MIN 383-5: TEMPORARY GROUND CONTROL BY SHOTCRETE (Open the Folder, in

the Course CD, 383-5 Lesson Pics for veiwing the pictures and Tables referenced in this
lesson.)

Introduction:

While cement has been used for over 5000 years to build structures, it was only after an
American naturalist/sculptor, Carl E. Akeley developed his double chambered cement gun in
1907, for the purpose of building better trophy mounts, that pneumatic placement of cement was
possible. In the early days, these machines were known as gunite machines, and they were
primarily used to place concrete into locations that were difficult to reach with any other way. I
used a gunite machine in a mine in 1948 to place concrete into forms in a slusher drift in a
sublevel open stope mine. But early attempts to simply spray it onto the walls of rock and build
up a thickness to carry a load were mostly failures. Though in 1952, there was a successful
application in a tunnel in conjunction with roof bolts, as reported by Keifer (1966). Also in
1952, the Swiss reported using sprayed mortar as the sole support on tunnels in the Maggia
hydroelectric development. (King, 1996)

However throughout the early development years only sand/cement mortars could be used. But
by 1953 to 1958, machines were developed which could place up to 1-inch aggregate. By the
1960's numerous tunnels were being temporarily supported by shotcrete. In several places, twin
tunnels were being driven, one with the use of shotcrete, and the other by more conventional
support. In such cases, the shotcrete proved its value. Most of these developments were taking
place in the Alps of southern Europe and in Scandinavia. Even though Guniting had been
developed first in U.S., progress lagged probably more because of a lot of bad experience with
early gunite machines then any other reason: engineers thought they had tried it once, and it
didn’t work so well, and they were not interested in trying it again. There were four North
American cases in the very late 1960's: the Canadian National Railways Tunnel, the Tehachapi
No. 1 tunnel, the Balboa Tunnel, and the shaft at the Lucky Friday Mine. In the early days, it was
almost all dry mix applications but gradually some wet mix applications were done.

What is Shotcrete?

It is mixture of cement, aggregate and additives that are conveyed through a hose and
pneumatically placed in layers, at high velocity onto a soil or rock surface. Water is either added
at the spray nozzle (dry mixed) or mixed in a batch before spraying (wet mixed). The shotcrete
should take a rapid initial set in 1 to 6 minutes, and a final set in 12 to 20 minutes, depending on
the accelerators used. (King, 1996)

Where Should Shotcrete Be Used?

In mining, it is utilized for underground openings, such as shafts, drifts, raises, haulageways, and
service chambers. It is considered a final lining for most mining where it is used. It is even used

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as a protective covering for excavated surfaces to protect the rock from air slacking, however,
there are cheaper materials that can be used to seal rock from moisture than shotcrete.

In contracted tunneling, it should be used where the Rock Mass Classification calls for it.
Unfortunately, where TBMs are used, many contractors don’t like to use shotcrete within 500
feet of the TBM cutter head, for fear that the shotcrete dust will foul the mechanical mechanisms
of the TBM. They would much rather install split set roofbolts and wire mesh and even follow
up with steel sets rather than use shotcrete.

In my opinion, you should absolutely never use shotcrete to cover wooden support timbers
because they will rot and still look like they are supporting a load when they are not. Covering
steel members is okay and this is done quiet often: particularly Pentex girders, which we
discussed in the last lesson.

How Should Shotcrete Be Used?

 It should be used on walls that have been washed clean. Bonding of the shotcrete
to the rock is more important than the thickness of the shotcrete;

 It can be used by itself and forms unreinforced concrete. In my opinion, shotcrete

should never be placed less than 2-inches thick, and can be placed as thick as 5 to
16 inches (in which case, it would be used as a permanent lining).

 It is often used in conjunction with roofbolts that have been applied to give the
initial support.

 It is sometimes used in conjunction with wire mesh, but in recent years it has been
shown that in most cases, steel fibers do a much better job than wire mesh. This
will be discussed more below.

 The shotcrete can be either wet or dry placed, and the advantages of each will be
discussed below.

Why Does Shotcrete Work to Support The Rock?

The essential effect of shotcrete is that it causes all portions of the surface of the opening to
remain keyed in place, and thus keeps the rock arch continuity. Even when it is fairly thin, the
shotcrete arches have substantial carrying capacity because, as stated above, the ground is
constraint, which essentially eliminates flexural stresses. This of course assumes that there is a
good bond between the shotcrete and the rock. It also stops some of the natural dilation of the
rock into the opening if it is applied to the rock soon enough. Other significant
affects, which have been claimed (Hoskins, 1995) for the shotcrete are:

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 $ Stiffening and strengthening the rock mass by filling open fractures; Fig. 5-1

$ Transferring the rock load to adjacent stable rock through adhesion or shear;
Fig. 5-2
$ Acting as a membrane in bending or tension when shotcrete to rock bond is low
and the shotcrete layer is continuous. Fig. 5-3

$ King (1996) adds another reason: Significant irregular roughness in the excavated
perimeter also increases capacity, similar to the increase provided by
corrugations to otherwise smooth thin steel plate arches. Fig. 5-4

Shotcrete Materials

Cement: Type 1 cement is generally recommended, and typically requires about 6.5 to 8 sacks
per cubic yard of shotcrete. There are five types of cement which are described below:
 Type 1: Normal cement that is universally available all over the world.

 Type 2: It has moderate sulfate resistance and it should only be used in those
environments where sulfides are likely to generate sulfates.

 Type 3: For high early concrete strength. Type 3 gives an accelerated set, but it is
not fast enough for overhead applications with out additional accelerators, and it
incompatible with most accelerators, so it is not recommended.

 Type 4: Developed for a slow set needed for some concrete applications, which
makes it not suitable for shotcrete.

 Type 5: Another high sulphate resistance cement that should be used only if
needed.

In summary, stick with Type 1 cement, and don’t mix the types on one job for fear that they may
get them mixed in the application.

Aggregates: Shown in Table5-1 is a chart showing the approved aggregate according to ACI
506-2. No. 2 is the most popular: No. 1 is used if one wants a more smooth finished surface than
will be achieved by No. 2; No. 3 can be used when very thick layers are applied.

Water: Most good, clean water will do. However, mixes of 0.40 to 0.45 water/cement ratio is
required. Mixes of less than 0.35 or more than 0.50 are unsatisfactory for shotcrete.

Accelerators: To achieve proper adhesion to a wet surface and to stay in place on a vertical wall
or an arched or flat roof will require the use of an accelerator. In normal shotcrete without fly
ash, a minimum of 2% by weight will be needed for the walls, and up to 5% for the arch. When

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the rock is very wet, even these proportions may need to be increased, but do not exceed 8%. For
the second layer of shotcrete, these proportions can be decreased. Also, when using fly ash, these
proportions can usually be decreased.

Liquid accelerators are more accurate to meter into the shotcrete batch than dry powder. A
noncaustic liquid silica-based accelerator has been developed for use with shotcrete. Other
noncaustic liquid accelerators are being developed.

In summary, chemical admixtures have traditionally been used in shotcrete to:

 Cause the shotcrete to gain strength more quickly so that it is more competent to
support the tunnel at an early stage;
 Reduce the level of rebound of aggregate from shotcrete;
 Enable thicker layers of shotcrete to be sprayed in one pass so that time is not
wasted waiting for previous layers to set;
 Enable shotcrete to be applied to a wet surface subject to slight infiltrations;
 Enable wet process shotcreting machines to be used for overhead work.
 Delays the initial hydration of the mix until a second additive is supplied.

Fly Ash/: One can usually substitute 9 to 11% by weight of fly ash for cement, without any
deleterious affect in concrete. In fact, fly ash will usually improve shotcrete by:
 Increasing adhesion;
 Improving impermeability;
 Improve sulphate resistance;
 Reducing the need for an accelerator; and
 For dry mixed shotcrete, reduce the rebound.

However, some fly ash can also have an adverse affect on setting time. An excess of fly ash will
also increase shrinkage and thus cause cracking. I strongly suspect that the reason for this is that
in order to reach the same fluid consistence (slump) in the mix, more water has to be added,
which weakens the strength of the shotcrete. If instead of adding more water, a superplasticizer
is added, then I am not so sure that fly ash will have the same adverse affects as mentioned
above.

Because some fly ash mixtures may retard the setting time, it isn=t universally recommended for
shotcrete underground. However, many places have the fly ash that they acquire tested with
shotcrete and it shows satisfactory results. Which ever power plant that your fly ash comes from,
will have to be tested before use underground.

Silica Fume: Condensed silica fume and ferrosilicon dust (essentially the same material but with
slightly different chemical compositions) are by-products of silicon metal and ferrosilicon alloy
manufacturing. The light grey and extremely fine powder was once discarded as a waste
material; research and testing have turned it into a valuable product, sometimes costing more
than cement. Silica fume is highly pozzolanic and can be used in shotcrete, partly as a cement

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replacement. When silica fume is added, a superplasticizer has to be added to achieve the
required workability.

Adding silica fume at about 10% by bulk weight of cement, will greatly reduce the rebound.

The ASTM C1240 specifications for microsilica as they call it are:

 SiO2 content, 80% minimum;
 Amount retained on No. 325 sieve, 10% minimum;
 Maximum ignition loss of 2%;
 Maximum moisture content of 3%;
 Minimum 85%, accelerated pozzolanic activity index with Portland cement at 7
days;

A typical analysis of a silica fume from the western U.S. is shown in Table 5-2.

Superplasticizers: They are chemicals known as high range water reducers. They are chemically
distinct from normal plasticisers or water reducers. They are used either to increase the strength
or to increase the workability considerably without reduction in strength.

Water reducing admixtures are normally not used in dry-mix shotcrete; they cannot be effectively
activated in the short wetting time from mixing at the nozzle to impact on the wall. In fact, the
addition of dry powdered superplasticizer can have disastrous consequences for dry mix
shotcrete; it can create a delayed fluidity, causing the plastic in place shotcrete to sag and slough.
Water reducers and /or superplasticizers are commonly used in highqualitywet-mix shotcrete.

Steel Fibers: Steel fibers research began in the 1970's. I saw it first in the USBM experimental
mine at Bruceton in the mid-70's. However, like shotcrete use in general, the use of steel fibers
progressed faster in South Africa and Norway than it did in the U.S. and Canada. Today, we
know that shotcrete with properly formed steel fibers can do a better job than shotcrete placed
over wire mesh. Yet many mines and tunnels still use a lot of wire mesh. Both add a yield
strength, rather than a brittle failure for the shotcrete.

There were two problems with the early applications of steel fibers in shotcrete; they balled up
like a Abirds nest@ and the steel fibers Apulled out@ of the concrete, rather than held and yield
when the shotcrete was stressed to failure. Now, they have learned that the fibers must have a
length/diameter ratio of between 40 to 80 to keep from forming a birds nest and most fibers are :
to 12 inches long. The second problem has been solved by bending a hook or a corrugation or
and upset on the wire. A comparison of the strength of plain shotcrete and steel fiber shotcrete is
shown in Fig. 5-5.

To be very sure of the amount of steel fibers to add to the shotcrete, one actually needs to
investigate and take samples to be tested to determine the optimum amount of fibers for that
particular shotcrete mix to reach a desired strength. One could start with 80 to 100 pound per

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cubic yard. It is claimed that even up to 132 to 154 lbs/cu yd, it is still more economical than
wire mesh.(Wallis, 199?) A couple of typical mixes with steel fibers and without and with silica
fume are seen in Tables 5-3 and 5-4.

Unsuccessful types of fibers that are not recommended are Amelt extracted@ steel fibers, steel
cuttings or plastic fibers.

Wire Mesh: Chain link fence, like is commonly used in mining support with roofbolts, should
not in my opinion be used for shotcreting. It is just too tight a mesh to try to shotcrete through.
Welded wire fabric (WWF) can be used, and is still used in many places. However, 4" x 4" or 6"
x 6" should be used to allow the shotcrete to penetrate the mesh and stick to the rock. You will
still get a tremendous amount of rebound off of the mesh. The other problem with using wire
mesh, is that it is so stiff, that it can not follow the contour of the rock. Thus it will waste a lot of
shotcrete.

Shotcrete with wire mesh does have one advantage in that the first few hours of the installation,
when put in with roofbolts, it is applying immediate support which resist dilation until the
shotcrete gains strength. This may be critical in soft ground with little standup time.

Steel Fibers and Wire Mesh: I know of at least one mining case (Struthers and Keogh, 1996) in
very heavy, bad ground that they were using both roof bolted WWF and steel fibers. In that case,
it was necessary to gain all the strength that they could, both early strength and final strength.
They also add cable bolting as the last step to gain deeper rockmass support. I have included the
article for your reading.

Air Entrainment Additives: If you are using shotcrete over an area which has been temporarily
frozen for ground support, the air entrainment may help insulate the shotcrete. This is the only
time that you should use air entrainment addmixtures in shotcrete. In any case, only the first
layer will be affected by the frozen ground, since the first layer of shotcrete may not have the
strength that is desired, it will insulate the next layer that is applied.

Application, Wet or Dry?

There is no hard and fast rule over which one is best, but if you have a lot of shotcreting to do,
almost continuously, then you would probably go to the wet application.

Wet Mix: The wet mix process consist of mixing the correct proportions of cement, water, and
aggregate in a mixing vessel and then introducing it into a machine or a portion of the same
machine for pneumatic discharge. With the wet mix, you can achieve much better control of the
water/cement ratio. You can still introduce the accelerator at the nozzle to produce a quick-
setting shotcrete. There is a tendency to use too high a slump shotcrete, to get it through the
placer. This with the use of an accelerator will still produce rapid setting shotcrete, but the
ultimate strength will suffer. One might experiment with a small amount of superplasticizer to

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cut down on the water and still keep the slump high enough to put it through the placer. That way
you should still get good strength of the shotcrete. Aggregate rebound usually runs 5 to 15%.

One of the problems with Wet Mix shotcrete is that once that it is mixed, cement hydration starts
to take place in a short time. Sprayed concrete mixes have a useful pot life of 1.5 to 2 hours at a
temperature 20°C, and less at higher temperatures. There are chemical stablizers (MBTs Delvo
Stabilizer) that will inhibit hydration of the cement for up to 72 hours. Then when the shotcrete
is placed, Delvo-crete Activators are added at the nozzle, which causes the shotcrete to hydrate in
a normal manner.

Wet mix is used more in Norway, Sweden and South Africa then any where else, and is usually
applied 4 to 8 inches thick. I think in the future, wet mix uses will continue to grow.

Dry Mix: The dry mix process requires that materials be kept in storage, and the proper amount
of moisture be maintained. The aggregate dampness of 3 to 6%, which is essentially saturated
should be used. So in reality, the material is not dry. If a premixed commercial dry shotcrete is
used, then this material should also be blended with 3 to 6% moisture. Less moisture than this
will absorb too much mix water at the nozzle, and more will result in a water/cement ratio that is
too high. Aggregate rebound usually runs from 10 to 30%.

Dry mix is used more in Germany and Austria, where the ground conditions are softer or more
varied than in Norway or Sweden. The NATM implies that dry mix be used. According to my
observations, dry mix is used more in the U.S., but most of my observation have been in mines.

The comparison between wet and dry systems is given below in Table 5-5.

Mixtures: While local experience is usually the best guide for any given geotechnical situation,
this is not always available. E.H. King (1996) gives the following mixture as a guideline as a
place to start:

 Cement 670 pounds per cubic yard (p/cy);

 Fly Ash 89 p/cy;
 Fine Aggregate 1,950 p/cy (Remember it also contains 3 to 6 % H20);
 Water 270 p/cy;
 Steel Fibers 115 p/cy.(Added by Bullock)
 Accelerator 20 p/cy (If Needed) (Added by Bullock)

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 Table 5-5: Comparison of Wet and Dry Mix Shotcrete Processes (After King, 1996)
Wet Mix Process Dry Mix Process
1. Mixing water is controlled at the delivery equipment and can be 1. Instantaneous control over mixing water and consistency of mix at
accurately measured. the nozzle to meet variable field conditions.

2. Better assurance that the mixing water is throughly mixed with 2. Better suited for placing mixes containing lightweight aggregates,
other ingredients. refractory materials and shotcrete requiring early strength properties.

3. Can use bulk ready mix. 3. Less equipment investment.

4. More accurate proportioning. 4. Higher impact velocity; better adhesion.

5. Normally has lower rebound resulting in less material waste. 5. Start and stop of placement is better with minimal waste and
greater placement flexibility.

6. Less dusting and cement loss during the placement operation. 6. Capable of being transported longer distances.

7. Can use air entrainment. (Only needed for freezing situation) 7. Easier to use overhead.

8. Capable of greater placement production. 8. Capable of higher strengths.

It is my recommendation to start with the steel fibers if it’s a new job, and you are not quite sure
what is required. If you wish to leave out the steel fibers, the rest of the mix stays the same. Be
sure to keep the W/C ratio as low as is practical.

The Nozzle

The nozzle for the dry mix is specially built since it introduces the water through a water ring,
which is back from the end of the nozzle by more than a foot, in order to allow the water react
with the cement to get complete hydration in the split seconds before it is placed.

The nozzle should be kept 3 to 5 feet from the surface where the shotcrete is being placed.
Furthermore, the nozzle should be pointed perpendicular to the surface where it is being placed.
If these two conditions are not followed, placement density will not be correct, and rebound will
be excessive. (Fig. 5-6 & 5-7) However, considering that the material is coming out of that
nozzle at 250 to 500 fps, it is no wonder that a man manually trying to hold the nozzle is just
lucky to be able to hold it and point it at the rock and doesn’t really worry about the distance nor
the angle that it assumes. Notice the poor practice of Fig. 7a, applying at a bad angle, and
Fig. 7b, applying the shotecrete at a distance of approximately 20 feet.

All of this simply illustrates why using a remotely controlled nozzle is so important. The nozzle
is usually on the end of a long boom and is mounted on a heavy, mobile vehicle. (Fig. 5-8
through 5-10a) This allows the operator to point the nozzle in the correct distance, and keep it
the proper distance from the face. It also helps to reach the high point of the arch.

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Required Shotcrete Thickness

As we said earlier, shotcrete should be placed at least 2-inches thick. If you are using the NGI Q
system of rock mass classification or Bienenaski’s RMR system, for any given geotechnical
situation, the classification system will tell the contractor what thickness of shotcrete will be
applied. However, in reality, there is a lot of common sense that can be overlooked, simply
following the rules. For example, if the machine is mechanically excavated, obviously the rock
is not going to need near as much reinforcement as if it were drilled and blasted. Furthermore, if
a good job of smoothwall blasting is done, compared to a very rough job of blasting, which
creates a lot of overbreak, the latter will require much more reinforcement than the former.
Neither of the classification system take this into account. The other variable is weather or not
steel fibers are use in the shotcrete: this too will make a difference in what thickness is needed.

If you are not using one of the rock mass classification systems, a chart by Heuer ( Hoskins,
1995) (Table 5-6) will help guide you as to the correct thickness. However, this chart is without
steel fibers: so if it is followed and the shotcrete has steel fibers, you will probably have a good
factor of safety.

Troubleshooting
The first sign that something is not going well is when areas of plastic shotcrete slough and
slump off the sprayed rock surface. In itself, this is not too worrying. If it happens three or four
times in one load, however, it may mean that a troubleshooting program should be initiated.
Minor sloughs (equivalent to about the size of a bucket of shotcrete) are almost inevitable and
shouldn't give too much cause for concern; loss of large areas (more than 1-2 square meters) at a
time could be harbingers of problems.

The first quick check should be to see if there have been any changes at all in materials,
additives, equipment, design, ground conditions, application procedure, shotcrete crew, etc, that
may explain the deficiencies. After that, a more comprehensive study of the process may be
required using someone who is independent of any supplier to eliminate any possible vested
interest or bias. Check the applications checklist above to make sure the air and water supply are
clean and adequate, check the surface preparation being carried out (either too much water on the
rock surface) or too much dust will lead to problems), and check the actual nozzling techniques
that are being used.

It is virtually impossible to give a full troubleshooting guide in the space available, the best
counsel of all, however, is "Keep an open mind." Consider all options before trying to lay blame
on one or other of the various suppliers involved. The situation in mining is quite distinct from
most civil engineering projects. Mining shotcrete usually involves relatively small volumes at a
time, in a number of different openings; with a lot of remobilization of equipment and men, and
the potential for errors. In civil engineering tunnels, shotcreting is commonly more of a high
productivity operation with a limited amount of remobilization. Once the system is working well
it will remain doing so.

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Shotcrete Machines

The best way to get an idea of what these machine look like is simply show you pictures:

 Dry placement machines; Fig. 5-11 & 5-12

 Wet placement machines; Fig. 5-13
 Combination Wet/Dry placement machines; Fig. 5-14, 15 & 16
 Metering Additives Equipment. Fig. 5-17

Mixing and shotcreting equipment can be mounted on trucks and trains. Fig. 5-18 & 5-19

TESTING (Quoted from E.H. King, 1996)

Tests for Mix Acceptance :Testing is required of the raw materials, the operator (nozzleman),
field applicability, and of the shotcrete product at various stages of mix development and age for
all contract specified shotcrete.

All shotcrete placed for the contractors convenience is his sole responsibility and testing should
not be required by the designer. However, convenience excavations" that are not eventually
backfilled and whose collapse might endanger the service operations Should be permanently
stabilized per specifications. The reduced sensitivity (external standard ratio in the system)
Should be appropriate.

Testing of the raw materials--cement, aggregate, steel fiber, and microsilica-is well established
in methods and results required. Little more need be said other than the obvious, that changes in
material source requires prior testing of the new material.

Testing of each nozzleman's ability to produce satisfactory shotcrete in place is an obvious

necessity, as this could be the weak link in the materials-mix-application-product chain. ACI
506.3R provides for certification of nozzlemen. Holding a current certificate is sufficient
evidence of ability, subject to verification by sample cores from early production work with
approved production equipment. The written portion of the certificate test is desirable but not
necessarily a prerequisite. If not certified, demonstrated ability with production equipment,
approved mixes by field trials in conformance with field test procedures. and meeting required
results should be mandatory before acceptance for production work.

Shotcrete testing is a three-part process. The first stage, compatibility checking. is required
before the proposed materials and their sources are approved. Cement-accelerator compatibility
is of prime importance. ASTM C 1102 should be followed. Similarly, compatibility of the entire

mix and proportions must be established by meeting the various requirements with proposed
mixes prepared, cured, and tested in the laboratory.

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The second stage, field trials, begins upon completion of the first part. Material from the
approved sources should be combined per approved mixes by the production equipment to be
used and then shot by a certified nozzleman into appropriate Size boxes Mounted in both vertical
and overhead positions. The proposed remote control nozzle equipment should be used. (Later,
the procedure should be used to certify nozzlemen.) After Curing in the manner proposed for the
production work, cores and beams should be taken and tested.

The third stage, production testing, has three parts. First, the field trial process should be
repeated at the heading during production shotcreting upon demand by the engineer. Second,
cores should be taken from the in-place shotcrete, at specified intervals. The primary purpose of
these is to check thickness and adhesion; however, compressive strength should also be tested.
The third part is the overall checking of the in-place concrete. In addition to a visual check for
defects, the shotcrete should be sounded at frequent intervals (locations) by striking with a
geologist's or similar hammer. Sound, adhering concrete will give a distinct ringing sound.
Laminated shotcrete or voids behind the shotcrete will result in a drummy or hollow sound. If
drummy, the area should be rechecked thoroughly and the approximate boundaries determined.
Cores should then be taken and examined. Defective shotcrete should be removed and replaced
with sound shotcrete.

Special Tests

When a high degree of impermeability is required, the mix design effectiveness should be tested
according to ASTM C642 using a maximum boiling absorption value of 6%.

Toughness is an indication of the energy absorption capacity of shotcrete in flexure. Flexural

toughness of fiber impregnated shotcrete is determined from a plot of the load-deflection curve
data obtained by ASTM Standard Test Method CIO 18-89 for a test beam. The toughness is
represented by the area under the load--deflection curve from 'its origin to the selected deflection
criterion.

Toughness indicies alone do not indicate how much shotcrete capacity remains after a given
deflection. Accordingly. the addition of reserve strength requirements to the specifications is
necessary to indicate how much reserve capacity is required for the project in hand. The residual
strength factor (Rx,y) is calculated as the difference in the two toughness indices (Ix, Iy )
multiplied by the appropriate constant.

Theoretically, a beam material having a perfectly elastic behavior up to first crack and a
perfectly plastic behavior thereafter will have an I5 value of 5.0, 10.0 for I10, etc. The
corresponding energies are 3.0 times that at first crack for I5, 5.5 times for I10, etc. Early on,
only the I5 and I10 values were specified. Currently, I30 values are also used and consideration is
being given to using I50. The theoretical residual strength factor for R10,30 is 100. ASTM Cl
116-89 provides a guide to toughness indices for relative performance levels (see Table 12-3
below). Note that level IV cannot be achieved with current fiber.

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DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

Discussion to this point has focused on what shotcrete is and how to produce it. Overall design
philosophies and procedures were discussed in (lessons on ground control and) shotcrete
thicknesses, based on empirical methods were considered (in the lesson on rock mass
classifications).

In rock tunnels, shotcrete and rock bolts normally are used together to provide the rock
reinforcement. Only in rare instances (e.g., impermeability the prime consideration, protection
of the -round against degradation, and competent rock where good adhesion can be assured)
may shotcrete be used alone. Conversely, shotcrete is frequently inappropriate in TBM drives
(noted earlier). Elsewhere, shotcrete and bolts supplement one another. (In European nomencla-
ture, bolts may be termed anchors, a more descriptive term insofar as the shotcrete is
concerned.)

When the dowels do indeed provide anchorage and the shotcrete is primarily planar, the
shotcrete may be designed as cantilevering, from an anchor support, as a plate supported by four
corner anchors, etc. However, adhesion to the rock and the composite rock-shotcrete beam
action must also be considered, or too great a shotcrete thickness will result. The need for bolts
as shotcrete anchors diminishes rapidly as the Aplate" becomes curvilinear; the composite beam
becomes even more effective, and the bolts serve more of their true function, i.e., constraining the
rock so that it resists more of the ground deformation or convergence resulting from excavating
the opening.

Thin shotcrete arches have substantial carrying capacity. A prime reason is the ground
constraint, which essentially eliminates flexural stresses. Significant irregular roughness in the
excavated perimeter also increases capacity, similar to the increase provided by corrugations to
otherwise smooth thin steel plate arches.

Flat roofs are a condition where shotcrete should not be used alone. At least minimal rock
bolting is warranted as insurance against an undetected weak bedding plane. In addition,
adhesion may be inadequate locally. An initial sag has no protection against progressive
delaminating or secondary bending unless anchored by the bolts.

Shotcrete can be used with confidence in many soft ground conditions; firm clay is one. Although
loaded to near its confined capacity, the reconfinement produced by an early ring of shotcrete
should regain essentially all the original capacity.

The New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM) and its observational technique have had good
success in difficult ground. The individual drifts can be reduced in size until a reasonable
amount of shotcrete provides stable opening.

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The openings can then be enlarged of- combined by applying additional shotcrete immediately
after the larger opening is formed. This results in quite thick shotcrete arches and walls, but
more importantly, it results in a completed tunnel.

Squeezing and swelling grounds are not amenable to shotcrete linings, at least not until long
rock bolts and time have stabilized the ground. Some projects have used slots cut in the shotcrete
to allow controlled deformation to continue.

Table 12-3. Performance Levels Defined in ASTM C 1116-89

Performance Toughness Index, I5 Toughness Index, I10

Level Specific Value Test Results Specific Value Test Results
I 2.7 3.0 5.4 6.0
II 3.6 4.0 7.2 8.0
III 4.5 5.0 9.0 10.0
IV 5.4 6.0 10.8 12.0

Finally, the improvement in shotcrete technology over the past 25 years is nothing short of
phenomenal. With its capability and versatility so well demonstrated, there can be little doubt
that improvements will continue to a point now scarcely imaginable.@

References

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13
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