Immersed Tunnels

Nestor S. Rasmussen, Exec. Vice Pres.

Christiani & Nielsen A/S. Sborg, Denmark

Introduction
Worldwide, some one hundred tunnels
have been constructed by means of the

immersed tube technique, the first of

these tunnels being the Detroit River
Tunnel between Detroit, Michigan,
USA. and Windsor, Ontario. Canada,
opened in 1910. Of the existing immersed tunnels. 90% serve road and
railway traffic. while the remaining are
service tunnels which convey electrical
cables. pipelines and the like, or act as
water intakes or outflows.

Immersed tunnels are normally classified in two main categories, the American type, or, the steel shell type. and

the European type, or, the reinforced

concrete box type. The Danish contribution to the immersed tunnel industr. as designers and as contractors. has
been made in the latter category,
where they have been pioneers.

Immersed Tube Technique

The immersed tube technique is confined to tunnels under waterways

where the waterway allows inexpensive transport of buoyant tunnel sections prefabricated on shore, normally
in a dock, to the tunnel site, an exca-

vated trench in the waterway bed,

which is backfilled after installation of
the tunnel elements. Apart from having advantages in soft subsoil, the immersed tunnel can be placed closer to
the original sea bed than a bored tun-

nel, allowing approach ramps to be

nel is most suitable for soft subsoil because it is buoyant and excess weight

in the permanent stage is kept at a

minimum.

The steel shell-type immersed tunnel

uses prefabricated cylindrical steel
shells as waterproofing and as integrated structural elements. A concrete
lining is placed within the floating steel
shell. This technique is more common

in the USA. together with the screed-

ed gravel bed foundation. The reinforced concrete box-type uses rectangular shaped reinforced concrete precast tunnel sections. This technique, together with a jetted sand foundation, is
more common in Europe.

Experience
The first Danish involvement in the
immersed tunnel industry dates back
to 1937. in a joint venture with a num-

ber of Dutch contractors for a fixed

crossing of the Maas River in Rotterdam for vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians. At that time, only seven immersed

traffic tunnels had been built in the

world and, except for a small pedestrian tunnel in Berlin in 1927. they were

all built in the USA and were of the

steel shell type.

The Maas Tunnel was the first tunnel

of the European-type, with a rectangular cross section and associated jetted
sand foundation. The design of the immersed tunnel section. the invention of
the sand jetting method. and the meth-

ods for installation of the tunnel sections were Danish innovations.

This pioneer project became a model

for immersed tube tunnelling worldwide, with Danish participation in no
less than twenty-three tunnels, twenty
of which were located outside Den-

mark. Of the ninety-four immersed

road and railway tunnels operational
today. twenty-five are located in the
USA. fifteen in the Netherlands and
fourteen in Japan. Danish tunnels
include the Limfjord road tunnel at
Aalborg (Fig. 1), a service tunnel under the harbour canal at Odense. and
the Guldborgsund road tunnel north
of Nykbing Falster.

The Future
With the increasing demand for efficient road use. the need for new immersed tube tunnels is evident. The
world's largest immersed tunnel will
be the 3.7 km road and railway tunnel,
with a cross section of 9 x 40 m. part of

the resund Link between Copenhagen, Denmark. and Malm. Sweden. Construction is due to start at the
end of 1995. and the tunnel should be
operational h the year 2000.
St. Petersburg, Hong Kong and Singa-

pore are other places where new immersed tunnels can be expected. The

continued development of the immersed tube method, and technical ad-

vances of both consultants and contractors, means that the industry is well
prepared to meet these challenges.

shorter.

Another merit of the immersed tube

tunnel is that the tunnel sections are
built under well controlled workshop
conditions. Permanent works of high

quality can therefore be achieved.

Transporting prefabricated tunnel sections to the tunnel site does not expose
them to any undesirable loadings.

The foundation for the tunnel can either be constructed before or after the
tunnel element is sunk and connected
with previously placed sections. in the
latter case normally by hydraulic injec-

tion of sand. The immersed tube tunStructural Engineering International 4/95

Fig. 1: Site of the Li.'njjord Tunnel, Aalborg. Denmark. 1969

Structures in Denmark 213