysis of the historical collapse of an abandoned underground chalk mine in 1961 in Clamart (Paris, France). Bull Eng Geol Environ 74:1001–1018. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-014-0677-6
Bates BC, Kundzewicz ZW, Wu S, Palutikof JP (eds) (2008) Climate change and water. Technical Paper of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC Secretariat, Geneva
Dahou A, Shao J, Bederiat M (1995) Experimental and numerical investigations on transient creep of porous chalk. Mech Mater 21(2):147–158
Didier C, Al Heib M, Gombert P, Charmoille A (2010) Impact of climate change on the stability of underground cavities: State of knowledge. Report INERIS DRS-10-103862-00411A
Delage P, Cui YJ, Schroeder C (1996) Subsidence and capillary effects in chalks. In: Proceedings of the ISRM International Symposium on Prediction and Performance in Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering (EUROCK 96). Turin, Italy, p 1291–1299
Detournay E, Cheng AHD (1988) Poroelastic response of a borehole in a non-hydrostatic stress field. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci Geomech Abstr 25(3):171–182
Djebbi M (1984) Dissolution-crystallization phenomenon: bibliographic study and application to chalk creep. PhD Thesis, University of Lille 1
Engstrøm F (1992) Rock mechanical properties of Danish North Sea chalk. Proceedings of 4th North Sea Chalk Sym, Deauville
Gombert P, Auvray C, Al Heib M (2013) In-situ and laboratory tests to evaluate the impact of water table fluctuations on stability of underground chalk mines. Proc Earth Planet Sci 7:304–308
Gombert P, Cherkaoui A (2013) Role of water in the stability of abandoned and partially or temporarily flooded underground quarries and expected impact of climate change. Tunnels Espace Souterrain 240:468–482
Gombert P, Damart V (2012) Stability of abandoned underground quarries in relation to fluctuations in flood level. National Geotechnical and Geological Engineering Conference JNGG2012, July 4–6, 2012, Bordeaux, France
Gombert P, Cherkaoui A, Al Heib M, Didier C, Bentivegna G (2010) Role of piezometric fluctuations on the stability of underground cavities in the context of climate change. 23rd Meeting of Earth Sciences, Bordeaux, 25 26 Oct. 2010
Homand S, Shao JF (2000) Mechanical behaviour of a porous chalk and effect of saturating fluid. Mech Cohes Frict Mater 5(7):583–606
Kreziak C, Watelet JM (2016). Analysis and questionning on 1910 collapse of Lorroy chalk underground quarry. Actes de la conférence, JNGG 2016, 6–8 juillet 2016, Nancy, France
Lafrance N (2016) Study of the effects of water on the phenomena of rupture and deformation affecting underground chalk quarries. PhD thesis, University of Lorraine, Nancy
Lafrance N, Souley M, Auvray C, Favreau O, Labiouse V (2014) Aging of chalk rocks in an underground quarry. Rock Engineering and Rock Mechanics: Structures in and on Rock Masses: proceedings of the international symposium EUROCK 2014. Leiden: CRC, 2014, pp 445–450
MIES (2000) Impacts potentiels du changement climatique en France au XXIe siècle (The potential impacts of climate change in France in the 21st century). Inter-ministry report on the greenhouse effect
Monjoie A, Schroeder C (1989) Mechanical characteristics of upper Cretaceous chalks. In: CFMR - Chalk Conference. Lille, France
Monjoie A, Schroeder C, Prignon P, Yernaux C (1990) Establishment of constitutive laws of chalk and long term tests. Third North Sea Chalk Symposium, Copenhagen, Denmark
Nguyen HD (2009) Influence of water-rock interactions on the long-term behavior of underground cavities in chalk. Doctoral thesis, National School of Bridges and Highways
Norton FH (1929) Creep of steel at high temperatures. McGraw-Hill, New York
Priol G, De Gennaro V, Delage P, Cui YJ (2004) On the suction and the time dependent behaviour of reservoir chalks of North sea oilfields. Proc. 2nd Int. Workshop on Unsaturated Soils, Capri (Italy), 43–54
Schroeder C (1995) The “Pore-Collapse”: particular aspect of the skeletal fluid interaction in chalks? In International Colloquium “Chalks and Shales.” Brussels, Belgium
Schroeder C (2002) From coccolith to petroleum reservoir: phenomenological approach to the mechanical behavior of chalk for modeling at different scales. Thesis, University of Liège, Belgium
Souley M, Armand G, Kazmierczak JB (2017) Hydro-elasto-viscoplastic modeling of a drift at the Meuse/Haute-Marne underground research laboratoratory (URL). Computers Geotech 85:306–320
Souley M, Lafrance N, Auvray C, Labiouse V, Belem T (2016) An elastoplastic and viscoplastic model for highly porous geomaterials : application to two chalks of the Parisian Bassin. Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering : from the Past to the Future : Proc. of the Int. Symp. EUROCK 2016. NC : CRC, pp 481–486
Watelet JM (1996) Method of analysis and diagnosis of the conditions of stability of underground quarries. Report of a CNAM engineer in geological engineering of construction, Paris, France
Wiid BL (1967) The influence of moisture upon the strength behaviour of rock, PhD thesis. University of Witwatersrand
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gombert, P., Thoraval, A. & Watelet, JM. Geomechanical response of an abandoned chalk mine to multi-annual water table fluctuations. Bull Eng Geol Environ 78, 3353–3369 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-018-1321-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-018-1321-7