THAT MOST BASIC of linings ina tunnel or underground cavern - shoterete- is undergo- ing major changes. Not only isthe lining itself highly specialized for a particular projec, but also the way in which that lining is used. While North American SCL technology has tended more towards the traditional methods ‘when compared to Europe, its on the cusp ‘of major change. “Traditionally shotcrete was used only as temporary lining to stabi- ize ground. But now it can serve as final ln ing with a tunnel design ife of 75 to 100 years. Engineers were not originally con- vinced that it could hold up for this amount Of time, but its becoming accepted and spectied more and mare,” said one North, ‘American industry expert. That single shift has led to a host of other changes in SCL for underground projects Wet shotcrete ‘The shift from dry to wet shotcrete in North American civil works tunnels i following the shift in the mining industry, and represents ‘one of the biggest changes. "Dry shotcrete has been used in mining operations for a long time, but rebound is a problem,” ex- plains Brad Knight, Area Sales Leader for Underground Construction at BASF. With ‘over 30 years in the industry, Knight has seen the shifts in preferred shotaete in both mines and cil works tunnels, “I's been shown that with dry shotcrete you get 10 to 15% re- 16 NORTH AMERICAN TUNNELING JOURNAL NATS looks at North America’s rapidly advancing sprayed concrete lining industry and how it offers solutions for a host of underground challenges bound. However with mace typical use that number is 15 to 25%, That means if you have a 1000kg bag, maybe only 800kg goes ‘on the tunnel face. Dust is a factor that many mines and projects won't accept, and the production rate is slow, about 5 to 10 cubic meters per hour." ‘Wet shotcrete, while it does require a batch plant at ste, has dear advantages. The mate: rial is vensported to the face and sprayed at 2 maximum rate of 20 to 30 cubic meters per hour Air and a variety of accelerants and ad- cltves can be mixed at the nozzle. Rebound and dust, says Knight, are reduced signif cantly.“ cil tunnel jobs, wet mix is becom ing more dominant, | would say 70-80% of tunne's now. It alows for better qualty con- tua, and is easy to work with, with less dust Dry mix sill has a certain amount of the mar ket; overall it's a simple technology. You can sill get a good quality from a dry mix, you just need to contol the dust,” said one inde Pendent industry consultant. For example, continued the consultant, there are special applications where dry mixis better if there is ‘groundwater present, or if the tunnel is small, itis easier to use a dry mix with smaller equipment as no ready moc truck is needed For this reason, both small diameter tunne's and structures like cross passages often use dy mix shotcrete. Recent subway tunnels such as U220, U230 and North Link in Seat tle, Washington have all sed dry mx for ‘multiple cross passages between parallel tun nels. “However, the market i leaning more and more towards wet mix wsing large ro- botic sprayers and chemical admoctures such as hydration stabilizers and accelerators.” Indeed, it seems that admixtures are a huge growth area, with companies such as UTT Mapei and BASF offering a wide range of superplasticizess, accelerant, and more. According to Knight at BASF, the capabilities of the industry are quite impressive: “Super plasticizers result in very dense sprayed con- cele. I may be oversimpllying things, but as ‘a general rule a good mixis a homogenous, dense mix. Another technology that achieves this is colloidal silica. Most concrete mixes use between & and 10% silica fue but finer si- ica results in much better mixes. The mature ‘must be thick so that mechanical bonding is bette.” Stablizers and accelerants also play an important role, especialy in long tunnels Using wet shotcrete mixes, says Knight. Stabi- lizers can keep a concrete mix from settingfor 610 12 hours before it's used, whereas normal concrete would start to set up within Cone to two hours. Accelerant can be added at the nozde to effectively “wake the concrete up” and stat the setting process. BASF's ad mixtures worked well at Canada's Niagara Tunnel Project, wherea large, 14.4m diameter Main Bearn TBM bored through unstabie ‘ground requiring shoterete over a significant portion Equipment and training “There is always a need for more traning, said BASP’s Region Head-NAFTA for Under {ground Construction jim Lindsay. “Recently the American Shotcrete Association adcressed ust these points and i moving forward to buld further awareness of shotcrete in US. ‘tunneling applications. During a meeting of the American Shotcrete Assocation at the World of Concrete radeshow, it was agreed that robotic application of shotcrete has de foots in the European tunnetng market, so mote education of this application would be needed.’ To further application knowledge, BASF conducts sprayed concrete workshops in ‘switzerland twice a year utilizing experienced nstructors and operators thers in the industry agree. “The most im- portant thing thatthe industry hasn't realized 5 that the quality ofthe sprayed concrete lin- ng is diredly related to its application,” said ‘an industry consultant "The designer and Contractor must keep in mind that as the ma- terials applied pneumatically, compaction is ‘achieved by high speed impact, and thus the application process affects shotcrete quality. There is a knowledge gap between what is specified and what the contractor does. They naven't caught up on how to improve con- ete - in terms of consolidation, minimizing voids, and improving strength. We have to think about it differenty, both qualty and durability Poor quality results in ow durability ‘and inot reaching design life. There is @ need for contractors to understand and to catch up we ore, ery Pet ith the atest technology. To that end, the latest technology can and does improve the application process. Robotic shoterete technology can be pated with laser scanning for mare accurate application, BASF’s Knight explains, “t's a laser scanner on ‘boom, which scans the heading, and then works with a rabatieshotcrete arm to apply the proper thickness automatically using a specified rate of application. it can be used in semi-automatic and automatic mode." The pumps themselves, whether conveying wet or dry mix, are another important part of the process in guaranteeing the mixture is cor rect at application. At REED Concrete Pumps 2 Shotcrete Equipment, Manager Mike New- comb is excited about several new develop- ments. The company’s versatile SOVE Mode! Gunite Machines can convey not anly shot crete, but also sprayed waterprosting mem branes such as BASF's Masterseal 345, The Gunite Machines, for dry mix shotcrete, are ideal for small applications, and where appli- ‘ation requires frequent starting and stopping In addition, REED's Mine30 Wet-Shoterete Pump offers efficient application of wet mix shoterete in tunnels, using a compact design that's meant to be cross-mounted on a carer Underground, But the company's most capa ble of compact pumps may be the C5055 Diesel Driven Wet Shotcrete Pump, now being Used to convey wet shotcrete over a lang dis tance at the Digindy Tunnels in Indianapolis, Indiana, The tunnels, which stretch for thou- sands of feet, area challenge that s well suited to the pump’s powerful application (itis ity and cost standpoint this could be ¢ good solution. There's stil more education that needs to bbe done in the marketplace," says Lewandowski of new developments in fibers, People treat fibers as a commodity, but they are not all created equal. It's important to look at the actual performance, not the dosage rate specs that are prescribed to the contractor. Dosage rate doesn’t mean aniy- thing if that fiber is not high-quality.” Within the next fve to 10 years, Lindsay sees more significant changes and agrees that successful performance and education are key, "We are seeing more specications for sprayed waterproofing membranes as part of a high performance composite lining system. Often successful technologies from Europe can take time to gain a foothold in North America however, more and more projects are being spec’d and using these systems successfully Its really up to our in- dusty to get the word out to the engineer- ing community, to adopt the benefits of single shell and composite shell Inings, ro boc shotcrete application, and other deve oping advancements."