Geology for civil engineering applications and geo-resources management

Research focus

The Peer review has evaluated this group as Average

The researches are aimed at: analyzing the hydrogeological risk linked to the underground excavation in rocks (water inflow, piezometric drawdown, etc.) and forecasting the landslides hazard. In the first case the research was aimed to calculate the drained flows and the radii of influence and to evaluate the risk, meant as probability that the tunnel inflow or the piezometric drawdown can exceed limit values. The relevant aspect of these studies, as far as their application is concerned, is linked to the possibility of carrying out a probabilistic analysis of the geological risk during the planning of underground construction. This analysis allows to consider the different risky scenarios and to plan all the measures to prevent their occurrence. In the second case the research was aimed to asses the influence of some hydrogeological parameters (as permeability and heterogeneity coefficient) on slope instability. The study has been carried out through the modeling of groundwater flow coupled with the slope stability process, considering several triggering phenomena. The parametrical approach enabled to connect the slope instability to some hydrogeological parameters that are easy to survey and to monitor (e.g. rainfall, piezometric level and spring discharge). These results provide a scale of the landslide susceptibility concerning the hydrogeological setting (hydrogeological susceptibility), that is very important for both hazard mapping and risk analysis, carried out namely for Civil Protection, in order to prevent disasters due to topples and rock falls. Rock slopes have been monitored by suitable instrumentation, as laser-scanner and interferometers, in order to outline falls sources and debris trajectories. The debris sources, for the evaluation of sediment budget in rivers have also outlined, to forecast overflows due to flow section shrinking. The engineering geology group is involved also since several years in the research for sustainable yield definition in groundwater systems. Thanks a wide groundwater systems database build up in last 15 years, the group achieved a good knowledge of the conceptual model of the Lombardy hydrogeologic system. The research is also oriented toward water resources localization and sustainable management in order to respect, by means of suitable modeling, the hydrogeological balance also in case of human and natural (e.g. climate) changes. The assessment of these researches results is performed collaborating with main public agencies and by means of some monitoring nets of the Milan groundwater wells in order to survey groundwater heads and hydrochemical data. The monitoring nets have been planned by means of the detailed hydrogeological structures reconstruction, achieved with geostatistic methods. The border definition of polluted areas is also fundamental. The research focuses on contaminated site characterization and pollution sources localization. For this reason the method of Integral Pumping Test (IPT), has been tested in 2 real cases to localize the contaminant sources of PCE and MTBE and using the IPT results as a new tool for transport models calibration. This method is more efficient if used with the Isotopic Fingerprinting, enabling the pollution risk prevention. By means of the fingerprinting it has been dated the contamination and it has been reconstructed hydrogeochemical evolution of the contamination. The identification of both pollution’s original products and their evolution enables to well describe the pollution history and the related risks, representing an important tool for contaminated sites characterization. Moreover a method for the prevention of pollution formation after the construction of dangerous work (e.g. landfills) has been prepared also in order to control the environmental problems onset. The application of this method on some real cases allows verifying that the use of both statistic techniques and quantitative risk analysis is necessary to describe the spatial-temporal phenomenon distribution. The pollution problems and groundwater resources management are important issues also in coastal aquifers where salt water intrusion occurs, changing the contamination. The movement of the contamination into a coastal aquifer depends on a complex shape of equi-potential lines along the contact with salt water. Thus the research is oriented toward the understanding of all factors playing a role in this phenomenon. The research group is involved in field surveys and modeling with specific computer codes to study the salt water effects and the contaminant fate near the transition zone. This problem has been studied validating models with real data collected from a contaminated site along the Adriatic coast. These kinds of investigations also allow predicting the interaction between the salt water and hydraulic barrier wells enabling to choose the best solution regarding the intervention management.

Dipartimento di afferenza

Dipartimento di Ingegneria Idraulica, Ambientale, Infrastrutture Viarie, Rilevamento (DIIAR)

Docenti afferenti

Full Professors
Vincenzo Francani
Laura Scesi
Associated Professors
Monica Papini
Assistant Professors
Luca Alberti
Paola Gattinoni
Laura Longoni