Problems Associated with Trenchless Techniques for Sewer Construction in Hong Kong

Wilson Mok

Problems Associated with Trenchless Techniques for Sewer Construction in Hong Kong
Wilson W.S. Mok
Atkins China Limited
BASc BA CEng CPEng RPE (Civil & Geotechnical) MICE MIMM MIEAust MHKIE MASCE FGS

In the last ten years, the adoption of trenchless techniques for sewer construction in Hong Kong has become popular, with the length of the pipelines being increased from only a few hundred metres to more than five to six kilometers in a contract. This paper highlights the problems observed from such techniques on various contracts and the solutions or precautionary measures provided. The design engineers may make reference thereto so that in future similar contracts can be implemented in a more effective and smooth manner. Keywords : Pipejacking, Tunnel, Settlement, Obstructions, Safety

Introduction In order to execute the sewer construction using the trenchless techniques, it is essential to carry out site investigation works at suitable locations along the alignment of the pipelines in the design stage, and the results are made available for inspection by each tenderer who will, based on the design requirements such as the size, depth and length of each section of the pipelines, the ground conditions, and site constraints, etc, prepare a technical report detailing how the works can be carried out if his tender is successful later on. In general, three types of techniques can be classified, namely, open mode, close mode and mixed mode. The open mode, by means of compressed air hand tunnelling or free air hand tunnelling, is applicable when the pipelines are required to pass through artificial obstructions like left-in sheetpiles, disused piles and old seawalls. The tunnel constructed is only a temporary lining and the pipeline needs to be pushed therein afterwards with the gap between the two features being filled up with grouting materials. The close mode is to employ a mechanically operated pipejacking machine, equipped with cutting bits or discs on its face for excavation, using slurry to balance the earth pressure and groundwater ahead of the machine. The mixed mode uses a pipejacking machine with a bulkhead in its face to resist the earth pressure and the excavation is undertaken by a mechanically operated boom or backhoe mounted thereon, and with an access to the face of the machine for removal of obstructions manually under a compressed air environment. Problems No matter which type of technique is selected, different problems would arise in different stages of the works. They can be broadly summarized as follows: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (vii) (viii) Application of excavation permit; Temporary traffic arrangements; Locations of jacking and receiving shafts; Temporary works for shaft construction; Non-compliance of excavation permit conditions Checking of level and line of pipeline; Ground settlement / subsidence and heaving; Settlement monitoring;

(ix) (x) (xi) (xii) (xiii)

Pipejacking / tunnelling being obstructions; Condition of completed pipeline; Layout of pipeline; Environmental issues; and Safety.

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Application of Excavation Permit Whenever excavation works are to be allowed in road and footway, an excavation permit needs to be obtained from the Highways Department (HyD). For Government contracts, the client offices are responsible for applying the excavation permits for the contractors through the Utility Management System (UMS), in which the respective application is digitized by uploading in a computer network linked with HyD. When the draft plan stage is passed, a formal application form, duly entered and stamped by the client office, is submitted to HyD and usually the excavation permit is granted in about 3 weeks time. However, sometimes the application is rejected in the draft plan stage due to conflict with other parties works. This would result in the necessity in the coordination in agreeing the programme between all concerned parties before HyD is to consider the application. If the coordination fails, HyD will not issue the excavation permit to the latter applicant until the former applicant has completed his work. Consequently, the work would be delayed due to no excavation permit, thus attracting a contractual claim. For work sites located in busy carriageways, the issue of a Seek Traffic Advice by the Transport Department (TD) is necessary before the application can be considered by HyD. Hence, an excavation permit would be held up if its proposed temporary traffic arrangement (TTA) scheme is rejected by the authorities. Temporary Traffic Arrangements Prior to commencing the excavation work, it is necessary to implement a temporary traffic arrangement scheme, consented by the authorities, to cone off the works area. The contractor is to design such a scheme based on the contract requirements which summarize the traffic constraints imposed by TD when the design of sewer, in particular the proposed locations of manholes, is circulated for his comment in the design stage. The

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Problems Associated with Trenchless Techniques for Sewer Construction in Hong Kong problem is that, in reality, the location of some manholes might have to be shifted to suit the site conditions such as the conflict of existing utilities which diversion would take a time more than that allowed in the contract, or the asbuilt foundations of DSDs box culverts or nullahs or HyDs structures (i.e. flyovers, footbridges and subways) being different from those of the design obstructing the sewer alignment. As a result, the traffic impact needs to be reassessed before the temporary traffic arrangement scheme for the revised manhole location can be accepted by the authorities. It is not uncommon that the temporary shaft is to be constructed in more than one stage, with one portion being completed, decked over and resumed to traffic before commencement of another portion, or under night work. This would no doubt affect the progress of work and would also incur additional cost.

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which is in turn determined by whether the proposed temporary traffic arrangement scheme for coning it off is approved by the authorities. There have been cases that, due to heavy traffic, the contractor is only allowed to occupy a minimum works area for constructing the shaft, in which it can only be used as a transition shaft between the jacking and receiving shafts entailing the pipeline being jacked through.

Figure 2 - View of a Typical Jacking Shaft

Figure 1 - Implementation of TTA Scheme for Shaft Construction

Location of Jacking and Receiving Shafts To enable the carrying out of trenchless techniques, a pair of shafts is required between each section of the pipelines. They are the jacking shaft and the receiving shaft, which are also used for construction of manholes after the installation of pipeline. A jacking shaft must be large enough to accommodate the pipejacking machine or the handshield in the case of tunnelling, the thrust wall at the rear, the launching eye in the front, and the auxiliary equipment. Its size is dependent on the type, diameter and length of the machine and could vary from 5m x 5m to 7.5m x 9m. The size of the receiving shaft could, however, be smaller correspondingly. The locations and spacings of manholes are fixed by the engineer, in consideration of the alignment of the pipelines, the directions of incoming side connection sewers and the maximum length of the sewer for future maintenance. The length of a jacked pipeline could be from less than 50m to more than 250m whereas construction of a tunnel drive is limited to a short length due to its high risk, slow progress and expensive cost. There is usually a contract requirement that the locations of manholes are to be ascertained on site after the existing utilities and services at the respective locations have been identified by trial trenches. Thereafter, it is the contractors responsibility to determine which locations are to be used as jacking and receiving shafts. His selection is generally governed by the size of the works area available for placing the plant and construction materials

The identification of existing utilities and services at shaft locations is the contractors obligation as stipulated in the General Specification for Civil Engineering Works and is a time consuming and complicated activity. Since trenchless techniques are mainly adopted in urban areas, it would be impracticable to look for a shaft completely free of existing utilities and services. It is only a question how many utilities exist at the respective location. With reference to the records of utilities and services supplied by the utility undertakers and the authorities, the contractor will decide the sizes and extent of the trial trenches after the location of a manhole has been preliminarily confirmed by the engineer. Before trial trenches are carried out, the contractor is required to use underground services detection equipment to investigate the locations and depths of underground utilities and services, and the excavation is conducted with extreme care to avoid causing damage. It is often that the exposed utilities and services are different from those indicated in the record drawings in terms of location, size, extent and depth. Occasionally, uncharted features are identified necessitating a considerable time to find out the ownership. The performance of the underground utilities detection equipment depends on its brand and model, the experience of the equipment operator, the spacing, depth and configuration of existing utilities and services, as well as their materials. For utilities / services made of metal, they could be generally detected in an accurate manner and vice versa for those made of other materials. For different types of cables at different depths within the same detection zone, the signals induced therein would be interfered with each other, possibly mixing up the result. A better result would be obtained when the utilities are widely spaced without
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Problems Associated with Trenchless Techniques for Sewer Construction in Hong Kong overlapping with each other. Hence, the data provided by the equipment should be carefully interpretated and used in conjunction with the as-built records of utilities and services. It has been found that the equipment is ineffective to detect concrete pipes and asbestos cement watermains. Utilities surrounded with concrete might also affect its accuracy. After completion of the identification, the contractor is required to plot up details of all the existing utilities and services with respect to the shaft location on drawings and to assess whether any of them would need to be diverted in order to give sufficient room for the pipejacking / tunneling work and the subsequent manhole construction. It is the obligation of the utility undertakers under the Roads (Works, Use and Compensation) Regulation to alter their features at their own cost should they be in the way of Governments works. The lowering of the top slab, relocation of the access, desilting and ventilation openings, and offsetting the pipeline centre in the shaft, as appropriate, might be the alternatives to account for the utilities and services such as high voltage cables and large diameter watermains, which diversion is extremely difficult in terms of the time frame of the contract or public convenience. Sometimes, it is even infeasible to divert the utilities and services due to their congestion over the area. Under such circumstances, a new location of the manhole has to be looked at by the engineer, with trial trench excavation being required again. In some cases, several locations need to be compared prior to making the final decision. It is possible that the final location of a shaft which consists of less utilities and services is moved distantly from its original location to avoid the timely utility diversions. As a result, additional time and cost would be incurred and the shaft construction delayed. Temporary Works for Shaft Construction

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After the location of a manhole has been finalized, the contractor is to design the temporary works for the shaft suitable for carrying out the trenchless techniques and the manhole construction. A drill hole is sunk at the shaft location to determine the ground and groundwater conditions. The contractor will select the type of temporary works with reference to the site investigation results and site constraints, if any. The temporary works design, after being certified by the Independent Checking Engineer as being satisfactory, is forwarded to the engineer for consent prior to commencement of work. The temporary works generally appear in rectangular shape and sheetpiles are commonly adopted due to fast operation and cheaper cost. Sometimes, it is requisite to modify their shape and size to suit the existing utilities and services. When boulders are encountered, preboring by means of Odex method using the down-to-hole hammer is used to remove obstructions. If the boulder zone is too thick, the sheetpiles still might not be able to be driven to the required depth due to the rock fragments falling into the prebored holes. When this situation arises, the affected sheetpiles are to be extracted and the holes prebored again. Alternately, steel pipe piles can be used for penetrating through boulders, with their hollow section being filled with sand or grouting materials to increase the rigidity. The cost of using this method is about twice as that of the sheetpiling work, and the time required is comparatively longer. Among the two types of piles, pipe piles are widely used at locations where headroom is constrained. Upon completion of excavation, the shaft is to be maintained in a dry condition to allow the execution of the pipejacking / tunnelling work and the manhole construction. Groundwater would ingress into the shaft through the gaps of the temporary works. The situation is more critical at locations where steel laggings are installed beneath the existing utilities being required to be temporarily supported inside the shaft, and where launching and receiving eyes are placed. Dewatering inside the shaft is not an effective measure as it would draw down groundwater table causing ground settlement in the surrounding soils and in turn affecting the stability of the utilities and services underneath. Watertightness can, however, be achieved by providing a grout curtain along the perimeter of the sheetpiling cofferdam. This curtain, with a thickness of 450 to 600mm, is constructed before the excavation and is effected by firstly using bentonite cement grout to fill up the voids of soil particles and secondly applying chemical grout to increase the strength and to decrease the permeability. Outside the launching and receiving eyes, the thickness of the grout plug is to be increased to 3 to 4m to prevent the ground being punched by the pipejacking machine or the tunnelling shield when leaving and entering the shaft. The grout mix is adjusted to suit the ground conditions, and grout pipes are left in the ground so that re-grouting can be carried out if the initial grout is proved to be ineffective. In porous ground or near the seafront, it is possible to have a high consumption of grout due to it being migrated. The grout

Figure 3 - Relocation of Openings in Manhole to Suit High Voltage Cables

For utility diversions, it is the contractors responsibility under the contract to agree the programme with the utility undertakers, to closely monitor the progress and to notify the engineer of any slippage. In the event of a slippage, there is not too much action that both the engineer and the contractor can do but to keep on chasing. To minimize the occurrence of such a situation, the contractor will normally carry out all the civil works necessary for the utility diversion, at the discretion of the engineer so that the cost associated therewith can be reimbursed.

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Problems Associated with Trenchless Techniques for Sewer Construction in Hong Kong pressure must be properly controlled to avoid blowing out the ground or encroaching into ductings of utilities.

Wilson Mok

A typical example is that whenever works are to be carried out at a location, an excavation permit must be available and a temporary traffic arrangement scheme implemented, with lighting, signing and guarding being provided. Since the form for applying excavation permit only specifies the approximate length, width and depth of excavation, the contractor will assume that the TTA coned-off area can be used as a works area for placing plant and construction materials necessary for execution of the works. HyD, however, has a different view that such a works area should not be used unless it is also indicated in the application.

Figure 4 - Failure of Grout Plug in Receiving Shaft

The as-constructed temporary works are to be inspected by the Independent Checking Engineer and a Construction Check Certificate issued stating that the temporary works have been constructed in accordance with the certified design, before commencement of the next stage of work inside the shaft is allowed. After manhole construction in the shaft is complete, extraction of sheetpiles in the proximity of sensitive utilities such as gas main and watermain should be prohibited to avoid causing stability problem. Non-compliance of Excavation Permit Conditions There are conditions attached to the excavation permits issued by the Highways Department (HyD), for which the permittee (the contractor) is to abide by during the course of works. These conditions, apart from outlining the general obligations, also cover the requirements on temporary traffic arrangement and control, vehicular and pedestrian facilities, unattended sites, noise control, site cleanliness, and backfilling and reinstatement, as well as maintenance and defects liability. Staff of HyD will carry out inspections on the work sites on a regular interval and prepare checklists if any of the excavation permit conditions has not been complied with. The checklists will then be forwarded to the permittee for follow-up action as soon as possible. By the end of each month, HyD will summarize all the non-compliance cases for each work site and request the consultant supervising the respective contract to provide a written explanation on the causes of such cases and to advise the remedial measures that have been taken to avoid recurrence of similar situations. If the figure of non-compliance cases for a particular contract is persistently high, the consultant will be required to attend the Road Opening Coordination Committee (ROCC) meeting held by HyD for further explanation. In view of the work sites requiring excavation permits being located at either carriageways or footways, argument between HyD and the contractor always arises on the standard of defining non-compliance, particularly when a HyD construction site is in the vicinity for comparison.
Figure 5 - Typical Setup of Slurry Pipejacking Equipment in Works Area

Another example is the maintenance of traffic cones. For work sites located at carriageways, traffic cones are used to enclose the works area. From time to time, some of these cones are temporarily shifted to allow parking of lorries for loading and unloading, but they have not been immediately reverted to their original spacing after such an activity. There have also been occasions that the traffic cones are removed by outsiders for parking purpose, or by the adjacent shops for illegal loading and unloading, and this situation is particularly critical outside the normal working hours and during public holidays, and in the work sites where one activity has been completed but await the commencement of the next activity such as utility diversion. All the above cases would cause a situation that the traffic cones have not been placed in accordance with the Road Traffic (Traffic Control) Regulations. Site tidiness is another issue which has caused HyDs concern, in which the contractor is always found to have not removed disused construction materials and excavated spoils off the site at the end of a day, in particular those building debris and rubbish dumped by others during nonworking hours. In the above context, although it is true that, under the excavation permit conditions, the contractor is fully responsible for maintaining his work site in a tidy, proper and secure manner, some of the non-compliance cases might be beyond his control as it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to provide guarding in each work site at all times. Practically speaking, there is no way to prevent occurrence of such cases. What the contractor can do is to continuously educate his workers and supervisory staff, to properly fence off his work site after work, to strengthen the site patrols and to allocate more resources for cleaning up the site and maintaining the
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Problems Associated with Trenchless Techniques for Sewer Construction in Hong Kong TTA scheme, so that the non-compliance cases can be reduced to a minimum. On the other hand, although it is the contractors responsibility to abide by the excavation permit conditions, the engineers staff should morally advise the contractor immediately of any irregularities being observed on site so as to rectify the situation as soon as possible.

Wilson Mok

Ground Settlement / Subsidence and Heaving Shaft Construction and driving of pipejacking / tunnelling are the two major operations in trenchless techniques. It is therefore necessary to properly control ground settlement to avoid damaging the adjacent roads, footways, utilities, services and structures. Ground settlement would occur in the following situations: 1) For shaft construction, sheetpiles or pipe piles or a combination of both are commonly adopted as temporary works. Sheetpiling would induce vibration tending to consolidate the soils in the vicinity. The pipe piles, installed in the ground by using either the rotary drilling method or the percussive drilling method, would also generate ground movement but with a comparatively small magnitude. The extent of ground settlement caused by the above two construction methods is very limited, generally less than 1m from the edge of the piles. The situation can be improved if sandy materials, with the aid of water, are constantly used to fill up the gaps during the piling operation. 2) For removing underground boulder obstructions, Odex drilling method is used, in which compressed air is constantly supplied to the down-to-hole hammer to enable the breaking of boulders into fine particles, thus causing caving-in of the surrounding soils above, particularly near the ground surface. Even though sandy materials are filled in the drill hole continuously, settlement would still exist as the rate of blowing out is fasten than the rate of infilling. In rectification of the situation, casing should be equipped with the hammer down to rockhead and air pressure properly controlled to avoid causing excessive voids in the adjacent ground. Upon completion of the shaft construction, ground settlement would continue as a result of the deformation of temporary works and the dewatering required to keep the shaft dry. The effect of ground settlement in the former case might be significant if the temporary struts are widely spaced, whereas watertighness would be a problem for those shafts with inadequate penetration depth of temporary works due to irregular rockhead above the formation level, or varied ground conditions limiting the penetration. The provision of windows in the temporary works, necessary for accommodation of existing utilities and services in the shaft, also gives rise to the ingress of groundwater through the gaps between the steel laggings below such features. The ground settlement due to the deformation of temporary works could be controlled if thick sections of piles are used and the spacing of struts is reduced. Alternately, grout curtain can be formed outside the perimeter of the piles to increase the rigidly of the surrounding soil. This would also help to minimize the necessity of dewatering in the shaft.
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Figure 6 - Condition of a Works Area Coned Off by TTA Scheme

Checking of Level and Line of Pipeline The checking of the level and line of a pipeline is carried out by means of a laser device mounted on the sheetpiles at the rear of the jacking shaft with reference to the target plate installed in the pipejacking machine. The machine operator will, based on the readings shown in the computer monitor, adjust the steering cylinders so that the alignment of the pipeline can be reverted to the designed profile soonest. The laser device might have to be temporarily shifted to maintain the laser beam being in contact with the target plate due to excessive deviation in alignment of the pipeline during the course of pipejacking. It is vital to ensure that this device is prevented from movement accidentally during the course of works and to carry out daily checking on its position by surveying method. Otherwise, misalignment might arise turning the pipeline outside the receiving shaft even though the movement of the laser device is very small. It is also vital to clean the laser device and the target plate installed in the pipejacking machine on a regular basis so that their functionality will not be affected by dust. As a double assurance, the level and line of a pipeline should also be checked using a gyro theodolite at suitable length of the pipeline when the pipejacking is in progress.

3)

Figure 7 - Laser Device Used for Pipejacking / Tunnelling Works

Problems Associated with Trenchless Techniques for Sewer Construction in Hong Kong 4) During the course of pipejacking works, overcut is to be required in order to allow the pipeline to pass through the ground from the jacking shaft to the receiving shaft. This phenomenon would only cause insignificant ground settlement in normal ground. In soft ground, the overcut situation would become critical if the slurry injected at the head of the pipejacking machine is too thin to prevent excessive materials falling into the cutting wheel, thus attracting ground settlement. Another phenomenon is that, in mixed ground consisting of soil and boulders, the ground settlement could be serious as the pipejacking machine tends to move towards a direction with soft materials resulting in the migration of more soil thereinto due to the rate of cutting through boulders being much slower than that of soil. The effect of ground settlement under this situation depends on the location and sizes of the boulders in front of the cutting wheel, depth of the overburden above the pipeline and density of soil. If boulders are located at the lower half of the cutting wheel or where a boulder zone is encountered, the overlying soil would be disturbed by the vibration of the pipejacking machine when it is in contact with the hard materials forcing the soil to fall into the voids of the boulders, eventually causing ground settlement. To minimize the effect, the cutting wheel pressure should be properly controlled in the range of 90 100 bar. Over-excavation may occur at lower pressures if the cutting wheel is not always maintaining pressure against the face. If high cutting wheel rotation speeds are being used and cutting wheel pressure is 80 bar or less, the water flow should be regulated to the lowest permissible level in order to prevent over-excavation resulting from too much materials being flushed out from the excavated face creating voids. For slurry pipejacking work, vibration would be produced by the desander used for separating the slurry from the spoils for recycling use, resulting in local ground settlement if the filling materials below the road / footway, especially flexible type, are not properly compacted. In this respect, rubber pads may be used for placing below the desander to absorb vibration. This would also eliminate the resonance of the glass windows of the nearby buildings induced thereby causing breakage. 5) When the pipeline is being jacked in the ground, groundwater and soil would migrate into the shaft through the gap between the pipeline and the launching eye. Ingress of groundwater is unavoidable but a rubber seal can be installed in the eye to prevent escape of slurry and soil migration which would cause ground settlement due to loss of fines. If the work is carried out in clayey materials, the installation of double rubber seal may be necessary for retaining the fines.

Wilson Mok

Figure 8 - Condition of a Free Air Hand Tunnel

Figure 9 - Filling Up Voids between Temporary Linings and Soil

6)

For hand tunnelling works, the size of overcut in order to allow the advancement of the shield head is difficult to be controlled. If the voids between the temporary linings and the soil cannot be filled up by grouting materials rapidly, they would be closed up within a short time causing the ground above to settle. Dewatering inside the tunnel would cause drawdown of the groundwater table and in turn attract ground settlement. This situation can be compensated by carrying out horizontal grouting work along the pipeline alignment in advance, or by compressed air pressure, or a combination of both, depending on the ground conditions, depth of the tunnel and depth of groundwater table.

Ground heaving is a product of excessive pressure injected into the ground during the course of the work. This situation would occur if the slurry pressure is greater than the overburden pressure above the pipeline or the ground is too loose with high porosity. To overcome the problem, the machine operators experience and reaction in that instance are very important that he should closely monitor the volume of slurry actually injected into the ground ahead of the pipejacking machine and the pressure used and make the necessary adjustment of its mix by increasing the viscosity and of its applied pressure. Having stated the above, sufficient overburden needs to be provided above the pipeline for slurry pipejacking works so that the ground will not be blown up by the slurry
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Problems Associated with Trenchless Techniques for Sewer Construction in Hong Kong pressure injected to the face of the machine. By virtue of the physically required pressure for maintaining the workability of slurry in the charging pipe to avoid blockage, it might not be unreasonable to assume a 6m thick soil as being a minimium thickness for such overburden. This depth should also be a safe margin to get rid of the conflict with utilities and services in the ground, which generally exists in a depth range of 1.5m to 3.5m. Similarly, the pressure applied to a compressed air tunnel should be checked against the overburden to ensure a safe working. Settlement Monitoring Both the pipejacking and hand tunnelling works would induce ground settlement. Its magnitude can be estimated after the site investigation and laboratory data at the respective locations have been gathered. The acceptability of this magnitude depends on whether the stability of the adjacent roads, footways, utilities, services and structures will be affected, in which an assessment needs to be carried out. If the value is excessive, the ground has to be treated by grouting in advance of the works. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor the performance of such works by installing markers at suitable locations so that the actual values can be measured and compared with that obtained from theoretical calculations, and to set out the triggered and action values for which measures are to be taken, which include increase of the monitoring frequency, stopping of work for investigation of the cause(s) of the settlement and remedial measures before the works are resumed. The same approach should also apply to the estimated settlement being within the tolerated value. Normally, nail markers are installed in the road surface adjacent to excavated shafts at 5m intervals directly above the centre line of the drive alignment and at offsets from that line at a distance which depends on the diameter of the pipeline and the depth of overburden. This installation is only good for flexible pavements and can always provide reasonably accurate readings. In addition, ground settlement under this type of pavement can be easily detected by visual inspections on the cracks developing therein. For pipejacking and tunnelling works below rigid pavements, experience has told that subsurface markers in the form of a steel rod with a base plate should be used as the pavement itself can withhold by its rigidity for some time even though the soil underneath has settled. These markers require the coring of holes, say 150mm in diameter, through the concrete slab, and a PVC tube is inserted to encase the steel rod. Its depth should be limited to not more than 600mm below the slab to avoid damaging the utilities and services laid in the ground. The holes are then filled with sandy materials to maintain the verticality of the steel rods, and steel caps are provided to prevent ingress of surface runoff which would affect the accuracy of the readings. Upon completion of the works, the steel rods are to be removed and the holes in the concrete slab properly reinstated. When settlement is detected on ground surface, its influence zone would be in the range of 45O to 60O projected from the face and rear of the pipejacking

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machine / handshield in the longitudinal direction and from its two sides in the transeverse direction. Depending on the ground conditions, the respective settlement could take a few days to complete. Hence, it is essential to continue the monitoring for some time after completion of the work so that an overall picture on ground settlement can be obtained before the permanent road reinstatement is executed.

Figure 10 - Apparatus Used for Coring Holes in Concrete Carriageway

Figure 11 - Installation of Sub-surface Settlement Marker

Figure 12 - Cracks Noted in Carriageway During the course of Pipejacking

Pipejacking / Obstructions

Tunnelling

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The success of pipeline installation by trenchless techniques depends very much on the method selected. In old reclaimed areas where the type and sizes of the filling materials are susceptible, the earth pressure balancing pipejacking machine is commonly adopted, whereas the slurry pressure balancing pipejacking
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Problems Associated with Trenchless Techniques for Sewer Construction in Hong Kong machine has proved to be effective in virgin ground and in newly reclaimed areas where the filling is under proper control. The hand tunnelling method, due to its high cost and slow daily production rate, is only considered in areas where artificial obstructions exist. In order to avoid the work being stopped by boulder or artificial obstructions, the contractor needs to determine which type of method should be used with care, with regard to the ground conditions along the respective pipeline alignment as revealed by the site investigation works carried out in the design stage, and other details available in the working drawings such as locations of seawalls, locations of left-in sheetpiles, etc. Additional boreholes are usually sunk by the contractor at selected locations before the pipejacking / tunneling machines are ordered. This is because up to the present moment, none of the pipejacking machines in the world can remove large sizes of artificial obstructions. The configuration of the cutting wheel in a pipejacking machine plays an important role as to whether the pipeline can be constructed in a fast and smooth manner. Spoke type cutting wheel with cutting bits equipped in the slurry pipejacking machine has been proved to be efficient in soil with occasional boulders in the size of less than 25% of the diameter of the machine. This arrangement is no good for penetrating through a boulder zone, and the machine would be stuck resulting therefrom. A rescue shaft has to be sunk to remove the obstructions if traffic permits. Otherwise, a rescue tunnel is to be constructed from the receiving shaft, which would be expensive and time consuming. The cutting wheel which appears in a dome with discs and / or roller cutters is capable of cutting through rock, but some cutters may have to be replaced during the course of the pipejacking work due to wearing. Access to the face of the cutting wheel for such replacement can only be gained in the machines with a diameter of 1500mm or above, after the ground ahead is fully stabilized by slurry. To minimize the problem, an experienced contractor would forward samples of rock cores obtained from site investigations to the pipejacking machine manufacturer for determination of the compatibility of the cutting discs before the machine is delivered to Hong Kong. To avoid improper functioning leading to stoppage, those cutting discs repaired in local shops for re-use should be carefully examined prior to launching the machine into ground.

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Figure 14 - Condition of a Worn Out Cutting Disc after Rock Excavation

For earth pressure balancing pipejacking machines, isolated boulders ahead can be handled by the boom cutter or mini backhoe mounted on its face if their sizes are less than 25% of the diameter of the machine. If the sizes or extent of boulders are excessive or where small artificial obstructions are encountered, the removal can be effected by pneumatic tools operated by a worker at the face of the machine under a compressed air environment, which access is gained from the airlock chamber therein. This type of machine also cannot deal with boulders or artifical obstructions if their sizes almost occupy the entire area of the face of the bulkhead. Rescue operations, similar to those of the slurry pipejacking machine, are to be required in this regard. The pipejacking and tunnelling works would also be stopped by obstruction of existing utilities crossing the alignment of the pipeline. This situation is very rare as in the design stage, utility record drawings have been obtained from the utility undertakers. The design engineer will, relying on the details contained in these drawings, which generally include the nature, approximate alignment and extent of the respective features, the site investigation results and site constraints, choose the alignment of the pipeline and the locations of manholes. Discussions on the possible conflicts would also be carried out with the utility undertakers prior to making such a decision. Since the actual alignment, extent and top and bottom levels of existing utilities are not available in the record drawings, trial trenches are required to be executed in the construction stage before the actual location of a manhole can be decided. However, if an utility exists at an abnormal depth say 6 to 7m below ground somewhere between two manholes, the pipeline at the same level would be obstructed. This situation cannot be foreseen in the design stage as it would be impracticable to open and inspect every utility drawpit or chamber due to the time and resources being involved, particularly that the levels of some utilities like cables might not be linear along their alignment. Although close liaison is maintained by the engineer, the contractor and the utility undertakers, the problem might not be known until the time when the utility undertakers identify the features revealed by trial trenches for the manholes near the problemed utility, as their excavation might not be allowed at the same time while trial trench excavation is being carried out at other manhole locations, due to traffic constraint. Consequently,
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Figure 13 - Cutting Bits in Pipejacking Machine Worn out by Boulders

Problems Associated with Trenchless Techniques for Sewer Construction in Hong Kong part of the pipeline in the upstream and downstream would have been installed at the time of the incident rendering adjustment of the level to suit being impossible. Should the above situation be encountered, a trial trench needs to be opened at the conflicting location to fully expose the bottom level of the utility. The engineer has to decide whether the design can be amended by using open cut method locally with a reduced pipe size, or the utility must go. Nonetheless, the progress of the pipejacking / tunneling works would be interrupted attracting a claim from the contractor. The pipejacking machine would also be stuck when the ground condition suddenly changes from soil to extremely hard and massive rock, due to the wearing or damage of the cutting discs attributing to the excessive jacking load applied onto the pipeline while a maximum torque is being mobilized by the cutting wheel to allow the discs for loosening the rock by the rolling and penetration process, resulting in inadequate or no space for free movement of the discs against the rock face, thus leading to gradual exhaustion. The remedial measures can be in the form of breaking the rock ahead of the pipejacking machine by the preboring method if occupation of the ground above is allowed. A temporary shaft is sunk for removing the rock fragments, the inspection of the condition of the cutting discs and the necessary replacement. If not, a rescue tunnel with horizontal airlock should be used to recover the machine. Another stoppage occurs in the slurry pipejacking machine when the slurry discharging pipe is clogged with materials such as spoils (usually clay with high plasticity), metallic pieces or timber fragments. If the cleaning is unsuccessful even by opening the by-pass unit, the respective sections of the pipe have to be dismantled for unblockage. Whereas clogging is found at the inlet valve, high pressure water jet connected to the nearest nozzle can be used to dilute the spoils pressing them into the discharging pipe. Condition of Completed Pipeline Upon completion of the pipejacking for a pipeline, it is necessary to inspect its condition and remedial measures are to be carried out if defects exist. In general, the defects include spalling or cracking of concrete in pipes, opening up of pipe joints, spalling of PVC internal protective linings, and irregular profile of pipeline. Spalling or cracking of concrete in pipes usually occurs near the pipe joints in the sections of a pipeline with a zig zag profile, resulting from encountering nonhomogeneous ground during the course of the pipejacking work. The jacking load acting onto the pipeline would become eccentric developing unevenly high stress on one side of the joint. The concrete would crack or spall out if the actual deflection at the respective pipe joint exceeds the allowable value recommended by the pipe manufacturer. The repair work can take place by application of epoxy to the damaged area of the pipe after the defective concrete has been removed. This work should be carried out immediately to avoid causing danger,

Wilson Mok

prior to continuing the pipejacking work if the situation is serious, or else, a steel ring may be used to temporarily withhold the defective concrete, and the repair is to be conducted after completion of the pipeline. New PVC sheets are then incorporated in the affected area of the pipe body by embedment of the locking keys into the epoxy before it becomes stiff.

Figure 15 - Repair of Damaged Concrete Pipe for Pipejacking Work

Opening up of pipe joints is usually found at locations of intermediate jacking stations, and occurs after the jacks have been removed but the rear jacking pipe cannot be pushed in contact with the front jacking pipe already fixed in the intermediate jacking station due to the excessive distortion of pipe joints, formed by the irregular profile in the pipeline for the reason as stated in the foregoing section. This would result in the pipeline being failed in the air test and the infiltration test. To overcome the problem, epoxy may be used to fill up the gap, with a steel cage being added if the gap is wide. Remedial measures may not be necessary for other opened up pipe joints if their widths fall within the tolerance allowed in the pipe. PVC internal linings are provided in the pipes to prevent the concrete from being attacked by hydrogen suphide gas emitted from sewage. They are placed in the pipe body with locking keys embedded in the concrete when the pipes are manufactured, and generally appear from 210o to 359o with the pipe invert, depending on the design of the sewerage project. One problem is that the pipes may not be properly placed to allow the lining of each pipe along the pipeline being in the same position. Another problem is that, during the pipejacking work, dirts or water would enter into the pipes behind the PVC linings through the pipe joints causing the linings to spall out between the locking keys. This phenomenon is particularly obvious at locations where slurry pipes have been disconnected for unblocking obstruction or where rails are installed in the pipeline for transportation of spoils by trollies, messing the pipeline with sludge. To overcome the problem, the linings in the spalled areas are to be cut out so that the air or water entrapped therein can be released, and additional linings put back and rigidly connected with the adjacent linings by a special made welding equipment. In addition, all pipe joints should be protected by the linings as soon as the pipeline installation is complete so that occurrence of similar situations can be avoided.
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Problems Associated with Trenchless Techniques for Sewer Construction in Hong Kong

Wilson Mok

To account for the above situation and bearing in mind that the sheetpiles below the pipe cannot be extracted after work, more short pipes should be allowed at both ends of the pipeline, with their last pipe from the manhole being extended outside the temporary shaft so that suitable flexibility of the pipeline can be maintained. Environmental Issues Solid waste, dust, noise, air and water are the major environmental issues relating to pipejacking and tunneling works, and would cause significant impact to the public if they cannot be properly controlled. For solid waste, soil samples are taken at suitable depths by boreholes at shaft locations for laboratory testing, including chemical analysis, in the initial stage of a contract. Depending on the result, the spoils excavated from the shafts and the jacked / tunnelled pipelines are to be disposed of at either a public dumping area for reclamation, a marine spoil ground for unsuitable materials or the Chemical Work Treatment Facility located at Tsing Yi for contaminated materials. The problem is that, during the course of works, the materials disposed from the section of sewer between two shafts might not be same as those revealed by boreholes at the same levels, thus leading to them being transported to a wrong disposal area if they are not instantly identified in the storage area by the contractor in the event of there being any change in the type of material. When shaft construction is carried out, dust will emit, in particular during rock excavation. It is necessary to adopt suitable suppression measures to avoid causing nuisance to the public. Cleaning and watering the site frequently may minimize the fugitive dust emissions. In the process of material handling, any material which has the potential to create dust should be treated with water or sprayed with wetting agent. Where dusty materials are being carried by lorry, suitable fitting side and tail boards should be provided, with a clean tarpaulin being placed on top. Wheel washing facilities should be installed and used by all lorries leaving the site so that earth, mud, debris and dust will not be deposited on public roads. Water in the wheel cleaning facility should be changed at frequent intervals and sediments removed regularly. When sufficient space is not available for such installation, the wheels of a lorry should be cleaned by high pressure water jet within an area enclosed by an earth or concrete bund which can stop the muddy water flowing onto the adjacent carriageways and footways, prior to leaving the site. Noise will be generated by the lifting appliance, excavator, generator, compressor and the like during the piling operation for construction of shafts, and the pipejacking and tunnelling works, and would cause nuisance to the public if its level is excessive. Under the current EPD regulations, no construction noise permit (CNP) is to be required for noisy works other than piling works between 7a.m. and 7p.m. on a day except Sundays and Public Holidays. For piling works, a duration of 3 hours in a day is allowed by EPD, with the time being designated to account for the environment at the respective location.
January 2001

Figure 16 - PVC Linings in Pipeline

Irregular profile of a pipeline is a common phenomenon for pipejacking works. Many contract documents specify the permissible deviations being 50 to 75mm for line and 35 to 50mm for level. Although there are always provisions in the contract that the contractor is responsible for making good the misalignment to the satisfaction of the engineer if such values are exceeded, the problemed sections of pipes in the pipeline cannot be dismantled and reconnected due to the construction method adopted. It appears that the only solution is to smooth the depressions at the critical sections by trimming the concrete surface in the invert of the affected pipes and applying epoxy or other approved materials thereon as rendering so that ponding and trapping of sewage will not occur. Adding suitable steel mesh may be required if the rendering is thick. From practical point of view, remedial measures are unnecessary in other sections of the pipeline should the permissible deviations be slightly exceeded. The contractor should, however, conduct a hydraulic check as to whether the pipeline will still have sufficient capacity in carrying flow after completion of remedial measures. If the result is unsatisfactory, the construction of another smaller diameter pipeline adjacent to the original pipeline would be inevitable, but this would involve a lot of problems such as space in the shaft, time and choice of machine. For hand tunnels, cement mortar is used for rendering the invert of their whole length so that a smooth and uniform base is provided before the pipeline is pushed therein by hydraulic jacks. Layout of Pipeline Prior to carrying out the pipejacking of a pipeline, the contractor is necessary to prepare a pipe layout with respect to the contract requirements such as the positions of flexible joints from structures, including manholes, and the locations where intermediate jacking stations are to be placed. This layout may need to be changed during the pipejacking work, by using more intermediate jacking stations to reduce the face and skin resistance of the pipeline due to unforeseen ground condition, resulting in the possibility that the two flexible joints, as stipulated in the General Specification for Civil Engineering Works, cannot be provided at the correct positions from the outer faces of manholes.

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Problems Associated with Trenchless Techniques for Sewer Construction in Hong Kong Any work carried out beyond the legal hours, without a valid CNP, would result in the prosecution by the authorities, and the bad remark in the contractors performance report for consistent violation of EPD regulations. To control the situation, the following mitigation measures can be carried out: 1) Use of acoustic barriers / shields to enclose or partially enclose noisy activities and to screen the receivers from direct line of site from construction activities. A purpose-built barrier normally can achieve reductions of 5 10 decibels; Use of silenced equipment; Carefully planning the construction programme through: Restriction of times at which concrete breaking and / or piling is carried out; Minimization of surface construction and underground excavation work during evening and night-time periods; 3)

Wilson Mok

To prevent occurrence of the situation, the following measures are considered to be effective: 1) Silt and slurry traps and sedimentation tanks should be provided at each works location and waste water (site run-off) should be channelled to the basins. Regular cleaning of the sediment traps and tanks, including the adjacent gully system, should be carried out to ensure their efficiency. This would also help to minimize the chance of flooding during heavy rainstorms; Measures to intercept surface runoff onto the works location due to rain should be provided so that it will not flow across the sites; Processing water should be re-used. Prior to its discharge, it should be channelled to the sedimentation tanks; Earth or concrete bunds should be constructed around the areas of working. Any release of mud or slurry within the bunded area should be removed immediately. All the lorries should be wheel washed before leaving the site, and provided with facilities in the load compartment to prevent leakage of muddy water onto carriageway during the course of transportation. Excavation of open-cut and cover trenches should be avoided during monsoon or rainy seasons if possible. Measures should be taken to minimize the flow of rainwater into trenches. Trenches should be dug and backfilled in short sections. Water pumped from the trenches should be channelled to sedimentation tanks prior to its discharge into storm drains.

2)

2) 3)

4)

4)

Observation of school hours: noisy operations such as concrete breaking, excavation plant operation, and / or piling should be avoided near the existing schools during teaching or examination hours; Placing of noisy equipment and the conducting of activities as far from sensitivity receivers as is practical and turning off of idling equipment; Proper plant and equipment maintenance.

5)

5)

6)

Emission of hot and waste air from generators, compressors and other plant always attracts complaints from the residents and pedestrians. Due to most of the works areas being constrained by traffic and other factors, it may not be possible to place these features in a proper location to avoid the nuisance. In these circumstances, consideration should be given to increase the height of the air emission pipes and to place their outlets distant from and at a direction opposite to the residents and pedestrians. Water pollution or nuisance should be avoided during the shaft construction and the pipejacking or tunneling works. Such phenomenon usually arises when the contaminated water is discharged directly or indirectly into any public sewer, storm drain, channel, stream course or sea, or spills onto the adjacent carriageways or footways, resulting from either the water being pumped out from the shaft or tunnel without being treated or sedimented in advance, the wet excavated material leaking the effluent on ground surface at the time of being loaded to the lorry for disposal, oil leakage from the plant and machinery, disused slurry overflowing from the storage tank, muddy / waste water flowing out during the pipe-piling, preboring, drilling or grouting operations. All the above acts are a violation of the EPD regulations leading to the contractor being prosecuted.

Safety Since most of the works are of underground in nature necessitating the entry into or working in confined spaces, it is essential to maintain a safe working environment for the workers during the course of works. The risk associated with each activity must be comprehensively assessed by a competent person in advance so that corresponding safety measures can be provided based on his recommendations. It is the contractors responsibility to ensure that any work in a confined space, as defined in the Factories and Industrial (Confined Spaces) Regulations, complies with the requirements of the Regulations and is in accordance with the Guide to the Regulations published by the Labour Department. It is also necessary to provide adequate and suitable training and tool box talks to all persons involved in the works, to establish emergency procedures to account for the possible incidents and to carry out a drill before commencement of work. Consideration should also be given on the design of the pipeline and tunnel such that safety problems due to inadequate headroom can be eliminated. The types of risk for trenchless techniques depend on the method adopted, which include but not limited to air
January 2001

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Problems Associated with Trenchless Techniques for Sewer Construction in Hong Kong quality, electrical installations, fire prevention and flooding for pipejacking works; the same and face collapse for free air hand tunnelling works; and all the above and change of pressure for compressed air tunnelling works. In order to make certain the safety and health of the workers who enter and work in a confined space, a Permit-to-Work system should be used, in which a certificate is issued by the contractor listing the findings in the risk assessment report completed by the competent person, the results of the gas testing, the nature of work to be done, the conditions and features of the confined space, the period during which workers can remain safety in the confined space, etc. Only certified workers who hold a relevant certificate after attending an approved training course in connection with confined space are allowed to enter and carry out the work therein. For each location, a Permit-to-Enter system should be enforced to register the persons entering and leaving the confined space. Prior to each entering into an excavated shaft, a jacked pipeline or a hand tunnel, a suitable testing detector must be used to ensure the air at different levels and locations being free of dangerous gases such as carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulphide, methane and other flammable gases and at the same time sufficient oxygen being present. Fresh air has to be constantly and directly supplied to the works location through an adequately and effectively forced ventilation system in the form of high capacity blowers while work is in progress. Where the atmosphere inside is likely to cause safety or health hazards to the workers, breathing apparatus should be used. Electrical installations are another issue which might cause hazard to the workers. They should be effectively earthed and protected to avoid electric shock. Power cables are to be properly fixed and hung up to avoid damage or leakage which could burn the PVC linings, if any, in the pipeline causing toxic gas. Adequate lighting is required in the excavated shaft and throughout the length of the jacked pipeline and hand tunnel to prevent the workers from being fallen down due to unclear visibility.

Wilson Mok

the confined space is to be allowed. To alert the workers in case of fire, fire/emergency alarm has to be installed at the appropriate location, with the fire/emergency exit route being identified by displaying the direction signs. Flooding or inundation in excavated shafts would occur when the perimeter grout curtain is ineffective or the submersible pumps are malfunctioning. This situation seldom occurs in jacked pipelines as the work is carried out in a close mode but the author has experienced a case that the pipejacking machine and a section of pipeline behind was found inundated with soil and water after a holiday, the cause of which was believed to have been due to the opening of the valve used for transportation of spoils by mistake, not known when completing the work at the end of a day. For free air hand tunnelling works, it is essential to verify the effectiveness of grout ahead of excavation to avoid sudden ingress of groundwater and change of ground condition, which could lead to face collapse endangering the workers. On completion of work each day, shutters should be provided between the work face and the handshield, and the condition of the handshield is to be examined in the next day before the shutters are removed for continuing the work. Ingress of groundwater in compressed air hand tunnels would unlikely occur if suitable pressure is applied therein. To achieve this, it is necessary to maintain the function of the compressor at all times as the dropping of pressure would result in the tunnel being completely flooded. For the same reason as stated above, the work face for the compressed air hand tunnel also needs to be safeguarded by shutters at the end of each day. Horizontal grouting may be necessary ahead of excavation if excessive seepage of water or loose work face is noted. Persons who enter into the compressed air environment must properly depressurize before leaving. A medical lock is to be provided on the surface near the works location to allow for emergency events.

Figure 18 - Horizontal Grouting in Compressed Air Hand Tunnel

Figure 17 - Forced Ventilation, Rails and Electrical Installations in Pipeline

To account for the possible fire hazard, suitable and adequate fire fighting equipment should be provided adjacent to the shaft, pipeline and tunnel. Neither storage of dangerous good and flammable material nor smoking in

An effective communication system has to be installed between the control room and the jacked pipeline/tunnel at suitable locations, usually in the pipejacking machine and the handshield and in the intermediate point of a pipeline or tunnel via the cable inter phones, so that instant contact can be made, any emergency situation notified immediately, and corresponding response taken based on the severity of the occurrence.
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Problems Associated with Trenchless Techniques for Sewer Construction in Hong Kong Emergency procedures need to be established and listed in the method statement for the respective work, for which the workers are to strictly follow. Rescue equipment such as approved type of breathing apparatus, suitable apparatus for reviving an unconscious worker, vessels containing oxygen or air, lifting man-bucket or stretcher and the relevant lifting appliance and gears, safety harness and ropes, standby water pump, life buoys fitted with life line, audio alarm installed inside the control room, pipeline and bottom of the shaft for alerting personnel in case of emergency, etc., should be provided. All emergency contact telephone numbers must be posted at suitably visible locations so as to enable immediate action when necessary. If practicable, a rescue team consisting of suitably trained persons should be formed. The decision to evacuate from underground to surface should be token by the most senior person present at the time. Notwithstanding the above, the supervisory staff and management level of both the engineer and the contractor should be proactive and consciously in performing their duties so as to ensure the safety requirements laid down in the contract documents, the safety plan and the method statements being complied with at all times, and take immediate actions should irregularities be observed. Conclusion The trenchless techniques for sewer construction in Hong Kong have been proved to be satisfactory with less construction time and less disturbance to the public when compared with the open trench method. Some of the problems presented in this paper could have been avoided or minimized had suitable type of method been selected based on detailed site investigation results and site constraints, and proper planning provided in advance. It is hoped that, through the further development and research of the techniques, the problems related to the technical side can be controlled in a more effective manner. It is also essential to include comprehensive rather than general requirements in the contract to fully cover each activity of works, which should be practical and specific with regard to site constraints, with the contractors responsibility and actions being clearly defined, so that different views between the engineer and the contractor on problems, when occurred, can be minimized. The experience, training and attitude of the working and supervising personnel also have a significant effect on the success of work.

Wilson Mok

Wilson W.S. Mok Wilson Mok graduated from the University of Windsor in Canada and has over 23 years practical working experience in a wide variety of geotechnical and civil engineering projects in both design office and site. He is particularly experienced in dealing with design and construction associated with geotechnical investigations and instrumentation, deep excavations, tunnels, ground improvements, settlement analysis, reclamation, site formation, slope preventive measures, foundations and sewerage works. He has worked as a resident engineer for Fugro, Mouchel, Mott Macdonald and Maunsell, and is currently employed by Atkins for the same post on a DSD Contract.

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January 2001