A 3D geological model, referred to as the Project Stratigraphic Model, has been developed for Crossrail 2, a proposed £30 bn railway linking Surrey and Hertfordshire via 27 km long tunnels through London. The British Geological Survey 1:50 000 scale 3D model of the London Basin was adopted as the initial baseline. Over 1000 boreholes were collated, together with information from existing publications, such as tunnel face excavation records, to review and develop the Project Stratigraphic Model. Digital tools such as ArcGIS and Leapfrog Works facilitated the efficient development, interrogation and dissemination of the c. 40 km2 model and helped to communicate geological uncertainty. The Project Stratigraphic Model was a key tool in identifying geological hazards along the route, designing the vertical alignment, informing early design decisions for the proposed structures and estimating third-party building foundation depths for obstruction risk assessments. Further refinement of the model will continue into future design and construction stages, including the addition of project-specific ground investigation, geotechnical parameters and construction data, and will provide an invaluable geotechnical risk management tool for the project.Thematic collection: This article is part of the Ground models in engineering geology and hydrogeology collection available at: https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/Ground-models-in-engineering-geology-and-hydrogeology
This paper presents a new purpose-built digital interface for obtaining location-specific geological and geotechnical ground conditions for four oil and natural gas fields offshore of Abu Dhabi in the UAE. The geological model was developed using the software package GSI3D which was applied to an offshore study area for the first time. Statistically derived geotechnical parameters were used to apply a probabilistic approach for the design basis of geotechnical elements for offshore structures. In addition, geostatistical methods were applied in the treatment of geological uncertainty in the model. The model also includes a detailed review of local and regional natural hazards, including seismic, tsunami and submarine geohazards, with the potential to affect existing and proposed offshore infrastructure.
The tool comprises a fully interactive 3D geological and geotechnical ground model for each oil and gas field based on a geodatabase containing nearly 60 years of ground investigation data. The interface is operated through ESRI ArcMap but the geodatabase can be integrated into any online or offline GIS- based platform. Application of the tool enables effective decision making on key oil and gas development issues related to the siting of new exploration and development platforms and related infrastructure. The costs associated with offshore ground investigations are significant and mobilisation of works are heavily constrained by access, health, safety and environmental requirements. This digital tool will allow these works to be optimised at the advanced stages of planning, saving on time, cost and significantly reducing health, safety and environmental risks.
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