Case studies of building response due to TBM-tunnelling in Dutch soft soil

H. Netzel Faculty of Architecture TU Delft & Delft Cluster & Witteveen + Bos ABSTRACT: This paper deals with a full scale test on the influence of TBM-tunnelling on adjacent buildings. The test will be carried out at the COB-test site of the Sophia Railway Tunnel nearby Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Twin tunnels (outer diameter of 9,45m, horizontal offset of the tunnels 19,5m, depth ca. 20m below surface level) will be constructed in typical Western-Dutch soft soil with fully mechanized shield tunnelling (slurry mode). The tunnels pass four masonry houses (in March 2002), which are located inside the influence zone of the deformation field of the tunnels. The COB (Dutch Centre of Underground Works) committee F220 has defined a research program to predict, monitor and analyse the deformation behaviour of these buildings during and after the passage of the tunnel. The results will be used to calibrate existing building damage assessment methods (numerical damage prediction and analytical empirical methods) for Dutch conditions. This paper describes the set-up of the test programme, the objectives of the test and the installed monitoring systems. 1 INTRODUCTION The COB (Dutch Centre of underground works) is a knowledge association which coordinates practicerelated research on all relevant technical, political and social topics of underground works. The Full Scale Test on the influence of tunnelling on adjacent buildings at the Sophia Railway tunnel nearby Rotterdam, is part of the Masterplan TBMtunnelling Research of the COB. The COB has defined in this Masterplan, research programs for 5 TBM-tunnel projects at different locations in the Netherlands, which will be built over a period of ca. 10 years. A collaboration between the COB and the clients of these projects, being Railinfrabeheer, Municipality of Amsterdam and the Project organisation of the High Speel Rail Link Project (HSL-Zuid) is arranged, with the aim to use all 5 projects for practice-related Full Scale testing. The aim of the Masterplan bored tunnels is to use the specialized experiences of all involved parties (authorities, clients, contractors, designers, research institutes and industry) for an effective structured development of knowledge on the field of underground works in Dutch soft soil. 2 COB TEST-SITE AT THE SOPHIA RAILWAY TUNNEL The Sophia railway tunnel is part of the Betuweroute. The Betuweroute is the first railway in the Netherlands that is designed exclusively for freight transport. The 160 kilometres of freight track will ensure that cargo arriving at the world port of Rotterdam is transported quickly and safely to the European neighbour countries. Many wagons will return filled with products that will continue to their final destination by sea. The Betuweroute contains three bored tunnels, of which the Sophia railway tunnel is the second and the longest with app. 8 km. The Sophia Railway Tunnel consists of two-single rail tubes with an outer diameter of 9,45m. The TBM is a slurry shield type and the precast concrete lining segments are 0,4m thick. The COB test site is about 100m long and includes four adjacent masonry houses, which are used for research. The location of the houses with respect to the tunnels is shown in the map (figure 1) and the cross section A-A in figure 2. The detailed monitoring instrumentation of the test is described in chapter 4.

Figure 1: Map of the COB-test site

B. TBM-technology (tail void grouting control) The aim of the TBM -technology research is to get a better understanding of the distribution of the grout pressures in the tail void in different stages of the tunnelling process and to develop relations between this important, potential settlement reducing TBMprocess parameter and the settlement performance in the immediate surrounding. Detailed flow models of the grout in the tail void are used to predict the pressure distribution. The actual grout pressures in the tail void are monitored and compared with the predictions. C. Tunnelling Figure 2: Cross section A-A of the COB-test site 3 OBJECTIVES OF THE COB-RESEARCH PROGRAM SOPHIA RAILWAY TUNNEL The COB has set up a research program for the Sophia Railway tunnel, which is divided into three major committees, dealing with different research topics of TBM-tunnelling in soft soil. The experience from two earlier COB-research projects in the Netherlands (part of the Masterplan, see chapter 1) are used as starting point for the definition of the research program of the Sophia Railway Tunnel. A. Deformations and vibrations caused by TBM-tunnelling in the ground and on the adjacent buildings The aim is to validate and calibrate the prediction methods of settlements due tot TBM-tunnelling and its potential damage impacts on adjacent buildings with high frequent monitoring data of the Sophia Railway Tunnel. Building and soil deformations are monitored on line during the passage of the tunnels. The deformation of the soil will be compared with the deformation of the buildings to determine the soil-structure interaction effects for the typical Dutch masonry houses (two research buildings on piled foundations and two buildings on shallow foundations). The monitoring data will be analysed and compared with analytical, empirical and numerical predictions of the ground movements and the building deformation. State-of-art non-linear 3D calculations will be used to simulate the TBM-process and its impact on the surrounding masonry structures. The influence of vibrations due to TBM -tunnelling is also monitored in the soil and on the buildings. The aim is to get better understanding of the structural behaviour of the lining in the different stages of the TBM-process and to finally use this knowledge to improve the safety philosophies for different prediction models used in the design stage of segmental tunnels. The predictions of the lining loading, the lining forces and deformations in the construction stage (montage of segments) and the final stage are compared with the actual monitoring data. The pressures on the lining segments are monitored on-line at an instrumented tunnelling with cast -in pressure sensors. D. The heave of building pit bottoms due to excavation During and after the excavation of a building pit (used for the start shaft of the bored tunnel) in-situ soil deformation measurements were made. On basis of these measurements research was executed on the causes of heave (reversed settlement process) of the bottom of a building pit. The committee derived some guidelines which can be used in the design of (deep) building pits. 4 TEST SET UP FOR DEFORMATIONS IN THE SOIL AND THE BUILDIN GS This chapter presents the test set up for the research program on topic A, the soil deformations caused by TBM-tunnelling and its impact on the adjacent structures. The principle of the research work in the COB committee F220 is the cycle of prediction of deformations and damage, monitoring of the actual effects and the evaluation consisting of a comparison between the predictions and the measurements (see figure 3).

tic settlement predictions and has replaced the modelling of volume loss with the concentric contraction of the tunnel, which can lead to significant differences of predictions and actual measured deformations.

Figure 3: Research-cycle of the Full scale test The work on this field is split up in two parts:
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Prediction, monitoring and evaluation of the ground green field movements on surface and subsurface level due to TBMtunnelling. Prediction, monitoring and evaluation of the deformations of the adjacent buildings due to TBM-tunnelling.

Figure 4: Numerical green field settlement prediction 4.1.2 Building deformations Empirical, analytical methods The internationally used limiting tensile strain method is applied for the building damage assessment (see schematic figure 5a and 5b). By using these methods one should be aware of the restrictions, assumptions and backgrounds of these methods.

4.1 Predictions 4.1.1 Soil deformations Empirical, analytical: The current methods (Gaussian curves) used in engineering practice for the prediction of vertical and horizontal ground movements of the settlement troughs are applied in the first stage to predict the green field movements for different TBMperformances (in terms of volume loss) and different i-values for surface and subsurface level. Numerical: Advanced 2D and 3D Finite Element models are used to predict the horizontal and vertical green field movements on surface and subsurface level (see figure 4), taking into account the layered soil and nonlinear hardening soil models. The model is calibrated and validated at another COB-tunnel test site in the Netherlands, the Second Heinenoord Tunnel. The model includes a detailed modelling of the settlement inducing TBM-processes (jack forces, TBM-shape, front support, tail void grouting). The important tail void grouting is modelled with special pressure controlled elements. This gives more realis-

Figure 5a: Principles of the limiting tensile strain method (influence settlements)

4.2 Monitoring On Line monitoring systems, consisting of total stations and prisms fixed on the houses, will measure the impact on the buildings extensively before, during and after the TBM passage. Besides the automatic building monitoring system, the (green field) soil deformations will also be measured on surface and subsurface levels with automatic inclino- and extensometers. Building Monitoring Figure 5b: Principles of the limiting tensile strain method (influence horizontal ground movements) Numerical modelling of the building response Additional to the simplified empirical, analytical assessment methods, advanced 2D and 3D Finite Element models are set up for the four adjacent masonry houses (an example for one building, is shown in figure 6). Soil-structure interaction calculations (the ground is replaced by simplified spring elements and the green field deformations are imposed on this system) are carried out to determine the response of the buildings and the potential damage. 2D-model: 4 total stations are connected in a geodetic network, which is related to 15 reference points outside the zone of influence. The total stations measure on-line x,y,z-deformations of app. 120 prisms, fixed in small distances (0,5 to 1m) on the bearing facades of the buildings (see figure 7). The monitoring frequency is hourly and the accuracy is 0,5mm. Besides the monitoring system, defect surveys of the buildings are carried out before and after the passage of the tunnels to register the difference in damage in terms of crack widths, crack lengths and the amount of cracks.

Figure 7: On-Line building monitoring 3D-model: Ground Monitoring Cross section B is instrumented to monitor the horizontal and vertical ground deformations on surface and subsurface levels (see figure 8). In two other cross-sections (C and D) only the surface deformations are monitored. Combined inclinochains and extensometers are installed in one borehole. Additionally there are points installed every 20m along the axis of the tunnels to measure the settlement above the tunnel on surface level. Figure 6: Numerical models for damage prediction of the buildings

Figure 8: Online ground monitoring 5 CONCLUSIONS The COB full scale test creates an excellent opportunity to measure on line the response of 4 Dutch masonry houses on the soil deformations caused by TBM-tunnelling with a 9,5m diameter slurry shield. The fine mesh of monitoring sensors on the structural units of the buildings deliver detailed information about the development of the TBM-induced building deformations. Fully documented case studies on four adjacent masonry houses include the prediction and monitoring of deformations in the soil and on the buildings and consequently the damage in the buildings. These case studies are used to validate and calibrate the existing, empirically derived damage assessment methods and evaluate the results regarding the applicability for these methods for Dutch conditions. .