Study of Hydraulic properties (porosity and saturated hydraulic conductivity) of the quaternary aquifer of Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire)

The hydraulic properties of the soil are important parameters in hydrogeology. They allow knowing the characteristics and functioning of aquifers. But their determination is costly and difficult on large sites such as the quaternary aquifer of Abidjan. The objective is to know the hydraulic properties of the aquifer of Abidjan through the study of the porosity and the prediction of saturated hydraulic conductivity by the modified Kozeny Carman's model. The predicted conductivities are compared to those measured in situ by the double rings infiltrability method. The work showed that the porosities ranging from 0.25 to 0.42 while the hydraulic conductivities from 2.10-5 to 5.10-5 m/s. The quaternary aquifer of Abidjan is composed of coarse sand of the marine cordon and medium sand of the lagoon depressions. The coarse sands are found in the southern part of the aquifer while the medium sands in the north part.The application of the modified Kozeny Carman model showed that the predicted conductivities are close to those measured in situ. This model can be used to predict the hydraulic conductivity of the sands of the quaternary aquifer. The model has the merit of using the basic physical properties of the soil easily accessible. It could therefore be applied to other sandy aquifers along of whole eburneo basin of the West Africa.