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Brick lined, hand dug tunnel in to London Clay under the River Thames Victorian London Underground: 1st deep-level tube line; 1890 between Monument and Stockwell. Diameter: 3.10 m
Shallow tunnel in soils: Cut and Cover Technique 1. Excavate trench by removing overburden 2. Install infrastructure (railway system) 3. Install roofing structure
Cut and cover tunnel cut in Gault Clay at Castle Hill, near Folkestone Tunnel portal on the UK side of Channel Tunnel
Conwy Bypass: UKs first immersed tunnel, 1080 m Crosses the River Conwy, N. Wales
1.
Geology determines: tunnel route, design and construction Ground investigation allows identification of most suitable unit to tunnel through: Rock weathering causes rock strength to reduce
Mudrocks:
2.
(Bell, 2007)
Main tunnelling methods in soils & Shield weak rocks: <20 Mpa
method uses: Closed-face tunnel boring machine Cutting face is pump pressurised with bentonite slurry or grout Permanent pre-cast concrete lining
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Drill and blast in any hard rock and for large caverns Drill cavity (50 mm) Insert explosive & blast Muck out and repeat
Blasting damages rock mass; fracturing Weaken rock mass Not suitable for shales of schists; cleavages
Three ways:
Full-face driving Top heading Top heading & bench
Expresslink.hk
Blast holes
Roadheader mobile milling head for use in rocks (60 - ~150 Mpa UCS) Rotating cutting head Mounted drag picks Some double headed Remote controlled Stratified formations:
High
Payline
Rotating heads cutting up to 30 m/day in soft rock Excavation by cutter head equipped with cutters Smooth cylindrical tunnel Diameter: 1 m to 19.25 m Constant speed rotation Hydraulic pushing system:
Gripper
However:
1. Hard rock: cutter wear & larger thrusts 2. Low fracture density: slow progress 3. Geological structure can deviate the TBM 4. Constant surveying necessary 5. ~400 m turning circle 6. Only economical in tunnels longer than 1 km 7. High upfront costs 8. Transport logistics
Tunnelling Considerations
wedges of fault gouge Prone to swelling which can damage support Lots of parasitic faults create zone of shattered rock
by identifying
hydrogeological boundaries
Overbreak
Rock falls from above crown Thinly bedded and jointed
Tunnelling Considerations:
Rockfall hazard within unlined section of tunnel Due to failure to correctly characterise the rock mass
Tunnelling Considerations
Rock burst (occurs > 600 m with UCS > 140 MPa)
Rock breaks from side of tunnel with explosive force Popping: less violent form at lower depths; rocks foliate
slow subsidence of tunnel sides in soft clays Swelling: expansion due to water infiltration in clays rich in montmorilonite (swelling clay)
The partial collapse of a tunnel being constructed over the Chiltern line at Gerrards Cross closed the line to all services. The line is being roofed over to provide space for a Tesco supermarket above the tracks. [2005-07-01]
Suitability of ground for tunnelling by determining stand up time of a tunnel Identify necessary stability measures
Unsupported tunnel stand up time
Bieniawski 1989:
Rock Mass Rating System Divides rock masses in to 5 groups depending on suitability for tunnelling
Stand up considerable time
Collapse immediately
20
>2 m 20 0.6 -2 m
17
13
200-600mm 60-200 mm
8
<60mm 8
15
10
Rough tight
30 Dry 15
Open <1mm
25 Damp 10
Weathered
20 Wet 7
Gouge <5mm
10 Dripping 4 Unfavourable
Gouge >5mm
0 Flowing 0 Very Unfavourable -15 -25
-7
1. Joint roughness
2. Frictional strength of joint infilling material 3. Stress reduction due to tunnelling; loosening of tunnel wall rocks
Waltham, 2009
Norweigan Q System successfully multiplies rating values to determine the rock mass quality (Q) as: Q= (RQD/Jn) x (Jr/Ja) x (Jw/SRF)
RQD rock quality designation (100-10) Jn Joint set number (1-20) Jr Joint roughness factor (4-1) Ja Joint alteration and clay infill (1-20) Jw Joint water inflow or pressure (1-0.1) SRF Stress reduction factor due to tunnelling (1-20) Q values range between <0.001 to > 1000
Friction angle ()
Cohesion (kPa) SBP (Mpa) Safe cut slope () Tunnel support Stand up time for span
>45
>400 10 >70 none 20 years for 15m
35-45
300-400 4-6 65 Spot bolts 1 years for 10m
25-35
200-300 1-2 55 Pattern bolts 1 week for 5m
15-25
100-200 0.5 45 Bolts & shotcrete 12 hours for 2m
<15
<100 <0.2 <40 Steel ribs 30 mins for 1m
Rock Bolts
Clamp discontinuities closed Used along side drill and blast
Shotcrete
Sprayed on excavated surface 15 cm can eradicate rockfalls
(Waltham, 2009)
Longest undersea tunnel in the World Links Folkestone, UK to Calais, France 4 years to construct 50 km rail tunnel two bores of 7.6 m and smaller service tunnel 4.8 m under the English Channel Average 45 m depth below seabed
Cost: 4.65 Billion GBP 80% overspend 11 lives lost 2012: 18M passengers
Longest tunnel in HK 10.7 m wide, 8 m high, 4 km long through strong granite Drill and blast two 10hr shifts/day; advanced at 60m/week Drilling 3 hrs; round of 90 holes, 50mm diameter, 4.5 m deep each taking 3 mins Charging and firing 2.5 hrs Mucking out 4 hrs front loader fills 20t dumptruck in 2 mins, 1000t per round, rock bulks by 50%
Summary
Types of tunnel: soft ground; cut and cover; submerged tubes; bored Identifying tunnelling conditions Tunnel support Tunnelling problems
Main
Lotschberg tunnel 1908 Swiss tunnel heading drove through rockhead into saturated gravels 185 m below valley floor after a false assumption of the sediment depth. There was no geomorphological input so there was no allowance for any reverse gradient on the rock floor of the glaciated valley that was buried beneath alluvial infill. The technology at the time excluded the use of deep boreholes but probes could have been drilled ahead of the tunnel drive. The water in rush killed 25 miners and the tunnel had to be re-routed (see Geology Today, Vol. 23, No. 3, May/June 2007)