Assessment of bearing capacity and permeability of foundation rocks at the Gumustas Waste Dam Site (NE Turkey) using empirical and numerical analysis

Abstract

In this study, the bearing capacity and permeability of andesite and andesitic breccia rock masses, forming the basement for Gumustas waste dam, planned as a rock fill housing, were evaluated using various empirical equations and numerical analysis. The total stress constituting over the basement caused through ore waste building up in the body of dam and reservoir was determined by a finite element method. Then, this stress was compared with bearing capacities calculated for the rock masses. The permeability of rock masses in dam site and the lake were appraised with pressure water test experiments (Lugeon method), performed within opened bore holes and finite element method (seepage analysis). Since chemicals seeping from waste dams into the ground water are of vital importance for human health and the environment, the dam body must be made completely impervious using upstream slope and reservoir geosynthetics.