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A novel support system for shallow buried caverns based on the mining method

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 Journal of Geophysics and Engineering

J. Geophys. Eng. 13 (2016) 123–132 doi:10.1088/1742-2132/13/1/123

A novel support system for shallow buried

caverns based on the mining method
Ding Wen-Qi1,2, Qiao Ya-Fei1,2, Jin Yue-Lang1,2 and Zhang Qing-Zhao1,2
1
  Department of Geotechnical Engineering, College of Civil Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai,
SH 200092, People’s Republic of China
2
  Key Laboratory of Geotechnical and Underground Engineering of Ministry of Education,
Tongji University, Shanghai, SH 200092, People’s Republic of China

E-mail: zqz0726@163.com

Received 12 March 2015, revised 29 November 2015

Accepted for publication 21 December 2015
Published 1 February 2016

Abstract
In order to maintain the original appearance of the rocks on a cavern roof and protect the
ground environment, a new supporting method for shallow-buried caverns is proposed.
This study investigates the design theory and construction process. Based to this method,
some crisscross small tunnel sheds are embedded in the overburden layer. Hence a supporting
system of interaction between surrounding rocks and supporting structures is formed.
By combining the numerical calculation with monitoring measurement, we found that the
distribution of calculated deformation generally agreed with the monitoring measurements.
The monitoring results revealed that the proportion of rock shelf load-bearing reached 47%.
The self-bearing capacity of the surrounding rocks is brought into significantly play.

Keywords: small tunnel shed, shallow tunneling method, underground construction,

supporting system, construction monitoring

(Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)

Nomenclature uR deformation under restraint

AConcrete cross-sectional area of reinforced c­ oncrete.
ATunnel cross-sectional area of the tunnel
B spacing between various small tunnel sheds
ERIR flexural rigidity of embedded support
h buried depth of cavern
l span of embedded support
P0 released load after excavation
PR load sustained by supporting structure
q uniform load
rConcrete unit weight of reinforced concrete
u deformation of surrounding rocks
u1 released deformation of surrounding rocks
u2 deformation before excavation surface reached
monitoring section
um measured value of deformation.
ue elastic deformation
up plastic deformation
α proportion of load for supporting structure
γ unit weight of surrounding rocks
δ maximum span settlement caused by excavation
θ angle between measuring line and horizontal plane
1. Introduction
Over the past decades, the quantities and scales of under-
ground projects have risen rapidly in China, and many proj-
ects have been carried out in unfavorable ground conditions.
The development of construction techniques has enabled
the realization of large-span underground caverns and
crossing engineering. However, early underground projects
were mostly constructed with opening excavations, which
often led to road traffic being severely interfered with and
the environment disrupted (Barton et al 1974, Loganathan
and Poulos 1998). The shallow tunneling method was then
studied to solve these problems and bring forth controlled

1742-2132/16/010123+10$33.00 123 © 2016 Sinopec Geophysical Research Institute  Printed in the UK

J. Geophys. Eng. 13 (2016) 123
Earth surface
Surrounding rock
Reinforced concrete beam
Anchor bolt and shotcreting
Rock
Conduit
Reinforced
concrete lining
(a)
Figure 1.  Supporting styles for mining method. (a) The internal support (b) the external support (c) the built-in support.
disturbance to the soundings of construction sites. This
method can guarantee construction work safety and restrain
the land subsidence (Barton 2002). The auxiliary construc-
tion methods for shallow tunneling method mainly include
the freezing method (Genis et al 2007, Zhang and Chuan
2005), the pipe-shed method (Carranza-Torres and Fairhurst
2000), the pipe-roofing method (Xiao et al 2005) and the
culvert box method.
In the freezing method, pipe holes are placed around the
tunnel, and then brine with low temperature is kept in circula-
tion. The aquiclude around the pipe holes is frozen and forms
a frozen wall with high strength and great sealing conditions
(Li et al 2004). The excavation and construction work can
be performed under the protection of frozen wall. The pipe-
shed method is widely applied in subsurface engineering
containing rocks or weak soils with a low water level, but it
is still hardly workable in large-span subsurface engineering
containing saturated weak soils. In addition, pipe sheds usu-
ally cause contamination to the environment and significant
influence to the landscape (Sari and Pasamehmetoglu 2004).
The culvert box method requires the working surface to
be stable during the construction process, and this method
also leads to high construction costs due to the high level of
underground water. The pipe-roofing method is a new type
of technique for subsurface engineering based on the mining
method. Small pipe roofs can be used as the basis of large
span and large section underground structures (Karakus and
Fowell 2003). In most auxiliary construction methods, the
support system is applied after excavation, or applied with
slip casting before construction works (Xu et al 2013).
However, each construction method mentioned above has
its own disadvantages and application limits. In some spe-
cial projects, the construction methods should be further
investigated.
For the purposes of supporting the system design of an
underground cavern, the excavation and supporting methods
should be identified primarily. The shape and size of the
working surface as well as the corresponding construction
scheme should be estimated with full consideration of all
factors including safety, economy and environment (Verruijt
D Wen-Qi et al
Earth surface
Concrete box beam
Rock
Earth surface
(Small Tunnel Shed)
Anchor bolt Anchor bolt
Conduit
(b) (c)
and Booker 1996). Generally, the pressure of surrounding
rock for a shallow-buried cavern is calculated by using the
gravity model. It is assumed that when the burial depth of
tunnel is small, the surrounding rocks are not considered as
bearing structures since the displacement of rock may extend
over the land surface, namely that the self load-bearing
capacity of surrounding rocks and the combined action
between surrounding rocks and supporting structures are
neglected (Serrano et al 2014). However, when a shallow-
buried cavern has comparatively favorable conditions of sur-
rounding rock, it is worth studying the self-bearing capacity
of surrounding rocks to reduce the construction costs for
supporting system. The objective of present study is to pro-
pose a support method of small tunnel shed. This method can
take full advantage of the self load-bearing capacity of sur-
rounding rocks combining with the multi-arch small tunnel
shed. Based on this support method, the original facilities
and vegetation on the ground surface could be well protected
and preserved.
2.  Theory and methods
2.1.  Supporting methods of shallow-buried cavern
In general, excavation methods for underground caverns can
be classified into three types, i.e. open-cut method, semi-
open-cut method and mining method. For underground cav-
erns constructed by using the mining method, the supporting
forms can be often divided into three types based on the sup-
port position which include internal support, external support
and embedded support (figure 1). When selecting the position
of a cavern, the covering depth of the cavern roof should be
considered first of all. There should be sufficient fresh rock
layers retained above the roof and the roof should be thick
enough to impose adequate normal pressure on the joints, so
as to form the roof arch (Palmstrom and Stille 2007). In case
the thickness above the arch cannot meet the requirement,
open excavation method is usually adopted. Anchor bolts, pre-
stressed anchors and grouting reinforcement are often used
as supplementary means to improve the bearing capacity of
124
J. Geophys. Eng. 13 (2016) 123
Open top part
Sub-wall part
Figure 2.  Open top and sub-wall method.
Earth surface
Concrete beam
Anchor bolt
Central Line
Figure 3.  Loading umbrella arch method.
surrounding rocks. External support and embedded support
are usually applied to shallow-buried caverns to avoid open
excavation.
For underground caverns with very small burying depths,
the open excavation method is adopted in most cases.
However, open excavation has some limitations such as
ground environmental damage, occupying large field area,
long construction period, high excavation difficulty and high
construction costs. The open top and sub-wall method (figure
2) is also used in some cases. The design and construction
work of this method is firstly completing the cavern roof with
excavating shallowly and grouting, and then completing the
lower-part cavern structure with cave excavation after the
earth is backfilled. Comparing with open excavation method,
the open top and sub-wall method is preferential, since the
construction site is smaller due to the decrease of excavation
volume, and the excavation difficulty and construction costs
are also lower.
For shallow and bias tunnels with a small span, a loading
umbrella arch construction method can be adopted (figure 3).
This method can ensure that the tunnel construction is safe
and accelerate the progress of construction (Dang 2003).
Otherwise, the digging piles curtain method can also be
adopted (figure 4).
2.2.  Theory of small tunnel shed
If the stress condition of surrounding rocks exceeds the peak
strength of rock mass, a plastic zone will appear around the
cavern and plastic deformation will develop. If the plastic
125
D Wen-Qi et al
deformation is oversized, a supporting system should be
adopted (Konishi et al 2002). Supporting structures can
restrain the deformation of surrounding rocks, and meanwhile
the structures are affected by the surrounding rocks. This is
the interaction between supporting structures and surrounding
rocks. The typical curve of mechanical characteristics for sur-
rounding rocks is given in figure 5. ue is elastic deformation
and up is plastic deformation. uR is the deformation under
restraint, and PR is the corresponding load. P0 is the released
load after excavation, which can be obtained by plasto-elastic
theory or through field test.
After the excavation of underground cavern, the released
load is sustained by surrounding rocks and supporting struc-
tures. It is assumed that the load sustained by the supporting
structure is PR, and then the proportion of load sustained by
the supporting structure can be calculated as in equation (1).
α = PR /P0
(1)
In figure 5, u is the deformation of the surrounding rocks,
and PR decreases with the increase of u. The case u  = max (u)
is equivalent to the case without any support (point A), and the
surrounding rocks are self-stabilized. For shallow-buried cav-
erns, when the deformation develops, the relaxation load will
impose on the supporting structure. The case u = 0 is equiva-
lent to the case of rigid support (point C). The released load
from the excavation is completely sustained by the supporting
structure, and the surrounding rocks do not appear to have any
deformations.
For the embedded and ground support structure of shallow-
buried caverns, it is assumed that both ends of the supporting
structure are clamped and bear uniform load q as shown in
equation (1).
q = γ hB − γATunnel + γConcreteAConcrete
(2)
where γ is the unit weight of the surrounding rocks, h is the
buried depth of the cavern, B is the spacing between various
small tunnel sheds, ATunnel is the cross-sectional area of the
tunnel, rConcrete is the unit weight of the reinforced concrete,
and AConcrete is the cross-sectional area of the reinforced con-
crete. For shallow-buried caverns, surrounding rocks above
the embedded support can play partial self load-bearing
capacity. The lower surrounding rocks are deemed as having
no self-load-bearing capacity, and are hung on the embedded
support (figure 6).
For the design and construction work of a shallow-buried
cavern, the supporting structure and surrounding rock above
the structure are considered as released loads after excavation,
i.e. P0  =  q. Flexural rigidity of the embedded support is ERIR,
load sustained by surrounding rocks above the embedded sup-
port is (1  −  α)q, load sustained by the supporting structure is
αq and α is the proportion of load sustained by the embedded
support. It can be assumed that both ends of the embedded
support are solidly connected (figure 1(c)), i.e. the anchor
effect between both ends of the small tunnel shed and the sur-
rounding rocks is pretty good and no shift and rotation between
them could happen. The maximum displacement of the mid-
span of the embedded support can be calculated as follows:
J. Geophys. Eng. 13 (2016) 123
Reinforced
concrete plate
Transverse beam
Digging pile
Tunnelling with
Mining Method
Figure 4.  Digging piles curtain method.
δ R = αql 4 /(384ERIR )
(3)
Namely,
α = 384ERIRδ R /ql 4
(4)
where l is the span of the embedded support.
Through numerical simulation, the characteristic curve of
the surrounding rocks can be identified (Zhang et al 2004).
The deformation of the surrounding rocks at the feature point
is determined as u  =  δR, and then the load sustained by the sup-
porting structure can be calculated as shown in equation (5).
PR = f (δ R )
(5)
By using equations  (1), (4) and (5) simultaneously, the
proportion of load for supporting structure α and the load
sustained by supporting structure PR under different rigidity
of embedded support can be obtained. Meanwhile, the defor-
mation during the excavation can be monitored on site, i.e.
u m = δ R. Hence through calculating the proportion of load
sustained by supporting structure and adjusting the supporting
parameters in a timely manner, dynamic feedback of design
and informational construction can be achieved.
Based on the above analysis, a new small tunnel shed sup-
port method was proposed. This method can combine the sup-
port system of a small tunnel shed and the surrounding rocks
in the overburden layer, and take full advantage of the self
load-bearing capacity of surrounding rocks. The small tunnel
shed structure and surrounding rocks can work together to
sustain the load on top and hang on the cavern roof.
3.  Engineering overview and construction program
3.1.  Engineering geology
The Sleeping Buddha Palace project was a new scenic spot
which was located in the famous scenic site at the Giant
Buddhist Temple of Xinchang, Zhejiang Province, China.
The geological formations mainly consisted of the tuff rock
masses, which was the main rock type along the small tunnels.
Tuff rocks were moderately to highly weathered. The weath-
ered faces of these rocks were brown in color and fresh parts
126
D Wen-Qi et al
Longitudinal beam Reinforced
Digging pile concrete plate
Transverse beam
pi
C
p0
B Slack load
pR
A
o
u e
up u
u=uR
Figure 5.  Characteristic curve of the surrounding rock.
were greyish-green in color. Tuff rocks contained mainly silica
mineral and thin layers. In the upper depth of 0.2 m, cultivated
soil (Qpd) can be found. Clays mixed with sands and rubble
stones were distributed at a depth of 0.6–0.75 m, with brown
color and slightly humidity. Highly weathered tuff rock mixed
rubble stone was found under the layer of clay, and the thick-
ness was 1.5–2.85 m. Then moderately weathered tuff with
horizontal bedding appeared. Moderately weathered tuff rocks
were commonly observed and widely distributed. Some other
moderately weathered rocks, such as tuffaceous sandstone
and tuff breccia, were distributed sparsely. To understand such
behavior of the moderately weathered tuff rock, core samples
were taken to perform the tests and to estimate the rock mass
quality, based on the Chinese Standard for Classification of
Engineering Rock Masses (GB50218-94). The average uni-
axial compression strength of the rock samples was identi-
fied as approximately 25.7 MPa, and the deformation modulus
was about 1.4 GPa. The ultrasonic longitudinal wave veloci-
ties of intact rock (Vpr) and rock mass (Vpm) were obtained by
using both laboratory and field tests, which were 5200 m s−1
and 4700 m s−1, respectively. According to the standard
method (GB50218-94), the integrality coefficient Kv can be
calculated using the equation Kv  =  (Vpm / Vpr)2. Therefore, the
J. Geophys. Eng. 13 (2016) 123
Calculation unit
Figure 6.  Cross section of inbuilt support.
Figure 7.  Main seepage fissures in the big hall.
integrality coefficient Kv of the tuff rock was about 0.82, and
the integrality grade was estimated as intact. Furthermore, the
hardness grade of tuff rock was estimated as middle level, and
the quality of tuff rock in the present study was classified as
the third grade.
One major fissure of longitudinal orientation along the
cavern with an inclination of 30 degrees was found right above
the cavern. This fissure cut through the ground surface, and
cut the central part of the rock column between the big hall
and small hall in an inclined way. Since the fissure was almost
perpendicular to the cavern roof, the stability of the whole
cavern was not affected by this fissure. However, the excava-
tion of the cavern tended to cause overall extroversion, and the
stability of arch springs became a little worse.
Groundwater activity is an important factor related to the
stability of the cavern (Yi 1997). In our study, the ground-
water was typical of bedrock fissure water, which was mainly
supplied from the surface precipitation. The precipitation
can infiltrate into the cavern along the penetrating fissures.
Because the water leakage phenomenon was observed during
construction, fissure investigation was carried out to find the
seepage location. Four seepage fissures were found on the top
of the big hall, as shown in figure 7. Fissure A was the big-
gest seepage fissure, and its dip angle was approximately 90°.
Since fissure A almost penetrated the top of the big hall, the
water seepage from fissure A was more obvious than other
127
D Wen-Qi et al
Earth surface
The upper rock
The lower rock
Cavern top
fissures. Fissure B was another main seepage fissure, which
crossed fissure A. The dip angle of fissure B was about 35°,
and the water seepage of fissure B was less than that for fis-
sure A. The seepage fissures of C and D were shorter than A
and B. The dip angles of fissure C was close to 45°. Fissure C
was connected to fissure A, and its water seepage became even
more obvious. Fissure D was close to fissure B, and its dip
angle was close to 40°. Even though water seepage appeared
during the construction process, groundwater was not gen-
erally abundant. The tuff rocks were relatively intact, so the
working face excavated normally did not contain much water,
implying that the groundwater activity could hardly reduce
the stability of the surrounding rocks.
3.2.  Design and construction
The Sleeping Buddha Palace is composed of a main cavern
and several vestibular small caverns (figure 8). The main body
is the big hall of the Sleeping Buddha Palace, and the small
halls are located outside the big hall. The big hall and small
halls are connected by five parallel entries. The big hall has
a span of about 18 m and a height of about 12 m. The whole
cavern has a hemispheric shape. The main cavern of the the
Sleeping Buddha Palace is approximately 43.5 m long, 12 m
high and has a span of 19.8 m. The overburden layer of the
cavern is about 8–10 m.
J. Geophys. Eng. 13 (2016) 123
Figure 8.  On-site view of the cavern.
The design and construction works of the Sleeping Buddha
Palace should meet the requirements of keeping the trees on
ground surface and the original appearance of rocks on the
cavern top (figure 8). Since the covering layer was thin, the
space between caverns on the left was small and the anti-­
horizontal stability was poor. Considering these limitations
at the construction site, a longitudinal connective pilot tunnel
was firstly excavated in the middle of the overburden layer,
and the direction of this pilot tunnel is perpendicular to the
span (figure 9(a)). Meanwhile, timely anchor-plate retaining
was carried out based on the principle of NATM (figures 9(b)
and (c)). Then multiple load-bearing small tunnels were exca-
vated from the longitudinal pilot tunnel, and were along the
span direction. Anchor-plate retaining was performed at the
same time. Subsequently, secondary lining structures were
applied for the pilot tunnel and small tunnels to form a multi-
arch small tunnel shed. Finally, the lower part of the large-
span cavern was excavated.
The construction scheme is demonstrated in figure 10, in
which the roman letters indicate the excavation sequence and
the Arabic numbers indicate the supporting sequence. The
detailed sequence is explained as follows: (I) excavation of
longitudinal connect pilot tunnel; (1) early-stage support; (II)
excavation of horizontal small tunnel shed; (1) early-stage
support; (2) pilot tunnel lining; (3) reinforcement of gallery
anchor; (III) gallery excavation; (4) anchor; (IV) small hall
excavation; (5) anchor; (V) excavation of the Sleeping Buddha
Palace cavern; (6) anchor; (VI) excavation; (7) anchor; (VII)
excavation; (8) anchor; (VIII) excavation. Various early-stage
supports of surrounding rocks should be completed quickly
and the onsite monitoring work improved.
The NATM was adopted for the excavation of caverns,
and an all-around monitoring and measurement system was
established to measure the structural internal force during
the construction (figure 11). Based on the onsite monitoring,
some judgment criteria was established to evaluate the sta-
bility of surrounding rocks and the work status of supporting
system (Karakus and Fowell 2005). During construction mon-
itoring, the appearance of data abnormality was taken as the
basis for adjusting the supporting parameters and adopting
128
D Wen-Qi et al
corresponding construction techniques. Measurements such
as cavern convergence, fissure convergence, anchor rod axial
force, secondary lining reinforced bar axial force and con-
tact pressure, and strain monitoring were carried out. The
arch crown settlement of the cavern could not be measured
for construction reasons and was calculated reversely by the
cavern convergence monitoring data. The fissure investigation
was performed during construction to estimate the develop-
ment of fissures in the excavation of rock mass. In addition, a
numerical model was set up to simulate the stages of cavern
excavation using the finite element method in the GeoFBA
program (figure 12).
4.  Results and discussion
During the whole construction process, the disturbance
to surrounding rocks was reduced as far as possible. Over-
excavation was controlled strictly and under-excavation was
eliminated. NATM monitoring measurements were strength-
ened, and the information was fed back which can be used to
adjust the design quickly. For the secondary lining, one-time
overall grouting was required, and compactness was ensured
(figure 13). The multi-arch small tunnel shed was stretched
across the span of the cavern, and a seated length was guar-
anteed at both ends of the span. Rock bolts were installed to
anchor the tunnel shed into surrounding rocks. The longi-
tudinal pilot tunnel was used for connecting the horizontal
multi-arch small tunnel shed and providing the entrance for
construction of the small tunnel shed. Furthermore, the pilot
tunnel could enhance the feasibility of construction work and
improve the structural integrity.
A few fissures in the rock masses between the great hall
and the small halls appeared when the cavern was excavated,
but the width of fissures was usually less than 1 mm. Due to
construction problems, some monitoring results at the site
were disturbed during the cavern excavation. The measured
data fluctuated a little, and some convergence curves were
not smooth (figure 14). However, the trend of convergence
deformation kept stable, and the final convergence defor-
mations were relatively small. The cumulative convergence
J. Geophys. Eng. 13 (2016) 123
Figure 9.  Plan and section view of the supporting structure. (a) Plan view of small tunnel shed, (b) A–A section, (c) B–B section.
deformations monitored in the big hall are given in table  1.
It can be seen from table 1 that most convergence deforma-
tions are less than 2 mm, and the development trend is stable,
indicating the fissures usually keep stable, and the stability
of the cavern was not affected by the fissures. Therefore, the
rock masses in the cavern were stable during and after the
construction. Based on the simulation work from different
construction stages, the consistency of calculation results
and the measured data in magnitude and trend was revealed.
Results showed that the distribution of calculated deforma-
tion of rock masses was generally agreed with the monitoring
measurements. By combining the numerical calculation with
monitoring measurements, the dynamic design can be realized
129
D Wen-Qi et al
(Ng et al 2004). Using the dynamic design approach, the small
tunnel shed support method could be successfully applied to
the construction of Sleeping Buddha Palace.
For underground cavern projects, it was impossible to
measure close to the work surface right after excavation, so
there was already a released deformation of surrounding rocks
with measured value u1. In addition, before the excavation
surface reached the monitoring section, a deformation with
measure value u2 developed. These two values plus the meas-
ured value of deformation was the absolute value of deforma-
tion of the surrounding rocks, namely, u1  +  u2  +  um, wherein
um was the measured value of deformation. Based on the pre-
vious research results, u1  +  u2  =  0.5u (Wang 1990), which
J. Geophys. Eng. 13 (2016) 123 D Wen-Qi et al

Figure 10.  Construction scheme.

Big hall

Measuring line Measuring line Measuring line

NO.1 NO.2 NO.4 NO.6
NO.3 NO.5

Small hall

Figure 11.  Layout of convergence deformation measuring lines.

Figure 12.  Calculation grid and overall vector diagram.

deemed that convergence measuring line had no displacement
on the measuring point of the rock column, then the maximum
span settlement caused by excavation of the Sleeping Buddha
Palace was δ  =  2 umsinθ  =  3.1 mm, wherein θ was the angle
between the measuring line and the horizontal plane.
Take longitudinal 4 m as the calculation model (figure
6), the cross section  burying depth was 9 m, the interface
parameter of the box girder was ER  =  2.85  ×  107 kN m−2,
AR  =  3.15 m2, IR  =  2.722 m4, l  =  22 m. We assumed the
hanging lower surrounding rocks had no displacement rela-
tive to the supporting structure, i.e. δR  =  δ, the uniformed
load of the support girder could be calculated through equa-
tion  (3) as αq  =  384ERIRδR, 4l 4  =  98.55 kN m−1. Based on
­equation (2), it could be obtained that q  =  184.90 kN m−1, then
the ­proportion of overburden self-weight load of the shallow-
buried cavern sustained by the supporting structure was

130
J. Geophys. Eng. 13 (2016) 123 D Wen-Qi et al

Figure 13.  Excavation of the cavern during construction.

quickly supported after being excavated, hence the stability

of the support system was guaranteed. The cross section area
of the small tunnel can be adjusted flexibly. Therefore, this
support method is not only suitable for large-span shallow-
buried underground caverns, but also suitable for shallow-
buried underground caverns with special requirements of
maintaining the original conditions on the ground surface and
cavern roof.

5. Conclusions

In the present study, a new supporting method for shallow-

buried caverns based on the mining method was proposed. We
successfully applied this method to a specific project to mini-
Figure 14.  Cumulative convergence displacement of the NO.3
measuring line.
mize the damage to the surrounding environment. Through
this application, the small tunnel shed supporting method
Table 1.  Cumulative convergence deformation in the big hall. can be understood thoroughly. The main conclusions are as
Measuring Convergence Development follows:
Location line No. ­deformations (mm) trend (1) The small tunnel shed supporting method is an embedded
Big hall 1 1.56 Steady support method, and the layout can be adjusted based
2 1.06 Steady on the project needs. Our study makes an investigation
3 2.15 Steady into the design theory and construction method. This
4 1.45 Steady supporting method can be combined with numerical
5 1.36 Steady calculations and monitoring measurements to realize
6 0.41 Steady dynamic design.
(2) In traditional design methods, the self load-bearing
α  = 98.55/184.90  ×  100%  =  53%, the self-bearing propor- capacity of surrounding rocks of shallow-buried caverns
tion of surrounding rocks was 1  −  53%  =  47%. Therefore, it is hardly considered. The suggested method identified the
could be seen that the self-bearing capacity of the surrounding design parameters of the supporting structure based on
rocks played a significant role in the design and construction the principles of rock mechanics, hence reflecting the par-
work for this project. The self-bearing capacity of the sur- tial self load-bearing capacity of the surrounding rocks in
rounding rocks was brought into significantly play. a controlled way.
The main load-bearing structure of the cavern, namely the (3) For large span underground caverns, the small tunnel
multi-arch small tunnel shed, was arranged in the middle of shed supporting method has certain superiority in terms
the overburden layer, so the facilities and vegetation on the of reflecting the self load-bearing capacity of surrounding
ground surface were well protected. The original appear- rocks and reducing costs. This method can be referenced
ance of the rocks in the internal walls of the caverns was in solving an underground cavern project with the
preserved. Since the overburden layer above the cavern was requirement of protecting the ground environment and
preserved and only small tunnels were excavated, the exca- in controlled construction with slight disturbance, which
vation volume was reduced significantly, and the construc- can effectively avoid heavy excavation and satisfy the
tion costs also decreased. The load-bearing horizontal small special requirements of scenic sites for preserving the
tunnels had a relatively small cross-sectional area and were original appearance of rocks.

131
J. Geophys. Eng. 13 (2016) 123
Acknowledgment
This work is financially supported by National 863 Program
(Grant No.2012AA112502) and The National Basic Research
Program of China-973 Program (Grant No.2014CB046905
and No. 2011CB013800) and National Natural Science Foun-
dation of China (NO. 51578408).
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