Improving Approaches to Estimating Hydrogeological Investigations as a Part of Engineering Survey in Megacities: Case Study of St. Petersburg

Abstract

Urban subsurface space is considered to be a dynamic multicomponent system, which includes sandy-clayey soils, groundwater in different state, microbiota, gases, and underground facilities (either as foundations or as surrounding walls), or engineering structures (tunnels of different purpose, hazardous industrial-waste storages, etc.). Special attention is paid to the significance of hydrogeological studies, primarily, to the influence of hydrodynamic and physicochemical conditions and aquifer chemistry on soils, stress and strain state of the stratum, deformation of structures, and the formation of corrosiveness of subsurface medium. The main factors that govern groundwater composition within zones with different contamination level in megacity territory are analyzed. Results of studying the effect of various aquifers on the conditions of construction and operation of above-ground and subsurface structures are presented. Recommendations for assessing the hydrogeological conditions as a part of geotechnical survey are given.