Land Subsidence Characteristics and Numerical Analysis of the Impact on Major Infrastructure in Ningbo, China

Abstract

For the construction and safe operation of major infrastructure in coastal cities, the impact of regional land subsidence that has occurred or is slowly proceeding deserves attention. Previous studies have mainly focused on the surrounding land subsidence caused during construction or operation, as well as the superposition effect of land subsidence caused by groundwater extraction. However, research on the different impacts of damage due to land subsidence in the construction and operation of urban infrastructure needs to be carried out according to the actual geological environmental conditions, reflected in parameters such as the soil properties and common loads. Numerical simulation cannot fully reflect the details of reality; however, it can avoid the influence of other conditions to focus on different factors influencing land subsidence and thus highlight the contribution of a single factor influencing land subsidence. Therefore, in this paper, we adopt field measurement data and carry out a numerical simulation analysis of different influencing factors. First, taking the Ningbo Jiangdong subsidence center (now located in Yinzhou District) as an example, area growth, cumulative subsidence and the occurrence and development of the subsidence rate of a typical urban subsidence funnel area are analyzed. Then, taking the Ningbo Chunxiao–Meishan area as an example, based on the physical and mechanical characteristics of the main soil layers in the coastal reclamation area, a numerical analysis of the self-weight/backfill and surcharge consolidation settlement of the soil layer (considering the water permeability/impermeability of the bottom surface) and a numerical analysis of the nonuniform settlement caused by pile foundation engineering are carried out. Finally, the Ximenkou–Gulou area is taken as the analysis object. Numerical simulation of metro tunnel pipeline deformation is carried out considering uniform/nonuniform settlement. The results show that the comprehensive prohibition of groundwater exploitation is beneficial to slow the land subsidence rate, while the sedimentation of silty clay in Layer 4 (muddy clay) is the largest among all the soil layers. Compared with uniform settlement, nonuniform settlement is more likely to cause connection failure between tunnel segments. The above research results can provide references for the prevention and control of land subsidence and thus the safe operation of major infrastructure.