HydroMechanics of Fractured Rock

Field Tests

SITE APPLICATION
Preliminary tests have made use of boreholes cutting fractures in biotite gneiss in western South Carolina. The wells are cased through saprolite to depths of approximately 21 m, and they are open to total depths of 60 m to 120 m. Fractures were identified on the walls of boreholes using a video camera, and those results were supplemented with caliper logs and data from slug tests using overlapping straddle packers.

BASIC FIELD RESPONSE
Th basic response from HM well tests is shown below. The upper plots show the results from a slug test, and the lower plots show the results from a constant rate pumping test. The graphs on the right show the displacement of each test plotted as a function of drawdown.