commonwealth of Massachusetts oepart!:lm t of Public ·., orks

"I•. F . callahan, C omnissioner

U. S. l.Je?artment of the Interior Geoloe;ical Sur··ey

~ •• E. urather, Director

1 -

Cooperative Geologic Project

Geologic Interpret~tion of Seismic ~ta

Route 128 ( H0rthern Circumferential Highway)

Cut, and Hopkins Stre~t Grade Separation

Stations l-18

in 'h akefield. 11ass.

by

James E· ?Ua yna.rd, Geologist, u. s. Geolo t;ical Survey

and

Rev • .I)aniel Lin ehan, s. J., Seismologist, \',aston College

..J S G eOLOGICAL SURVEY

4 pages of text 3 plates .J

MASS . D E P T O F Pu::: :.. 1C V..'JR KS COOPERATIVE GEOLOGIC Po~OGRAM

OPEN FILE REPORT · ••i th is rPpor t have OC('fl placPJ in op ·n fi h·s for publ i•· in: p:·• ·l •• •:• ut

'.if l '\1 ;TO:\ , D. C., (;E :\ E IL\L SEH\' ICE-, B' LD'C , Fa t 18t h t\: l!•t h . ' \ . \r . C. S. Gl-OLO(; )(':\L SU in· J:Y: LI Bil:\ HY , und offi l'c uf the I · .I ,f \' 1:1-: HI:\G GEO LOG Y BH A:'\ C H.

' 1

' •\ · :\1.-\S:5:\C H {j;;LTT1'i , 100 :\ AS II L \ ST. Offic('.> of t h(' PH O.JECT 1 · . , .J-; U: ,~. :\1.-\SS. DE PT . of PU BLIC \\' O HK S, :.nd of the t ' :\ I TE D

Seis~ic Series # -----. : ·~~~~- ~OLOG IC:\ L SU _ _ _fol._f+---'--l,- --

GeoloGic Interpretation of Sei~~io Data

"Route 128 (~lorthern Circumferential Hi~hway)

Cut, and Hopkins Street Grade ~eparatio~

Stations 1-lS

in i'1akefield, Mass.

oy

James E. l.iaynard, Geologist, TJ. s. Geological Survey

and

Rev. Daniel · Linehan, s. J., Seismologist, ;,aston College

General Statoment

The co~~letior. of a sesment of the ~orthern Circumferential Highway,

Route 128, in ~·.akefield, Mass., requires an underpass bridge at ii o?kins Street,

stctior. 5+50. T!le r,lan of the proj ect shows approxirr.l!tely 1800 feet of

approach cuts :>etween stations 1 and 1a. In October 1945 a preliminary

seismic stuuy was rrede of a segment of this cut ':)et-ueen stations 6+50 and

l3+.JO. Four profiles ;·;ere made at th~ time and a report was submitted by ,,; ~ ' .

. <o· . ..-ton E. Ch ute and Rev. Daniel Linehan (file report of Je.nuo.ry 15). This

-•. ork s ho-••ed e. relA.tivel y shallow (in general, 6 to 12 feot in depth) somewhat

irregular bedroc:c surface bet ,;een statio!l.s 6+50 and l3+5J. Tha-t data

i nd icated the. t much of this segment of the cut will be in ':Jedrocl:. In order

to obtain more c or:1plete data for the preparation of detailed estimates on

the amount of bed,ock to be excavated for this segment of the cut, and also

to obtain sufficient data for the unexplored segment of the cut, 21 additional

sr:: i!;mic traverses were In'3.de in September 1949. The present report contains -o-:1ly the results obtai!"led from t his later work.

- 1 -

Thlj work was performed as a part of a cooperative program of the

:~assachusetts Depart:nent of Public \'. ork: c; and the United States Geoloe;ical

survey.

Surface Geology

At this location the proposed road will traverse the southeast side of a

Large bedrook-till hill that is flanked by a sand-eravel kame terrace. The --? oorly defined boundary t Qf the terrace and the till area crosses th.e proposed

center!J.ine in the vicinity of station 5+70. Numerous outcrops of bedrock

occur with in 200 feet of the centert_line; they are c o.m;>osed of somewhat

coarse gra i ned, slightly pink granite, medium-~rained dark-colored melanite,

or a comb i nation of both of these t ypes of roo k . 'l'hese rocks appear to

underlie the ent ire area of ~~e proposed cut. The till as observed in shall~'

t es t pits is loose to moderately loose in texture; in most places it is covered

by a layer of fine sand fran a few inches to 3 feet i n thickness. The s'..lr face

beology of the site and of the adjacent surroundinb area sugsest~ that the till

is a rather thin veneer on an irregular bedrock surface. A ceelogie map with·

t he locations of the center~line and the seis~ ic traverses js shown on sheet 1,

S~ismic Traverses

The layout of t he seismic trt1verses is sh own on the geologic mep., sheet 1.

Tne lengths, in feet, of the seismic traverses are as follows:

A '-I3 1 , 165 K 1-L 1 , 165 D-Q, 220 B •-c I. 165 N-o. 220 F-,., "'• 220 A.'-DI, 110 P-Q, 220 G-H, 220 E '-F I. 150 K'-~, 220 H-I, 220 F'-I', 165 A-.a, 220 I-J, 220 ~ '-H ', 165 B-e, 220 K-L, 165 H'-J', 180 C-D, 220 L-1~. 220

- 2 - ' -

The shot points for i..he seismic traverses were located as follows:

A'' station 5+30 B I, II 3+65

c '. n 2+00 v D '' 108 feet to the left (north) of station 5+08 E ', 50 " n n n n II • 5+38 • F I, 50 n n n n II n a 3+88

I'' 50 n • n n n • " 2+23 G I, 50 .n " " riGht (south) • •• 5+30 HI, 25 " II " n n II II 3+65 J I I 55 " " II n n n n 1+85 K ', station 5+95 11, 15 n II II n (s.s.) n " 8+14 N, 50 n II n " II n II 6+07 0, 55 n " n n II " n 8+20 P, 50 n .. II left (N .Yi.) n n 5+82 Q, 54 n " " n II " " 8+14 A., 32 " II n n " n " 17+20 B, 53 II n " II " n n 15+00 c, 57 '" II " " II " " 12+80 D, 55 II II " " n " " 10+40 F, station 17+00 ,. II 14+80 'JJ

H, 15 feet to the right (s.E.) II II 12+58 I, 18 II II II " " II II 10+20 J, 4 " " " II n n II 8+22 K, 42 II II II II " II n 11+88 L, 63 " II: II II II II n 10+26

Depths to Bedrock

The depths to bedrock at the shot points as calculated from the seismic

datu are as follows:

A' - 7 feet K I - 7 feet D- 10 feet 3' - 15 n (average) 11 - 11 • F - 10 " C' - 10 II N 9 II

G - 14 " Dl - 7 II 0 8 " H - 12 '" E' - 9 " p - 11 II I - 15 .II

F' 13 II '-4 12 " J - 10 II

I ' - 12 .. J.... - 10 " K - 8 "

G' - 9 • B 8 " (averae;e) L- 10 II

HI - 13 • c 8 " II

J I - 7 If

- 3 -

Geol~ic Interpretation of Seis~ic ~ta

The. geoloO" ic sections as interpreted from the seismic ciata,_and-the

geol~y of the site are sh~nn on sheets 1, 2, and 3. Although the bedrock

surfaces are ~hown by smooth curves in the sections, it is probable that the

actual bedrock surface is much more irregular than these curves SU€ges~ as

the detectors were too widely spaced to pick up very small ridr;es and points.

The f'Ositions of the bedrock surfaces in the vicinity of shot points B', F',

c, and b II§ly be closer to the surface and may differ appreciably in ·c onfigu­

r~tion from these forms sh~Nn on the sections. ~uch of the difficulty in

interpretation at these places may have been caused by the re&istration of

side refractions instead of vertical refractions when shooting in opposite

directions fro;~ c ornmon shot points. The most logical interpretation from the

avsilable seismic data and the Eeology is shown by the dotted lines. The

act •.Hll deoths to bedrock at shot points A', J', C, A, K, K', O) and N may vary

a foot or :nore from the reported value, for they were calculated from assumed,

though reliable, till velocities deter::nined from nearb~· traverses. The depth

to bedrock at shot point F was similarly calculated because the two detectors

ne~rest the shot point failed to register; this value also should be of

re~ sonable accuracy.

- 4 -

Sto 2

Y'

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ISO ·

1\.)Q •

0

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.. ----B~dtoek v, 11000 -18000 fr / ucs B~drock V, IICOO - o<:. ff / UCJ

-,-------------,------------,---100 165 200 300

lndtfll'llff Doundar~ bfhUt l'l _ / ' sand 8 Qrovel and t ill

PLAN OF TRAVERSES

SCALE ' IINC H =IOO FHT

Ltlll"t5 rel l" t IC' 'hot ~0 · n~ s c ~ ! 1'105 o ' I ro we r se 5 Numbers refer to O. P. W. stat ions on center lines .

\ Ind ef inite contoct

150

100 330

•!..:

NOTE: Dotted pott 'oM of nct ions ind•tolt inconc lusivt seismtt dolo .

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L.oo IOO-j-----0 100 110

INTERPRETATIVE GEOLOGIC SECTIONS ALON G SE ISMIC TR AVER SES

v.

WAKEFIELD ROUTE NO 128

GRADE SEPARATION-STATION 5+ 50 CUT STAT IONc::S_;I_;-Ic::B _______ -t

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880 900 1000 1100

IOO·---- Bt drock 'I 6500-C><:::. ff /_!~CI __

660 700 800 INTERPRETATIVE GEOLOGIC SECTIO NS ALONG SEISMIC TRAVER SES

PLAN OF TRAVERSES

SCALE I I N C~• -

ltll~ · ~ 't't' 1 ~ \ 1'1 0 1 pc .,. s c• t n'.ls o ' ••o

NOTE Oolttd porr ions of st ct •ons 1nchcott lfiCOfiC hJS I~t Sf iS miC dolo.

WAKEFIELD ROUTE NO 128

GRADE SEPARATION STATION 5+ 50 CUT STATI ONS 1- 18

SCALE l i'o C >1 • 40'-l£'

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660 700 800 880 0 100 200 220

PLAN 0 F TRAVE'RSES

SCALE I I~CH • FEET

INTERPRETATI VE GEOLOGIC SECTIO NS ALO NG SEISMIC TRAVE RSE S

V -

--

WAKEFIELD I ROUTE NO 128

GRADE SEPARATION STATION 5 t 50 CUT STATI ONS 1-18

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