TUNNELS

TERMINOLOGY for UNDERGROUND

STRUCTURES
Adit
Tunnel
Subway
Shaft
Chamber
Portal
Pilot adit
Centre
Face
Wall ~ site
Floor
Roof

Overbreak
Excavated profile
Natural archling
Load
Support
Failure
Gentle failure
Rock burst
Squeezing ground
Swelling ground
Clay-filled joint
Long term stability
Ground treatment
Support before excavation

Jet grouted roof cover

Shotcrete initial lining
Jet grouted floor cover
Top heading
Invert
Bench
Final concrete lining
SHIELD tunnelling method
CUT & COVER tunnelling method
TBM (Full face ~ Total Boring Machine)

TERMINOLOGY for EXCAVATIONS of

ROCKS & SOILS
DRILLING
Hardness
Toughness
Abrasiveness
Structure
Drilkling fluids

AUGERING
MACHINE BORING
Total Boring Machine (TBM)
Full face excavation

BLASTING

SCRAPING
RIPPING
DIGGING
GROUND WATER
Control of groundwater
Groundwater flow
Rate of flow
Volume of flow
Boundaries

TUNNEL DESCRIPTION
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Made into natural material (rocks)

Empty inside
Carry the loads itself
Both ends are open to atmosphere
Generally horizontal
Thick walled structure looks like cylinder

1- Kilit (anahtar) ta ........................Key stone

2- Kemer...........................................Arch
3- Ayak (duvar)................................Wall
4- Taban...........................................Floor
5- zengi..........................................Bench
6- zengi izgisi (dzeyi)...............Bench line or plane
7- Kalot............................................Top heading
8- Stros............................................Invert
9- Ano..............................................Ano (unit)

Tunnel Section for Swelling Ground

1- Digging section
2- Support
3- Swelling section
4- Pressurized area
5- Flow direction of water

SURFACE EXCAVATIONS
Deformation & failure

UNDERGROUND EXCAVATIONS
In Rock
In Sediment
Stability & Arching
Water
Dry tunnel...............above water table
Wet tunnel..............below water table

Gases
Carbon dioxide (CO2)
Carbon monoxide (CO)
Methane (CH4)
Hydrogen sulphide (H2S)
Other gases

Gas bursts......................gaz patlamas

Rock falls........................kaya d mesi
Rock bursts....................kaya f rlamas
Squeezing ground.......... en kabaran zemin
Temperature
Subsidence

EXPLORATION & INVESTIGATIONS

RELATED of SLOPE STABILITY
Geomorphologic maping and preparation of
longitudinal & cross sections
Geological maping & surveyings (aerial
photographs)
Geophysical surveyings
Underground explorations, boreholes
Ground water surveyings
Laboratory tests
Model studies

SURFACE EXCAVATIONS
Permanent
Short term excavations

SUBSURFACE EXCAVATIONS
1.

GEOLOGY
1.
2.
3.
4.

Soil profile or hard rock geology

Structure
Ground water (hydrogeology)
Stability

2.

INVESTIGATIONS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Mapping (Topographic, geologic, etc...)

Geophysical surveying (especially seismic
velocity of rocks)
Trial pits & boreholes
General and local stability analysis
Decide to excavation method

UNDERGROUND EXCAVATIONS
Adit, shaft, incline, large chamber
Tunnel
Subway ~ metro
Underpass
Shelter
Power house
Ware house, store, mining ...etc

GASES
(can be lethal or burst)
Carbon monoxide (CO) 0.97 of air
Carbon dioxide (CO2)
1.53 of air
Methane (CH4)
0.55 of air
(Highly explosive with air) marsh gas

Hydrogene sulphide (H2S) 1.19 of air

(Highly toxic and explosive)
Sulphur dioxide (SO2)

ROCK FALL
SQUEEZING GROUND (sand, silt, shale, clay)
ROCK BURST
BULKING (Increase in volume, 10-40%)

FACTORS EFFECTING
EXCAVATION of ROCKS
Mineralogical composition of rocks
Texture & fabric
Petrographic features
Structure
Rock mass
Strike & dip of beds in relation to face of
excavation
Intensity of tectonic disturbances
Degreee of weathering

RESISTANCE of ROCKS to
EXCAVATION
Loose soils
Soil easy to spade (bel ile kazmak)
Soil easy to dig
Crumbling weak rocks (ufalamak)
Rocks easy to blast
Rocks difficult to blast
Rocks very difficult to blast

TUNNELLING METHODS

SHIELD TUNNELLING METHOD

This method involves the use of shield machine to drive
the tunnels below the ground.
After completion of a work shaft, the shield machine is
lowered into the shaft and assembled there before
excavation and construction of the tunnels using precast
concrete lining segments of about 1.2 meter width.
This construction method causes minimal disruption to
traffic and the environment because all the work takes
place below ground and the ground level environment is
unaffected.

CUT and COVER TUNNELLING

METHOD
This construction method, whereby the site is fully
excavated, the structure built and then covered over,
uses diaphragm walls as temporary retaining walls within
the site area.
Step one :Construction of diaphragm walls, pin piles, and
decking.
Step two :Excavation within the diaphragm walls,
installing struts as work progresses.
Step three :Construction of permanent floor slabs and
walls.
Step four : Fitting out the internal structures, backfilling,
and reinstating the surface structures.

TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Mechanical-support TBM
Compressed-air TBM
Slurry shield TBM
Earth pressure balance machine
Mixed-face shield TBM

1- Mechanical Support TBM

A mechanical-support TBM has a full-face
cutterhead which provides face support by
constantly pushing the excavated material
ahead of the cutterhead against the
surrounding ground.

2- Compressed-Air TBM
A compressed-air TBM can have either a
full-face cutterhead or excavating arms.
Confinement is achieved by pressurizing
the air in the cutter chamber.

3- Slurry Shield TBM

A slurry shield TBM has a full-face
cutterhead. Confinement is achieved by
pressurizing boring fluid inside the
cutterhead chamber.

4- Earth Pressure Balance Machine

An earth pressure balance machine has a
full-face cutterhead. Confinement is
achieved by pressurizing the excavated
material in the cutterhead chamber.

5- Mix-Face Shield TBM

Mix-face shield TBMs have full-face
cutterheads and can work inclosed or
open mode and with different confinement
techniques.

EFFECT of GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURES

to TUNNEL EXCAVATION
Effect of soil layers: horizontal, vertical and
inclined layers have different kinds of loading
conditions for tunnels.

Effect of faults: the relation between the fault

slope direction and the tunnel direction, width
of the fault zone, type and thickness of the fill
material and the hydrostatic pressures in both
sides of the fault are some problems in the
tunnelling.

Relation between the fault zone and the tunnel

Tunnel excavations in the slopes: the

discontinuities (layers, fissures) inclined inside
or outside of the slope are very important
regarding the stress and strength of the tunnel.

Effect of the folds: While tunnel is excavated in

an area that contains folded rocks, different
stresses and conditions may occur depending on
the fold type.

Fold axis and the tunnel direction is parallel

Fold axis and the tunnel direction is vertical

CLASSIFICATION of
ROCKS for TUNNELING
PURPOSES

Classification of rocks for engineering purposes

is needed in analyzing the project costs and to
obtain an economic and reliable solution.
The classification of the rocks, that the tunnel
will be constructed in, is first done by Terzaghi.
But, it is too general and gives qualitative
results.

TUNNEL ROCK CLASSIFICATION by TERZAGHI

Laufer classified tunnel rocks to 7 groups according to stand-up time

Rock classification and determination of unsupported span

URFA IRRIGATION
TUNNEL

ONE of the LONGEST IRRIGATION TUNNELS in

the WORLD

Consist of two concrete lined tunnels

each of which is 7.62 m in diameter and
26.4 km in length discharging water
from the reservoir of Atatrk Dam.