GEOPHYSICAL METHODS USED IN SOLVING SOME GEOLOGICAL PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE TREBIšNJIGA WATER POWER PLANT (in YUGOSLAVIA) *

The design and construction of hydroelectric works, and more particularly of storage reservoirs and dams, in karst areas pose extremely varied and complex engineering, geological and hydrogeological problems, for the solution of which no widely applied techniques have yet been developed.

In addition to conventional geological and hydrogeological methods for the study of karst phenomena, the application of more efficient methods of a primarily geophysical nature is called for. These methods, which provide the best means for solving the complex problems encountered in karst, are steadily gaining acceptance.

The Miruše storage reservoir and the Grančarevo dam are the key structures in the Trebišnjica hydroelectric complex and are located in an area of typical Dinaric karst. Many of the engineering, geological and hydrogeological problems connected with their design and construction were solved with the aid of electrical geophysical prospecting methods (especially the resistivity method). The investigations provided data on the depth of karstification (the relief of the base level of karst erosion), the position of intensively karstified and tectonically broken zones, as well as on the general orientation of the process of karstification. All these data were helpful in providing a more accurate insight into the impermeability of the rocks that formed the storage reservoir (in relation to the proposed impounding level); they also enabled the consolidation structures (impervious curtains), aimed at preventing excessive losses due to seepage, to be designed more economically.