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Unsaturated Flow in Hydrologic Modeling pp 481–488Cite as

The Constant Head Percolation Test - Improved Equipment and Possibilities of Assessing the Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity

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Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASIC,volume 275))

Abstract

The constant head percolation test is a simple field method that may be used to assess the saturated hydraulic conductivity above the water table. Improved measuring equipment has been developed. The equipment includes a porous plastic liner that preserves both the borehole geometry and the soil structure when measuring saturated hydraulic conductivity.

In capillary soils the saturated hydraulic conductivity calculated from measurement with the constant head percolation test is greatly overestimated if capillarity is not taken into account. A simple analytical solution which accounts for capillarity through tensiometer measurements is presented. This and other solutions are applied to field measurements. The field measurements indicate that analytical solutions exist by which the saturated hydraulic conductivity can be estimated with sufficient accuracy for engineering purposes.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Georesources and Pollution Research, P.O. Box 9, N-1432, Ås-NLH, Norway

    P. D. Jenssen

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  1. P. D. Jenssen
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA

    H. J. Morel-Seytoux

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© 1989 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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Jenssen, P.D. (1989). The Constant Head Percolation Test - Improved Equipment and Possibilities of Assessing the Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity. In: Morel-Seytoux, H.J. (eds) Unsaturated Flow in Hydrologic Modeling. NATO ASI Series, vol 275. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2352-2_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2352-2_19

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7559-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-2352-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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