Case study: Design-build of a cement-bentonite groundwater cutoff wall in Fort-McMurray

Nathan Coughenour, Daniel Ruffing, Steve Artman

In the proceedings of GeoSt. John's 2019: 72nd Canadian Geotechnical Conference

Session: Posters

ABSTRACT: In 2018, Canada Geo-Solutions Inc. (CGSI) completed a design-build project for the installation of a groundwater cutoff wall in Fort McMurray, AB. The purpose of the cutoff wall is to minimize off-lease seepage of process affected water (PAW) beneath the planned Northeast Closure Dam (NECD). The PAW is generated during the mining and processing of synthetic crude at a large oil sands mine. The requirements of the cutoff wall included a maximum hydraulic conductivity of 10-9 m/sec, a minimum unconfined compressive strength of 1 MPa, a 2 m penetration into the underlying McMurray Formation, and tie-in to an existing cut off wall previously installed for an existing tailings settling basin. Based on the complex project requirements, CGSI selected a self-hardening cement-bentonite slurry wall as the groundwater barrier. This paper provides details of this project from the design and bench scale study to completion of the cutoff wall installation and provides lessons learned through the performance of the project.

RÉSUMÉ: En 2018, Canada Geo-Solutions Inc. (CGSI) a mené à bien un projet de conception-construction visant à installer un mur anti-eaux souterraines à Fort McMurray, en Alberta. Le mur de protection a pour but de minimiser les infiltrations hors bail des eaux affectées par le processus sous le barrage de fermeture nord-est (NECD) prévu. Le PAW est généré lors de l'extraction et du traitement du brut synthétique dans une grande mine de sables bitumineux. Les exigences du mur à découper incluaient une conductivité hydraulique maximale de 10 à 9 m / s, une résistance à la compression minimale sans contrainte de 1 MPa, une pénétration de 2 m dans la Formation de McMurray sous-jacente et le raccordement à un mur à découper existant précédemment installé. pour un bassin de décantation existant. Sur la base des exigences complexes du projet, CGSI a choisi un mur de coulis de ciment-bentonite auto-durcissant comme barrière pour les eaux souterraines. Ce document fournit des détails sur ce projet, depuis la concept-.

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Cite this article:
Nathan Coughenour; Daniel Ruffing; Steve Artman (2019) Case study: Design-build of a cement-bentonite groundwater cutoff wall in Fort-McMurray in GEO2019. Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Geotechnical Society.

@article{Geo2019Paper193,author = Nathan Coughenour; Daniel Ruffing; Steve Artman,title = Case study: Design-build of a cement-bentonite groundwater cutoff wall in Fort-McMurray,year = 2019}