Campus quarry provides real-world learning

Tests on quarry provide good learning experience

An October water test on the Berry College quarry showed unexpected results.

The purpose of the test was to show how pumping water out of the inactive quarry would affect the geology and hydrology of the campus. The test was expected to reflect overall imbalances in the level of the water table on campus. The water table did not fluctuate as much as anticipated, however.

A water table is the surface of the water stored underground which fluctuates based on the amount of water in surrounding lakes, streams, rivers and water sources.

Why Pump?
The Floyd County Water Department initially contacted the school in September due to the extreme drought conditions and the resulting water shortage for the citizens of Rome.

Because of its central location by the Etowah, Coosa and Oostanaula Rivers, Rome city water is plentiful. But county water is running low.

Berry and the FCWD began working alongside contracting firm Peoples and Quigley to pump water out of the Berry quarry and into the Oostanaula River.

Project Details
After nearly 2,000 feet of piping was laid to direct water from the quarry to the surrounding watershed, pumping began on Sept. 30.

At the beginning of the project, Dr. Tamie Jovanelly, assistant professor of geology, expected the water table to drop as much as 50 feet.

“During the pump test, my biggest concern was the overall effect the pumping would have on the water table,” Jovanelly said. “Fortunately, we saw relatively little change to the water table. From the monitoring wells, we only saw a decrease of, on average, one-half-foot.”

Over the course of nine days, water was pumped at an average rate of 1,200 gallons per minute from the quarry.

Because pumping started and stopped at unpredictable intervals, Jovanelly’s research students had to conduct an analysis to determine that a total of 9 million gallons were pumped out of the quarry.

Reason for Concern?
The research team, comprised of students in Jovanelly’s environmental geology class, expected more drastic results from pumping such large amounts of water.

After the Krannert Center partially collapsed into a sinkhole in 1998, many people involved in this project were concerned about similar adverse effects happening again.

“I was most worried about sinkholes forming around campus because so much water was being drawn out,” senior Roy Srymanske said.

This was a legitimate concern as Berry’s topography is prone to the formation of sinkholes, which form when the water table is altered.

“If they pumped down below the danger level, 565 feet in elevation, that would cause collapses on campus,” said Hillary Sparks, GIS technician for the Berry College land resources department. “At this point, the Cage Center would definitely be at risk for partial collapse or weakening due to sinkholes.”

Because this pump test had no effect on the campus, researchers are worried that future tests will employ much higher pumping rates, similar to when the quarry was in use by the materials company, Florida Rock in the 1990s.

According to Sparks, Florida Rock was pumping nearly 100 million gallons per day out of the quarry, and this is what caused Krannert to collapse.

“Fortunately we saw little change on campus from the test, but if it were increased to a scale similar to Florida Rock, we would see much different results,” Jovanelly said.

{E. J. D.}