Investigation of groundwater withdrawal and recharge affecting underground structures in the Shanghai urban area

Abstract

In this paper, the hydrogeological features of Quaternary deposits in Shanghai as well as the characteristics of groundwater withdrawal and recharge in urban areas are investigated. One phreatic aquifer and five confined aquifers (AqI to AqV) are present in Shanghai, and these aquifers are separated by five aquitards. Groundwater withdrawal from confined aquifers has resulted in land subsidence in Shanghai. To control land subsidence, the groundwater withdrawal volume has been decreased, and the groundwater recharge volume has been increased since 1965. Correspondingly, the pressure head in confined aquifers has risen. The groundwater head increases in shallow aquifers may impact underground structures and lead to the following issues: i) an increased risk of water in-rushing hazards caused by confined water pressure during structural excavations and ii) an increased instability risk caused by groundwater buoyancy. Both excavation anti-uprush and underground structure anti-floating are discussed in this paper. Based on the risk possibilities, the anti-uprush of the excavation is divided into six regions, and the structural anti-floating is divided into five regions in urban areas. To avoid geohazards caused by the rise in groundwater head, real-time monitoring of the pressure head in AqII is recommended.