Authors: Wong, Tai T.; Agar, John G.

Source: Canadian Geotechnical Journal, Volume 46, Number 1, January 2009 , pp. 102-113(12)

Publisher: NRC Research Press

Abstract:

Soil vapour intrusion is now commonly evaluated as part of human health risk assessments at contaminated sites where buildings or other structures are located in close proximity to volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) in subsurface soils and groundwater. Investigation of the vapour intrusion pathway often requires that VOC concentrations in the soil gas adjacent to buildings and structures be characterized as part of the risk assessment process. This paper presents the design of a new soil gas monitoring well and a sampling procedure that effectively eliminate concerns about soil gas sample dilution due to short-circuiting of atmospheric air and help to ensure the collection of representative soil gas samples. The results of a parametric numerical modelling study that was applied to address the air short-circuiting issue and the technical rationale for the new soil gas monitoring well (SGMW) design are presented in this paper along with recommended soil gas sampling procedures in various soil conditions. The SGMW design rationale and methodology outlined in this paper considered the effects of soil moisture content and permeability, the depth to the sampling screen interval, and the soil gas sample extraction rate.

L'intrusion de vapeur dans le sol est maintenant couramment évaluée dans l'évaluation des risques sur la santé humaine pour des sites contaminés où des bâtiments ou autres structures se situent à proximité de composés organiques volatiles «COV» dans les sols et la nappe phréatique. Les investigations de la trajectoire de l'intrusion de la vapeur requièrent souvent que les COV dans le gaz des sols adjacents aux structures et bâtiments soient caractérisés à l'intérieur du processus d'analyse de risques. Cet article présente la conception d'un nouveau puits de surveillance des gaz du sol et une procédure d'échantillonnage qui élimine les préoccupations reliées à la dilution des échantillons par court-circuitage de l'air atmosphérique et qui assure la représentativité des échantillons recueillis. Les résultats d'une étude paramétrique par modélisation numérique qui visait les problèmes de court-circuitage de l'air et la justification de la conception du nouveau puits de surveillance des gaz du sol «SGMW» sont présentés, ainsi que les procédures d'échantillonnage des gaz du sol dans différentes conditions de sol. La conception et la méthodologie du SGMW présentées dans cet article sont discutées en fonction des paramètres suivants : humidité du sol et perméabilité, l'intervalle de profondeur jusqu'au tamis d'échantillonnage, et la vitesse d'extraction de l'échantillon de gaz.

Document Type: Research article

Publication date: 2009-01-01

More about this publication?

• Published since 1963, this monthly journal features articles, notes, and discussions related to new developments in geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering, and applied sciences. The topics of papers written by researchers, theoreticians, and engineers/scientists active in industry include soil and rock mechanics, material properties and fundamental behaviour, site characterization, foundations, excavations, tunnels, dams and embankments, slopes, landslides, geological and rock engineering, ground improvement, hydrogeology and contaminant hydrogeology, geochemistry, waste management, geosynthetics, offshore engineering, ice, frozen ground and northern engineering, risk and reliability applications, and physical and numerical modelling. Papers on actual case records from practice are encouraged and frequently featured.
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