EASTERN WASTEWATER

TUNNEL, MEXICO CITY

To: Prof. Baiyun and Research group

by: Wang Shao and Nana

TONGJI UNIVERSITY, 2016

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION
3

2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT

3
3. SITE
INVESTIGATION...3
4. GEOLOGICAL
CONDITIONS4
5. PROJECT
STATS4
6. ANALYSIS OF THE FINAL LINING
.5
7. ACTUAL STATE OF
PROJECT5
8.
REFERENCES.6
9.
APPENDIX7

1. INTRODUCTION
Tunnel Emisor Oriente is a 62km long underground wastewater treatment tunnel
being built in Mexico City, Mexico. It is also known as the Eastern Discharge Tunnel /
Eastern Wastewater Tunnel / East Issuing Tunnel. Currently it is scheduled for a 2014
opening and is set to be one of the largest wastewater tunnels in the world.
Construction work on the project first began in August 2008. It was scheduled for
completion in 2012, but construction work halted in 2010 due to flooding. As of May
2012, 50% of the construction work has been completed.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT
The tunnel crosses soft clayey soils of the lake zone of Mexico Valley. These
clays are submitted to an on-going subsidence process associated to intense pumping
of water from the aquifer in the urban area. The obtained results allow a better
understanding of the soil-tunnel interaction as the medium is submitted to the effects of
a double process of consolidation: firstly due to changes in effective stresses generated
by the tunnel excavation and, secondly, due to the long term piezometric drawdown in
the soil.

3. SITE INVESTIGATION
The N-value provides an indication of the relative density of the subsurface soil,
and it is used in empirical geotechnical correlation to estimate the approximate shear
strength properties of the soils. Table 1 (Correlation between SPT-N value, friction
angle, and relative density (Meyerhoff 1956)
Table 1

SPT
N3 [Blows/0.3 m - 1
ft]
<4
4 - 10
10 - 30
30 - 50
> 50

S
oil packing
V
ery loose
L
oose
C
ompact
D
ense
V
ery Dense

Relative
Density [%]
< 20
20 - 40
40 - 60
60 - 80
> 80

Frict
ion angle []
<
30
30 35
35 40
40 45
>
45

Auvinet et al. (2012) studied the new main drain- age Tunnel Emisor Oriente
(TEO) in Mexico City of 62000 m long. They used an estimated exponen- tial
distribution to simulate the evolutions of the mechanical characteristics of the soil (water
con- tent w%; NSPT). They use kriging technique to construct a geotechnical cross
structure for the water content and the SPT resistance (Fig. 1).

4. GEOLOGICAL CONDITIONS
Refer to Appendix II
5. PROJECT STATS
Owner
Mexicos National Water Commission CONAGUA is undertaking the project;
CONAGUA is also responsible for management of the tunnel.
The estimated cost for the project is 15 billion-peso ($1.18bn).
Main joint venture
COMISSA (Constructora Mexicana de Infraestructura Subterrnea, S.A)
Contractors

Include five companies specialized in the construction of deep drainage tunnels,

dividing the length of the project in six lots as follows. (Refer to Appendix I for contact
details)
Lots I and II: ICA (Ingenieros Civiles Asociados).
Lots III and IV: CICSA (Carso Infraestructura y Construccion S.A. ).
Lot V: COTRISA (Construcciones y Trituraciones, S.A. )
Lot VI: LOMBARDO and CESA (Lombardo Construcciones, S.A. de C.V. y
Constructora Estrella, S.A. de C.V. )
Others
Poyry is responsible for supervising and providing technical consultancy services
for the project. It is also installing its 2DOC* underground data management system in
the tunnel.

6. ANALYSIS OF THE FINAL LINING

Design of tunnel lining in consolidating soft soils(Appendix III)

7. ACTUAL STATE OF PROJECT

Three production plants are responsible for manufacturing the segments:
Ecatepec, Zumpango and Huehuetoca located in the State of Mxico. 42000 rings of
1500mm width will be needed to finish the full length of tunnel.
Each production plant was supposed to supply total 14000 rings, the 3 plants
were able to fabricate up to 84 rings per day.
The tunnel excavation started on September 2008, according to Robbins EPBs
worker, at lot I from shaft L-0 to L-3 a problem was encountered with the Herrenknecht
EPB and the excavation of an unplanned shaft L-3A had to be made in order to install
the Robbins EPB that was being used on shaft L-10 at that moment, to continue the
excavation from L3A to L1 .
Robbins EPB was assembling 100 rings/month, between 16-20 rings per day.
Timeline
September 2008- Excavation start
June 2013- The first 10km were finished. Estimate the total construction on 2016

Oct 2015- the total investment increase in a 5% of the initial one, expected to be
done on 2018.
January 2016- According to local news, the excavation is about to reach the shaft
L-22

8. REFERENCES
Thesis from UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico)
http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2014/10/26/capital/032n1cap
http://www.poyry.com/news/wastewater-tunnel-will-reduce-flood-risk-mexicocitys-20-million-inhabitants
http://www.water-technology.net/projects/tunnel-emisor-oriente-teo-mexico/

9. APPENDIX
Appendix I, Contractors contact info.

COMPANY NAME
el
LOMBARDO

ICA

CO
MIS
SA

CICSA

CESA

COTRISA

eb
page

CONTACT INFO.
T
(55) 5616-8018
W

www.lombardo.com.mx
e- infolombardo@lombardo
mail ad. .com.mx
T
55 5272-9991
el
W
eb
www.ica.com.mx
page
email ad.
T
5249 89 00
el
W
eb
www.ccicsa.com.mx
page
email ad.
T
55 52002270
el
W
cesa@constructoraestrell
eb
page
a.com
ewww.constructoraestrella
mail ad. .com.mx
T
52-55-55445200
el
W
eb
page
econtacto@cotrisa.com.m
mail ad. x

*Tunnels (2DOC)
2DOC is a software product for management and analysis of data
collected throughout the construction works of a tunneling project. 2DOC
integrates data of various fields of expertise and is uses as a collaboration
plattform in the team. For site managers, owners and experts in the different
fields 2DOC is a mighty tool to easen everyday work.
http://www.poyry.at/en/sectors-services/energy/hydropower/tunnels2doc
Appendix II, geological conditions PDF format
Appendix III, Design of lining PDF format