ABSTRACT
Many engineering projects, especially major ones, entail excavations into water-bearing soils. For all such excavations, appropriate system(s) for the management and control of the groundwater and surface water runoff should be planned before the start of each project. In practice, this can only be done with knowledge of the ground and groundwater conditions likely to be encountered by reference to site investigation data. The control of groundwater (and also surface water runoff) is invariably categorized as “temporary works” and, therefore, is almost always regarded by the client and the engineer or architect as the sole responsibility of the contractor and of little or no concern of theirs. In many instances, this philosophy has been demonstrated to be shortsighted and ultimately costly to the client.
