Abstract
Water seepage erosion has been and remains one of the major engineering problems. However, most engineers will much depend on borehole data and soil test for designing and problem detection. By considering of the cost and destructive method, selection of geoelectrical prospecting would be appropriate. Therefore, two electrical geophysical surveys were carried out in Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Dato’ Haji Mohd Nor, Gelugor, Pulau Pinang to map the presence of the unknown underground water sources (saturated zones) and its movement. With the total of seven resistivity lines parallel to each other and self potential (SP) with 5 m × 5 m gridding survey were successfully done. The resistivity result from line 1 (R1) to line 6 (R6) shows the subsurface consist of saturated zones with range between 3 m up to 10 m depth, before it reaches the R7 which is believed as the accumulation zone. Meanwhile, as for SP result it shows the water flow from higher value (north-east) towards the lower value which is mostly at the south area. In conclusion, geoelectrical survey could assist in detecting and solving engineering problems as it proven by the result from each method.
Highlights
Geoelectrical survey is commonly known in environmental or engineering prospecting
The resistivity result from line 1 (R1) to line 6 (R6) shows the subsurface consist of saturated zones with range between 3 m up to 10 m depth, before it reaches the R7 which is believed as the accumulation zone
The overflowing of unknown water sources at the retaining wall has created a tremendous interest. It is because it could be the factor of water seepage beneath the subsurface which could leads to landslide or soil erosion
Summary
Geophysical studies which provide nondestructive methods have recently been employed to reduce cost and numerous problems [1]. One of the common problems engineering field would be soil erosion due to water movement either on the surface or beneath the surface. Geoelectrical survey would be appropariate tool as it is most likely measured the changes of resistivity (or conductivity) which is one of the most important physical properties of the rock. The overflowing of unknown water sources at the retaining wall has created a tremendous interest. It is because it could be the factor of water seepage beneath the subsurface which could leads to landslide or soil erosion. This study is aimed to locate the unknown water source and its movement
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