ITA/AITES

ITA/AITES – Training Course

TUNNEL ENGINEERING

GROUND REINFORCING FOR TUNNELLING

THE EXAMPLE OF STEEL PIPE UMBRELLA
Prepared by “D. Peila”

Istanbul - 2005

4th of May 2005 1/56

1 Index
Introduction

2
Chapter 1: Classification of ground reinforcement tecniques

3
Chapter 2: Steel pipe umbrella

4
Chapter 3: Design approach

5 References

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1 Introduction
Difficult geotechnical conditions
Self supporting time and free span are too short and
2 not compatible with an industrial activity

3 Solutions

- To reduce the size of the excavation sections

4 - To improve the rock mass quality or reinforce it
- To pre-support the excavation
5 - To apply a pressure to the tunnel face

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1 Introduction

USE OF GROUND REINFORCEMENT

2 To adeguate the free span and
the self supporting time to the
Traditional excavation industrial needs which require to
enlarge the excavation section
3

4 To Cross “geo” problems

TBM excavation which were encountered with a
non suitable TBM
5

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1 Introduction

2
Tunnel ground reinforcement methods can be
classified on the basis of
3

4 Construction method Action

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1 Chapter 1

2 Construction method

improvement
3
reinforcement

4 presupport

drainage
5

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1 Chapter 1
IMPROVEMENT
2 Methods which improve (from the engineering point of
view) the mechanical or hydraulic properties of the rock
mass: injecting fluids or freezing the fluids already present
3 in the ground

4
Injection (at low pressure)
5 Jet grouting
Freezing

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1 Chapter 1
Systematic jet-grouting
2

5 Montà d’Alba tunnel (Italy)

(courtesy of Geodata S.p.A)

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1 Chapter 1
Injection around the tunnel
2

Milan Metro (Italy)

5 .

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1 Chapter 1

REINFORCEMENT
2 Methods which use the insertion, inside the rock mass, of
structural elements with one prevalent dimention

3 They apply shear stresses to

the rock mass on the contact
surface
4
Bolts
5 Micropiles
Cable bolting

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1 Chapter 1

Radial bolting from a pilot bore

2

5 Serena Tunnel (Italy)

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1 Chapter 1
Tunnel face bolting
2

5
Tunnel face reinforcement schemes
Highspeed railway between Bologna and Florence (Italy)

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1 Chapter 1
Tunnel face bolting

5
Tunnel face reinforcement schemes
Highspeed railway between Bologna and Florence (Italy)

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1 Chapter 1
Tunnel face bolting

5
Brossure CAVET

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1 Chapter 1

Pre-support
2 Methods which use the insertion, in the rock mass, of
structural elements ahead the tunnel face with the
purpose to create a pre-support before the excavation
3

4
Mechanical precut
Pretunnel
5 Steel pipe umbrella
Arch of microtunnels
(1/2)

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1 Chapter 1
If improvement techniques are used to create a reinforced
2 zone around the tunnel and ahead the tunnel face
The global action must be considered as the most important and
therefore this intervention must be classified as a pre-support
3

4
Jet-grouting arch with or without reinforcement
Consolidation of the tunnel profile: injected and reinforced
5 with glass fiber elements
Injection around the tunnel (2/2)

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1 Chapter 1
Steel pipe umbrella
2

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1 Chapter 1

4
Steel pipe umbrella
5 Jet grouting columns on the face

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1 Chapter 1
jet-grouting arch

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1 Chapter 1
Forepoling

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1 Chapter 1

precut
2

4 Precut and face reinforcement

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1 Chapter 1

DRAINAGE
2

Technologies which purpose is to take away water from

3 the rock mass in a controlled way

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1 Chapter 1
Action
2
Methods which modify the convergence-confinement curve

3 Methods which modify the radial displacement at the face

Methods which guarantee the stability of the free span

4 Methods which guarantee the local stability of the face

5
Methods which guarantee the stability of local volumes

Methods which control water inflow

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1 Chapter 1
Global view of the position of reinforcement around a tunnel

5 Courtesy Geodata S.p.A. Torino,Italy

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1 Chapter 1
Methods which modify the convergence-confinement curve

2
pressure
P0

5
displacement

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1 Chapter 1

2 Methods which modify the radial displacement at the face

pressure P0

3
linea di reazioneLINE
REACTION dei sostegni
OF THE SUPPORTS

4
REDUCTION OF THE DISPLACEMENT AT THE TUNNEL FACE

5 u0 * u
0

displacement

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1 Chapter 1

2 Methods which guarantee the stability of the free span and of the face

3
Face stabilization

4 Free span stabilization

free span

5 lining

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1 Chapter 2

Steel pipe umbrella

2
Steel pipe umbrella is a pre-reinforcement technique
which is obtained by installing steel pipes ahead of the
3 tunnel face.

The steel pipes usually have a dip of 5°-10° (with

4 reference to the horizontal) in a way as to form an
umbrella with a truncated cone shape and which allows
the overlapping of two adjacent umbrellas.
5

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1 Chapter 2
Steel pipe umbrella

4
It is possible to cover advance lengths of 12-13m, of which 9-10m are
5 actual excavation, account being taken of the necessary overlap
between two sets of steel pipes to guarantee the stability of the face.

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1 Chapter 2
Steel pipe umbrella
2
DO NOT MODIFY

3
the convergence-confimement curve

4 the position of the reaction line of the supports

5
Guarantee the stability of the tunnel free span

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1 Chapter 2

Steel pipe umbrella. Example of application

2

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1 Chapter 2

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1 Chapter 2

Steel pipe
2

3
head
4
bench

5 Steel arches and shotcrete

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1 Chapter 2
Example of Steel pipe umbrella in a morenic debris

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1 Chapter 2

2
ur (mm) Without face reinforcement
TUNNEL FACE
REINFORCEMENT
3 With face reinforcement Reduces the radial
displacement of the tunnel
boundaries near the face

5 distanza
Distancedal fronte
from the di scavo
face [m](m)

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1 Chapter 2
Steel pipe umbrella
with TBM tunnelling
2

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1 Chapter 2
Steel pipe umbrella
with TBM tunnelling
2

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1 Chapter 2
Steel pipe umbrella with TBM tunnelling
2

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1 Chapter 2
CONSTRUCTION ASPECTS

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1 Chapter 2
CONSTRUCTION ASPECTS

2 In the case of drilling with the D. T. H. hammer, the

valves may be those currently used for the traditional
manchettes. The presence of a non-return valve fitted
3 to the outside of the reinforcing pipe does not generate
any problems since the pipe is simply pushed inside the
hole that has been made.
4 In the case of cased rotopercussion drilling the valves
must necessarily be located in the thickness of the pipe
to prevent them to be damaged during drilling.
5

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1 Chapter 2
CONSTRUCTION ASPECTS
The injection techniques used are basically the following
2 two:
the packer method by means of which each single valve is pressurized;

4 -the total injection method: each pipe is injected using a packer placed at
the top of the pipe.

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1 Chapter 2
CONSTRUCTION ASPECTS

2 The injection of stabilizing mixes surrounding the

steel pipe depends on the type of soil :
1) in uniform cohesionless soils this injection is of crucial
importance : it prevents the soil caving between adjacent
3 pipe;
2) in morenic soils with large blocks or boulders
embedded in a more or less closed matrix, the purpose of
4 the injection is to fill any voids in the matrix, insofar as the
soil is generally self-supporting between one pipe and the
next;
5 3) in soils or rocks when the matrix is sufficiently closed
and therefore the rock mass has a certain cohesion, the
injection may not even be necessary.

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1 Chapter 2
EQUIPMENT

2
The execution of the umbrella arch required the
developments of special equipments capable of
3 performing all the consolidation of each umbrella in the
shortest possible time.
For this reason, equipments capable of operating in
4 confined space, quickly setting-up in the required
drilling position and also capable of assuring a very
high production rate have been designed.
5

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1 Chapter 2

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1 Chapter 3
DESIGN APPROACH

2 The design of the intervention with steel pipe umbrella is

particularly complex due to:
•the high number of involved parameters;
•the impossibility of correctly considering the influence of all the
parameters through empirical methods (basically based on
3 experience acquired on similar grounds);
•the inadequacy of analytical methods to simulate tunnel face
effect;
•the computational costs and complexity of three-dimensional

4 numerical method applications;

•the difficulties of interpreting the effect of the overlapping of the
umbrellas and their connection to the steel sets, of the stiffness of
steel sets in comparison to the vertical loads and of the influence
of the mechanical characteristics of the ground at the excavation
5 face;
•the influence of the position of the excavation face on the stress
state induced inside the metallic elements (i.e. residual length of
the pipe in the ground).

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1 Chapter 3
DESIGN APPROACH
2

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1 Chapter 3
DESIGN APPROACH
2 Stability is checked by calculating the stresses due to
bending and shear arising in the pipes from the loads
(transmitted by the ground), and taking into account only
3 the steel section of the pipes as resisting section (a
reductive factor is applied to account for the pipe
perforations).
4 The pipes are considered as almost horizontal fixed end
beams

5 The hole spacing must be chosen according to the

ground properties: grain size, permeability etc.;

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1 Chapter 3
DESIGN APPROACH
2 It can be safely supposed that the loads acting on the
umbrella are transmitted to the steel arches.

3 It is important:

-to check that the steel arches and the pipes are in good
4 contact

-to guarantee that the steel arches do not have

movements (need of a good foundation).
5

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1 Chapter 3
DESIGN APPROACH

5
Enlarged foot and underpinning of the steel arch

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1 Chapter 3
DESIGN APPROACH
2
Steel pipe
ombrello di infilaggi

centina
Steel arch Tunnel face
fronte di scavo
3
d s g
4 q
a)
L=(d+s+g)
5 q
b)
L=(d+s+g)

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1 Chapter 3
DESIGN APPROACH
2 The steel pipe is considered as almost horizontal fixed
end beams anchored in the ground after a distance g
(which is difficult to be defined).
3
It is also possible to consider a not perfect fixed end and
use the following equations for the evaluation of the
4 bending moments
(− ) 1
[
M max = − ⋅ I ⋅ q ⋅ L2
] M (+ )
max =
1 1
−
 8 16 ⋅ I +
1
⋅ I 2
 ⋅ [
q ⋅ L2
]
8  128 

5 If the steel pipe is modeled as a beam on two supports,

(I=0) the bending moments are bigger

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1 Chapter 3

2 DESIGN APPROACH

3 Pipe bending moments

Steel arches maximum loads
ARE INFLUENCED BY
4
stiffness of the ground ahead the face, of the steel arches, of the pipes

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1 Chapter 3

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1 Conclusions and references
THE USE OF GROUND REINFORCEMENTS
2 REQUIRE

DESIGN VERSATILITY
3
Consider and

4
compare all the
To make the
technologies
design using
Compare the various which are
modern
options taking into availoable
procedure
account the long and
5 Use 3D models
shoret term stability

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1 Conclusions and references
The conventional excavation full face

2 in difficult “geo” conditions

ADVANTAGES Cannot be done without
face reinforcement

3
⇒High level of mechanization
⇒High flexibility to adapt the reinforcement ahead the tunnel
4 face at the geological conditions encountered during excavation
⇒Good control of boundaries displacement and face extrusion
⇒Good control of the subsidences
5
⇒Possibility of casting the invert, near the face

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