Measuring the Permeability of Open‐Framework Gravel

Open‐framework gravel has permeability, k , above the measurement range of most laboratory constant‐head permeameters because the head difference across the length of conventional permeameters is too small to be measured. Here we addressed the challenge of measuring the high k by using a 3 m long permeameter. The head difference over this length was of the order of 10 −2 to 10 −3 m, which we could measure to the nearest 10 −5 m. We collected data over the range of linear, laminar flow to nonlinear, laminar flow to verify that k was measured using data collected within the Darcian regime. We measured k between 4000 and 100,000 Darcies among experiments using different sediments.