EM 1110-2-2901

15 Sep 78

NOTES ON CHAPTER DEVELOPMENT

The following notes may be considered, in part, as a rough summary

of the development of the technical discussions in this report. The

main intent, however, is to emphasize points of general practical

significance that may be drawn from the discussion in each chapter

and to comment on the need for interpretation in actual situations.

CHAPTER 2. EVOLUTION OF TUNNEL DESIGN CONCEPTS - A LIMITED SURVEY

This brief account is intended to demonstrate the evolution of

approaches to tunnel and shaft support design over the past three-

quarters of a century.

Early work tended to assume that the rock exerted a fixed load

on the support. Methods of estimating appropriate values of load

were proposed - the Terzaghi Rock Load tables are one example.

Engineers in several countries increasingly questioned 'fixed

load' ideas as being fundamentally unsound, asserting on the basis

of practical experience that tunnel supports in rock must be con-

sidered as indeterminate structures - the load on the support varies

with the deformation allowed to occur in the rock. Yielding supports

and the New Austrian Tunneling Method are practical application of

this view.

Further improvements in tunnel support methods should result

from a wider appreciation of the principles of rock-support inter-

action. Field observations on support loads and deformations are

needed before reliable guidelines for design in specific rock

conditions can be established.

CHAPTER 3. DEVELOPMENT OF ROCK LOADS IN TUNNELING AND THE DETERMINATION

OF SUPPORT REQUIREMENTS

Ihe radial deformation (u) of a tunnel wall that occurs immediately

upon excavation is of the order of u = aa/E (where a is the tunnel

radius, a is the average 'pre-tunneling' rock pressure, and E is the

modulus of elasticity of the rock mass). Thus, the elastic deform-

ation is typically much less than one inch (e.g. if a = 100 in. a =

1000 p.s.i.; E = 1 x 10 p.s.i. then u = 0.1 in). The total deform-

ation is usually substantially larger, and results from-, time-dependent

movements along joints, between grains, etc. Some of this may occur

ahead of the face, but once the walls are exposed the deformation develops

more rapidly. Also, stress concentrations at the tunnel face and for some

distance ahead (^ 1/4 tunnel diameter) may in some instances cause

the face to deform excessively (e.g. by slip along a fault or layers

dipping into the face), allowing the tunnel walls to deform further

before they are exposed.

K-xii

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