• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.67-77
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• 2013

We conducted a Tunnel Seismic Prediction (TSP) survey in a spillway tunnel at Juam Dam to predict the locations of major discontinuities ahead of the tunnel face. We compared the results of the TSP survey with those from pre-construction inspections (including a surface resistivity survey and borehole investigations) as well as with direct tunnel-face mapping during excavation. The TSP method predicted the locations of major fracture zones that were unnoticed in the pre-construction inspections. The reinforcement patterns planned on the basis of pre-construction inspections were changed on the basis of the TSP results. The results demonstrate that TSP surveys are a cost-effective and reliably accurate method of predicting the locations of fracture zones. Although the TSP method has some limitations, these results suggest that the method is generally useful for predicting geological conditions prior to tunnel face construction.