Long-distance, high-speed shield machines and underground docking

K. Umeda The Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. T. Yamamoto Kajima, Mitsui, Aoka, Shimizu, Toda Joint Venture M. Wakita Taisei, Sato, Hazama, Daiho, Fujita Joint Venture

ABSTRACT: Due to the difficulty of securing land for construction use because of overcrowding in the cities and the demand for cost reduction in construction projects in recent years, the demand for long-distance driving is increasing in shield driven tunnel construction, the standard method of tunnel construction in urban areas. Further, due to the growing severity of congestion in underground urban space at shallow depth, new construction is compelled to go to greater depth. Because the situation was exactly the same regarding these electric power transmission tunnels that were planned in the central area of Osaka, making construction of an intermediate shaft impossible, a shield driven tunnel of 11.5km length, the longest in Japan, was completed by two shield machines of equal diameter. This paper presents a general outline of this project and describes the principal techniques that were employed. 1 INTRODUCTION The Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. is advancing a plan to construct extra-high voltage underground transmission lines as the next generation power supply route to the center area of the city of Osaka. Designed as a tunnel for its entire length of approximately 30km, this plan is being executed by bringing together the newest civil engineering techniques concerning the conditions of great depth, high water pressure, long distance, steep incline, sharp curvature, and underground docking. In Construction Sections 2 and 3 of the GakuenToyosaki Section of this lin e , l a n d f o r a n intermediate shaft could not be secured because the tunnel is located directly beneath a street carrying extremely heavy traffic and the surrounding area is an extremely overcrowded urban area. Because of this, it was decided to construct a shield driven tunnel of 11.5km length between shafts, the longest in Japan, by driving slurry type shield machines at high speed over the long distances of approximately 5.0km and 6.5km, respectively, from the shafts at each end, and perform underground docking of the two shield machines. The construction location is shown in Photograph 1, and a graphic outline description of the work in Figure 1. On this project there were numerous technical problems that needed to be surmounted concerning long-distance, high -speed driving through complexly interbedded soil beds at great depth and under high water pressure, also including sections having sharp curvature at several locations, and finally concerning underground docking. To this end, techniques of various kinds were developed and improved from

Kyoto Prefe cture

Hyogo Prefecture
Banpaku Shaft

Underground docking point Mikuni Shaft

Ka nzaki River

Yodo River

Osaka Ca stle

Nara Prefe cture

Yamato River Osaka Bay

Kansai International Airport

Photograph 1.

Project location.

Technical problem

Study item

Solution (technique employed)

Section 2 Section 3

Long-distance driving

Shield machine structure

Cutter bit durability improvement

Increase chip hardness to improve wear resistance Increase size of new extra -hard chip to increase allowable margin for wear

Bit changing system

Increase tail seal stages Tail seal durability improvement Polyurethane injected tail seal

Structure to enable increase of tail seal stages

Backfill grouting material

Quality assurance for long-distance movement

Special retarding and stabilizing agent and pumping movement

Rail car movement

High-speed driving

Shield machine structure

Excavation capability improvement

Shield machine capability improvement (shield thrust, cutter torque, cutter face revolution speed increase , etc.)

Slurry pumping and treatment capacity improvement

High-speed, fully automatic segment erection system Segment structure Segment erection time shortening Boltless segments (Wedge Block Segments)

Automatic segment supply device Semi-automatic segment erection system Segment enlargement by reducing ring division (RC segments of 5 equal divisions)

Segment transport equipment

Segment transport cycle time shortening

Automatic segment transport system

High-speed, unmanned, battery powered vehicle system

Mechanical underground docking by equal diameter long-distance shie ld machines

Shield machine structure

Long-distance equal diameter underground docking structure

Skin plate overlap structure

Legend

Developed technique

Improved or applied technique

Figure 2.

Technical problems and their sol utions.

Mikuni Shaft (Osaka, Yodogawa Ward)

s GL

Banpaku Shaft (Suita City, EXPO Park)

Underground docking point

(Section 2) 5.0km

(Section 3) 6.5km 11.5km

conditioning, there was no example that combined the conditions of both long-distance driving and docking by shield machines of the same diameter. To achieve solutions to the problems involved under each of these key words, studies were performed concerning definite measures in each of the two construction sections as shown in Figure 2. 3.1 Techniques for long-distance driving To extend the achievable driving distance, which had been approximately 2km to 3km in Japan at that time, to the maximum long distance of 6.5km, technical development and improvement were performed regarding the following principal items, and performance was confirmed by performing element tests in advance and demonstration tests using actual equipment in other construction work. 3.1.1 Improvement of cutter bit durability The greatest problem in extending the achievable driving distance in shield driving construction is the durability of the cutter bits that directly cut the ground. On this project the development of cutter bits for long -distance driving was performed according to the image shown in Figure 3. Step 1: By improving the mixture and particle diameter of the material of the chips and also improving the method of sintering, resistance to wear was improved to 1.5 times that of old, while securing shock resistance. Step 2: By improving temperature control when uniting the chip to the base metal, the extra-hard chips could be increased in size, thus securing a margin for wear that was 1.5 times that of old. Step 3: By developing a bit changing mechanism in which spare bits that were installed within the cutter face are pushed out by hydraulic jack, changing of bits from within the shield machine became possible without performing ground improvement. (Fig. 4)

Launching shaft

Figure 1.

Graphic description of the work.

the viewpoints of economy, scheduling and quality assurance. 2 PROJECT OUTLINE This paper describes the construction of a shield driven tunnel in Construction Sections 2 and 3 of the Gakuen-Toyosaki Section of an extra-high voltage underground power transmission line which is being constructed by The Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. The tunnel, which was driven by two slurry type shield machines of 5750mm outside diameter, has a reinforced concrete segmental lining of 5600mm outside diameter and 5000mm inside diameter for most of its length. A secondary lining was omitted. Shield driving in Construction Section 2 began at Mikuni Shaft, located at Mikuni Substation in Osaka, and continued for a distance of 5037m while that in Construction Section 3 began at Banpaku Shaft, located at EXPO Memorial Park in the city of Suita, and continued for a distance of 6457m. The Tunnel has a maximum depth of cover of 52m (0.5MPa maximum water pressure), a maximum gradient of 4.9%, and a minimum radius of curvature of 60m. Construction was commenced in November 1996 and is scheduled for completion in March 2002. 3 TECHNIQUES EMPLOYED Three key words represent the special characteristics and technical problems of this project. (1) Long-distance driving: The longest distance to be driven by one shield machine on this project is 6.5km, approximately two times the longest distance that had been achieved in Japan up to the time of planning this project in 1992. (2) High-speed driving: From the viewpoints of economy and shortening of the construction period accompanying long-distance driving, 280 m/month was set as the target for average monthly driving distance, approximately two times that which had been previously achieved in Japan. (3) Mechanical underground docking: Although there were several examples of underground docking in Japan that had been performed without the use of ground improvement or other form of soil

Launching shaft

(mm 15

Increase size of chip

10
Bit wear
Bit changing system Old

Increase wear resistance of chip

6.5

Development

2.0

3.0

Shield driving distance

4.5 5.0

6.0

7.0 (km)

Develo pment target

Figure 3. Development of cutter bits for long distance driving.

120 120

Cutter face

(mm)

147s

Lock jack Rescue b it

Rescue jack

viscosity, retarded hardening and no material segregation was successfully developed by employing a new special retarding and stabilizing agent. In the actual co nstruction, long-distance pumping of 5km was performed by one pump located on the surface and relay pumps at two locations within the tunnel. However, it is thought that pumping for a distance of approximately 10km also will be possible in the future by providing additional relay pumping equipment. 3.2 Techniques for high-speed driving In order to realize the 280m/month target for average monthly driving distance, it was necessary to reduce the usual cycle time per ring by 40min to 50min/ring. To this end, study was performed regarding excavation (20min target), segment erection (25min target) and segment transport (45min target). 3.2.1 Improvement in shield machine capability In order to achieve the 20min target for excavation time, shield machine capability was improved by increasing shield jack thrust, cutter face torque, the revolution speed of the cutter face, and the sizes of the hydraulic pumps, thus making possible an average excavation speed of 60mm/min. Further, the equipment for slurry pumping and treatment also was provided with capacities corresponding to this excavation speed and rate of slurry flow. (Photo 3) 3.2.2 Segments As the means of shortening segment erection time, boltless segments were employed together with a high-speed, fully automatic erection system. The Wedge Block Segments (WB Segments) that were employed on this project are a type of segmental lining that was designed for high-speed driving by using cotter connections in the joints between

Figure 4. Bit changing mechanism (Rescue bit).

3.1.2 Improvement of tail seal durability In shield driving in the past under the conditions of long distance, high water pressure and sharp curvature, trouble such as the entry of water through the shield machine tail has occurred frequently due to damage to the tail seal. On this project, a new type of tail seal was developed in which the wire brushes are injected with polyurethane foam instead of grease as before, and these brushes were installed in three or four stages. (Photo 2) 3.1.3 Long-distance movement of backfill grouting material Because quality assurance is difficult due to pipe blockage and other causes when conventional backfill grouting material is moved over a long distance by pumping, the development of a new backf i l l g r o u t i n g m a t e r i a l f o r l o n g-distance movement by pumping was desired. Through repeated tests of various kinds on this project, a grouting material that combines the qualities of low

Photograph 2. Tail seal brush injected with polyurethane instead of grease.

14

7s

Photograph 3.

Shield machine (Construction Section 2).

(1) At erection
Driving direction
[Following ring] Anchor plate Anchor Ring joint face [Previous ring] Anchor plate Anchor

Driving direction

Pin Ring Jack force Ring case

Joint between segments Joint between rings

Ring joint face

Legend

(2) Following erection

C-shape cotter socket Wedge lock pin socket

H-shape cotter Seal groove

Wedge lock pin

Figure 6. Wedge Block Segments. lengthening of the construction period, a very safe automatic segment transport system was developed. (Fig. 7) Further, battery powered transport vehicles were designed for unmanned operation at speeds on the order of 12km/h to 15km/h with a full system of safety measures. 3.3 Techniques for underground docking From the viewpoint of economy, the shield machines in both construction sections were decided to have the same diameter, and methods of mechanical docking were studied which do not require ground freezing or other method of soil conditioning, but these had never been used together with long-distance driving. Therefore, as a solution to obtain endurance against long-distance driving and facilitate underground docking, the two shield machines were designed with a structure in which the forward part of the forward shield section has a double skin plate and docking is achieved simply by sliding out the inner plate of one machine (penetrating shield) and the outer plate of the other machine (receiving shield) so as to make an overlapping structure formed by one skin plate from each machine. (Figs 8, 9)

Figure 5. Wedge lock pin connection. segments in a ring and one-pass type wedge lock pin connections in the joints between lining rings. Having a smooth inner surface and a sealing system to resist high water pressure, this type of segmental lining is suited to the omission of a secondary lining and was developed for this project. (Figs 5, 6) The high -speed, fully automatic erection system consists of a fully automatic segment supply device and a fully automatic erector. The segments that were lined up on the table of the supply device during excavation are, with the touch of a single switch following completion of excavation, erected safely, with good precision and at a high speed by completely unmanned operation. (Photos 4, 5) 3.2.3 Automatic segment transport system Regarding the transport of segments and other materials necessary for shield driving also, a system was required that could secure the target cycle time in spite of the extension of driving distance. Also, to achieve labor saving in operations in order to control the occurrence of accidents accompanying
Fully automatic erector

Fully automatic segment supply device

Photograph 4. system.

High-speed, fully automatic segment erection

Photograph 5.

Segment erection by fully automatic erector.

4 CONSTRUCTION RESULTS In Construction Section 2, where the driving distance was approximately 5.0km, shield driving was begun in July 1998 and underground docking was completed in August 2000. During driving, the maximum daily advance was 24.0m, the maximum monthly advance was 376m, and the average

monthly advance was 309m. In Construction Section 3, where the driving distance was approximately 6.5km, shield driving was begun in March 1998, ahead of Construction Section 2, and a maximum daily advance of 22.8m, a maximum monthly advance of 431m and an average monthly advance of 292m were achieved in driving up to the point of underground docking. Thus, rates of

l Plant test run

4. High-speed automated vehicle

6. Segment catcher

5. Turnouts

Drawing tranship 1. Segment guide unit Loading tranship Transfer frame 3. Segment lifter 2. Chain conveyor/Transfer frame

Figure 7. Automatic segment transport system.

(1) Before docking

Overcutter

(3) Slide out cutter head and inner plate of penetrating shield and pull in cutter head of receiving shield

Penetrating shield

Receiving shield Slide out Pull in

Detail of overlap
Outer plate of receiving shield

(2) Slide out outer plate of receiving shield

Outer plate Slide out

(4) Docking completion

Skin plate overlap Driving

Overlap injection pipe

Inner plate o f penetrating shield

Overlap allowable clearance: 30mm

Figure 8.

Underground docking procedure.

Figure 9.

Underground docking concept.

Photograph 6. View of underground docking.

progress that exceeded the initial target were achieved in both construction sections. In the underground docking after this long-distance driving, attitude control (driving control and surveying control) of extremely high precision, allowable clearance at docking within 30mm, was required. Through strict planning and construction, a result of extremely high precision was achieved in final docking, horizontal error of 1mm and vertical error of 5mm. In this way, the first example in Japan of mechanical underground docking by shield machines of the same diameter for long-distance driving was successfully completed. (Photo 6) 5 CONCLUSION In the construction of underground facilities for electric power, communications, gas, water, sewage and other lifeline functions in the future, restrictive

conditions accompanying construction will become more and more severe due to increasing overcrowding in the cities , and social demand for environmental preservation, cost reduction and shortening of construction time will have to be responded to. Because the techniques for long-distance, highspeed driving and underground docking that were employed on this project reduce the need for largescale shafts to a minimum and enable the high-speed construction of long tunnels, we believe that they can respond to this social demand and further advance the effective utilization of underground space in the future. This project is a recipient of the Technology Award of the Japan Society of Civil Engineers for 2000 for having performed a pioneering role in deep underground space utilization and tunnel construction by long-distance shield driving in Japan.