Development of rapid tunnelling method using TBM pilot tunnels

Chan-woo Lee LTM Corporation, Seoul, Korea

ABSTRACT: The innovative tunnelling method called LTM, or Lees Tunnelling Method, is a kind of TBM/NATM combined method, in which drilling and blasting for enlargement of pilot tunnel as well as construction of concrete lining can be carried out simultaneously during the excavation of the pilot tunnel by TBM. Tunnel construction can be completed in the shortest period, whereas in conventional methods, the blasting for enlargement is possible only after the pilot tunnel is passed through. Therefore, the period can be reduced by 30% or more, and costs can be reduced by 10% or more due to the reduction of loosened areas around the tunnel face. 2 MAIN EQUIPMENT FOR LTM 1 DIFFERENCE OF BLASTING MECHANISM In existing methods, the loosened area around a face increases during blasting since charge holes are drilled longitudinally, whereas in LTM the major direction of crack propagation due to blasting is changed to the front of the face. Therefore, the loosened area around a face can be reduced considerably. Rock supporting materials such as shotcrete and rock bolts are minimized, and vibration and noise at ground surface can be reduced significantly. In LTM, besides the tunnelling method, the drilling equipment which can drill the blasting holes in an oblique direction, the carrier which disposes of muck rapidly generated from the blasting for enlargement, the mobile ladder, and so on are included. The carriers are categorized in the bottom carrier, the deck plate carrier, and the ladder carrier, besides the main carrier which can load a large amount of mucks. Accidents due to derailment can be prevented by the subsidiary wheels close to the main ones. Moreover, excavation by the TBM, blasting for enlargement and construction of lining are possible simultaneously, by moving equipment required for the TBM such as electricity supply cables onto the rail system and protecting them with the carrier. 3 KEY FEATURES OF THE MAIN CARRIER The main carrier is categorized in Type A, B, and C. The main carrier of Type A is used for the disposal of the muck during blasting for the upper half section. Type B is also used as same as that. The difference between Type A and B is that Type A takes a direct impact from the blasting at near to the tunnel face but, Type B does not. Type C is used for the disposal of the muck only for the lower half section. Accidents due to derailment can be prevented by subsidiary wheels close to the main ones. Hydraulic system and muck stopper are specially designed for the stability of the carrier, during and after the blasting.

Fig. 1 Comparison of the major direction of crack propagation between NATM and LTM

(a) front view

(b) side view

Fig. 2 Blasting sequence of LTM

Fig. 3 Main equipment for LTM

(a) Type A ; during blasting for the upper half section

(c) TypeFig. after blas C ; 4 Types

(b) Type B ; during blasting for the upper half section

in this case loader in a neighboring tunnel can be used additionally through the transverse shaft. 4 PROGRESS OF LTM Reviewing the progress of LTM, first the jumbo drill mounted on the backup trailer of the TBM drills the oblique blasting holes in advance at the upper half section of the tunnel simultaneously with the TBM excavation, at the same time the muck generated from that is loaded on the trolley through the conveyor belt. 1 2 When the oblique blasting holes have already been drilled in the pilot tunnel, the upper and lower half section of the tunnel are connected by the mobile ladder, then the jumbo drill moves to the upper half section of the tunnel using the ladder. The jumbo drill having moved to the upper half section drills only the outmost tunnelling section, on the deck plate carrier. As the drilling work either on the left or right side of tunnel is finished, the jumbo drill continues the drilling work on the other side. After finishing the drilling work on the upper half section, the jumbo drill moves down to the lower half section using the ladder. Then, the ladder moves to the rear of the tunnel face, and downs the front ladder to the ground, to get the jumbo drill to start the drilling work at the lower half section. 3 After finishing the drilling work, charging the blasting powder and sand stemming can be carried out at the respective blasting holes using the wo rking car. Finally, the carries are disposed suitably, and the blasting work can be prepared by decoupling the ventilation duct for the TBM. At the same time, all workers and equipment including the TBM operators, are evacuated, and the blasting is carried out simultaneously both at the u pper and the lower half section. Ventilation is carried out after the blasting. Then, the side loader can enter the upper half section to remove the muck. The muck removal work can be done rapidly by moving the empty carries near to the tunnel face using a winch after removing the ladder. As soon as disposal of the muck is finished at one side of tunnel face, the decoupled ventilation duct for TBM is coupled again, and TBM excavation can be continued. Next, the loader moves to the other side and finishes the removal of the muck in the upper half section. 4 Then, the arrangement of the surface of the lower half section to install the ladder becomes necessary, On the other hand, the carrier filled with muck is pulled out of tunnel, at the same time, empty main carriers are brought to the face to load the muck in the lower half section. At this moment, the jumbo drill moves up to the upper half section and carries out the drilling of blasting holes at the outmost tunnelling section, and then the loader moves to dispose of the muck at the lower half section. 5 As the muck removal in one side of the lower half section is finis hed, the loader moves to the other side and removes the rest of the muck. At this moment, the jumbo drill having finished the drilling work on the upper half section moves down to the lower half section and carries out the drilling work at the one side. After finishing the removal of muck at the other side, jumbo drill moves to that side and finishes the drilling work at the lower half section. 6 On the other hand, as the muck removal work is finished at the lower half section, the carriers filled with muck are pulled out of the tunnel, and after the mixer truck for shotcreting enters the tunnel, being mounted on the bottom carrier connected to the deck plate carrier and the ladder carrier, the work of shotcreting and rock bolting is carried out. At this time, the trolley for the TBM to be taken out of the tunnel should pass through the section of blasting for enlargement, but because the work of shotcreting at the upper half section can be done at the same time, the loss of cycle time can be minimized. On the other hand, the construction of lining is carried out simultaneously, at the rear part several hundreds of meters distant from the face for enlargement. The ventilation duct for the TBM or NATM can be hung by bolts, using the space between the segments, and the rail for the lining form can be installed by crane on the bottom carrier. In addition to this, an emergency resulting from a malfunction of major equipment can be overcome by securing the space for passing through them, using the traveler of the lining form in which the height can be controlled by the hydraulic system, if necessary. 7 After finishing the TBM excavation and the blasting for enlargement, all facilities related to the TBM excavation are dismantled sequentially, and transverse blasting on the lower half section of the center of tunnel can be performed. At this time, the lining can be protected from the blasting by installing the steel shell composed of several segments. 8

The California switching system can be installed to 3 lanes by utilising the enlarged final section of tunnel. Therefore, it can help the trolley for the TBM and the carriers to move freely. 9 The carriers moving out of the tunnel can be used effectively in small sites by applying the dumping system. 10

Fig. 5 Working sequence of LTM (Nr.1~10)

Fig. 6 Deployment of main equipments before blasting 5 ECONOMY OF LTM Comparing economy between LTM and existing methods, in the case of a general twin tunnel with 2 lanes, it is estimated that the reduction of the construction period becomes evident from the length of 1 km, and is reduced by 5 months at a length of 2.5 km, and as much as 15 months or more at a length of 5 km. Consequently, the period can be reduced by 30% or more. It is also analysed that the construction cost is the same as that of existing methods at a length of 1km, but that savings appear at a length of 1.5 km. Consequently, costs can be reduced by 10% or more. Therefore, the LTM can be applied effectively in the long tunnel with length of 1 km or more.

Description upper Drilling lower Charging/Blasting upper lower Ventilation upper lower upper Disposal of muck lower upper Steel rib lower upper R/bolt lower upper Shot'c lower upper Total lower Drilling length(m) Advanced length/month(m) 1. Excavation area : 94 94 83 30 77 39 90

Type 1,2 LM T NT AM 210 56 90 39 45 30 210 70

Type 3,4 Remarks LTM NT AM 122 88 70 40 45 45 150 90 75 75

176

161 80

60

66

70 40

90

94

70 30

254 313 4 300

705

310 286

602 408 1.7 128

3 150

4 242

2. Working time : 24 hr/day, 25 day / month (actual working time) 3. In LTM, drilling time of the upper half section is not included for the cycle time 4. In LTM, rock supporting is carried out after the blasting in twice (T-1,2)

5. 2 unit of jumbo drill and side loader are used for LTM 6. Transverse shaft : 1 unit / 1km

(a) 2 lanes with twin tunnel

Description upper Drilling lower Charging/Blasting upper lower Ventilation upper lower upper Disposal of muck lower upper Steel rib lower upper R/bolt lower upper Shot'c lower upper Total lower Drilling length(m) Advanced length/month(m) 1. Excavation area : 125 74 30 65

Type 1,2 LTM NT AM 80 101 20 55 185 80 60 30 30 325 312 30 61 84 20 55

Type 3,4 Remarks LTM NT AM 65 150 60 50 30 30 293 281 60 40

132

121 90

110

60

50 30

107

80 70

107

90 80

266 318 4 292

705 657 3 80

338 290 4 229

648 661 2.0 55

2. Working time : 24 hr/day, 25 day / month (actual working time) 3. In LTM, drilling time of the upper half section is not included for the cycle time 4. In LTM, rock supporting is carried out after the blasting in twice (T-1,2)

5. 2 unit of jumbo drill and side loader are used for LTM 6. Transverse shaft : 1 unit / 1km

(b) 3 lanes with twin tunnel Table.1 Comparison of the cycle time between LTM and NATM

Fig. 7 Comparison of cost and period between LTM and existing methods

6 REFERENCES Chan-woo Lee, March, 2001, A Proposal for the Application of LTM, Internal Report, LTM Corporation, Seoul, Korea Chan-woo Lee, September, 2000, A Study on the Constructibility and Economy of the LTM using TBM Pilot Tunnels, Proceedings of Symposium on the Mechanized Tunnelling Techniques, Korean Tunnelling Association, Seoul, Korea Chan-woo Lee et al., September, 1996, Verification of the Bi-directional Drilling and Blasting Method using TBM Pilot Tunnels, International Society of Rock Mechanics, Symposium on Prediction and Performance in Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, Turin, Italy Chan-woo Lee et al., October, 1996, A Numerical Comparison on the Vibration of Newly Developed Drill and Blast Method with Bidirections using TBM Pilot Tunnels, Third Asian Pacific Conference on Computational Mechanics, Seoul, Korea