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Selection Criteria for Tunnel

Construction
Mohamed Darwish, PhD, PEng
Reem Aboali
Osama Hashem
Shady Girgis
Menna Amr assal
Amira Saied Youssef
Mohamed Auf
Aya Diab
Mireille Kirolos
Mohamed Seif
Yousef Shehata
Presented by:
Reem Aboali
 Introduction
 Tunnels
 Mining
 Transportation and sanitary purposes allover the world

 Construction of tunnels involves utilizing unique construction

methods due to various characteristics like cost, constructability,
resources & time.
 Trenched Method- Cut & Cover
 A shallow place (10-12 m)
 Economical
 Practical & easier in construction
 May cause traffic problems, noise & dust
 Not Economical if >12 m/dewatering
Trenched Method- Cut & Cover

Cut & Cover

Bottom Up Method Top Down Method

Side support walls,

Structurally
main contributor in
independent of
the tunnel
the support walls
structural system
Immersed Tunneling

 More feasible & efficient technique for a tunnel crossing

a waterway

 Application is function of :
 Good weather
 Reasonable water currents
 Sufficient bearing capacity for riverbed/seabed
Immersed Tunneling

 More feasible & efficient technique for a tunnel crossing

a waterway

 Application is function of :
 Good weather,
 Reasonable water currents
 Sufficient bearing capacity for riverbed/seabed
 Tunnel Boring
 Excavation is done by tunnel without structural
Tunnel Boring Machines support.
(TBM's).
 Used for tunneling under
 Involves digging a tube-like bodies of water.
passage through the earth.
 Capital intensive with high
 Long tunnels construction. mobilization costs.

 Competent rocks that

provide adequate
geological stability for
boring a long section
 Tunnel Boring
 Average Production Rate: 5-10 m/day

 Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) Length: 100 –150 m

 Diameter:
 1 – 14.4 m(Hard Rock TBM)
 1 – 19.25 m (Soft Ground TBM)
TBM

Hard Rock Soft Ground

TBM TBM

Earth
Pressure Slurry Shield Open Face
Shielded Open type
Balance (SS) Type
(EPB)
 Hard Rock TBMs

 Open Type TBM:

 No shield, area behind cutter open
for rock support.
 Advances using gripper system
 Support systems instead of concrete
segments

 Shielded TBM:
 Used with fractured rock, erecting
concrete segments to support
unstable tunnel walls behind the
machine.
 Could be single-shielded or double-
shielded
 Soft Ground TBMs
 Earth Pressure Balance (EPB):
 Mixes excavated soil, foaming
agents, water and polymers in
the working chamber behind
cutter head. The muck pressure is
controlled by the pressure wall.
 Screw conveyor takes the mud
out of the machine as the
machine moves forward.

 Slurry Shield (SS):

 The cutter head is balanced by
bentonite slurry.
 Screw conveyor is replaced by
two pipes circulating the slurry in
and out of the working chamber.
 Multi-mode (Mixshield) TBMs
Developments were done to include
changing modes of operation as follows:

 Changing modes of operation

between open face single shield and
closed EPB shield

 Changing modes of operation

between closed slurry shield and open
face single shield

 Changing modes of operation

between EPB and SS modes.

 Such costly developments broaden

the type of soil that could be bored
within a single project reducing the
risks of stopping the excavation due to
soil type change
 TBM Selection Criteria
Ground
TBM type Suitable Ground Condition Cost Speed Risks
type
Water head< 4 bars & fine
EPB High Moderate Low
materials> 10%
Permeability from 10−8 to
SS High Moderate Low
Soft 10−2 m/s
Ground
weak rock, fully/partially
Open face Moderate High Moderate
cohesive soils with low GWT

Multi-mode TBM’s Most of soil types Highest Variable Low

Rock compressive strength

Unshielded Moderate Highest Highest
from 100 to 300 MPa
Hard
Rock Single-shield Rock compressive strength High Moderate Moderate

Double-shield from 50 to 300 MPa Highest Moderate Lowest

 Jacked Box Tunneling
 Prefabricated tunnel sections pushed
one after the other by hydraulic jacks

 Jacked tunnel progress: 1-2 m/day

 The maximum recorded rate : 4m /day

 Lower vibration & disturbance to the

surrounding soils & structures

 Commonly used to
 cross tunnel beneath railways
 Underground structure & tunnels
 Drill & Blast Method

Step 1: Drilling Step 2: Blasting & Step 3: Mucking, Step 4: Smoothing

holes & uploading ventilation broken rock/ earth out the surface of
explosives the blasted rock
 Drill & Blast Method
 Merits:
 Waste materials generated
would be less.
 Disturbance to local traffic &
environmental impacts
would be much reduced
 Blasting significantly reduce
the duration of vibration
 Drawbacks:
 Safety risks for workers.
 Fumes and gases generated
from detonating explosives
are toxic
 Noise pollution generated
from blasting
 Blasting fracture the rock
around the tunnels/
uncontrolled rockslides/falling
debris
 Sequential Excavation Method
 New Austrian Tunneling Method ( NATM)

 Utilizing the self supporting capability of the ground

hence achieving an economically sound ground system

 Used with dry soil where roads are used for excavation
 Sequential Excavation Method
 Support element is shotcreting, providing interlocking &
continuous support to the ground

 SEM is slower than TBM constructing long tunnels

 Trenchless Methods Selection Criteria
Drill-and-
TBM Jacked Box SEM Immersed
blast
Rock and cohesive Requires high
Suitable Soil Type Various Soils Soft grounds Rocks
soils bearing capacity
Cost saving for long
Cost Cost saving for short tunnels Cost efficient
tunnels
Level of Highly
Highly mechanized Moderately mechanized Highly mechanized
Mechanization mechanized
Constructability Soil dependent Moderate Depends on project conditions
Productivity High Low Moderate Moderate Highest
Mobilization Time Long Moderate Short Short Moderate
Construction Risk Soil dependent Soil dependent Highest Project dependent Weather dependent
Depends on
Safety Safe Least safe Project dependent Weather dependent
machine type

Short tunnels Short in- Short tunnels,

Most Suitable
Long Tunnels beneath/beside the-rock large openings, Water crossings
Location
structures tunnels complex shapes
Case Study#1:
Boston Big Dig, Boston, USA
 Objective: Replace deteriorating 6-lane elevated highway
to 8-10 lane underground including construction of Ted
Williams Tunnel ( Interstate 90 – Logan International Airport)

 Cost: $ 14.6 billion

 Duration 20 years
 Boston Big Dig, Boston, USA
 I-90: Ted Williams Tunnel

 Coastal Section (1)

 Bottom-up open cut trench
Boston Big Dig, Boston, USA
 I-90: Ted Williams Tunnel

 Under-water Section ( Immersed Tunneling)

 Steel Sections from Baltimore
 Cast in place concrete sections
Boston Big Dig, Boston, USA
 I-90: Fort Point Tunnel
 Piles were driven at the two sides of the metro to load it on
lower bed rock
Boston Big Dig, Boston, USA
 I-90: Tunneling under Railway Network
 Boston is constructed over Landfill composed of blue clay
 Solidify soil by ground freezing
Boston Big Dig, Boston, USA
 I-90: Tunnel Jacking
 The tunnel concrete was completely constrcuted on one
end of the tunnel & equipment were used to excavate the
soil in front of the tunnel section
 Case Study 1: Method Evaluation

 Using a cut-and-cover in the first section: most economic. Trenchless

technique in that location would have been a waste of money.

 For the two under-water sections, the usage of the immersed

tunneling technique was the optimum solution as the weather and
water currents were suitable for the different activities to take place
safely, so using TBM’s in such case would have been a waste of time
and money.

 The box jacking tunneled section is optimum since using a TBM

would have induced vibrations that could have harmed the railway
above it.
 Case Study #2:
The Channel Tunnel, France-Uk
 Objective: To connect the two
countries and connect Britain to
the rest of Europe
 Cost: £4.65 billion
 Duration: 6 years
 Longest under water section in the
world: 37.9 Km
 Five TBM’s used, each designed for
the geology of a specific length of
the project.
 EPBM to withstand the high water
pressure while Boring
 The longest TBM : 200 m long
The Channel Tunnel, France-Uk
 The TBM’s were lowered into the drilled shafts at both
ends

 Prefabricated concrete tunnel sections are placed

continuously using hydraulic arms to make a support
around which acts as a permanent lining.
 The Chunnel: Flow Chart
Installing
Geological Establish TBM Drilling Shafts at proper
Survey course both ends ventilation
system

Temporary rails
TBM conveys
transport
earth soil Lowering TBMs
Concrete TBM excavates
outside for in the Shafts
sections to TBM
disposal
head

Process
TBM places
continues until
pre-cast
both TBMs TBM disposal
concrete slabs
reach meeting
for tunnel lining
point
 Case Study 2: Method Evaluation

 The channel between the UK and France is well known for unstable
weather conditions and extreme currents. Hence, using the
immersed tunneling technique would have been difficult and of
very high risks.

 The box jacking method was unsuitable for usage in case of such a
long tunnel.

 Using TBM’s in such case was the only possible option.

 The type of TBM’s could have been altered to use only two multi-
mode TBM’s to take into account the possible variation in ground
conditions instead of having five different TBM’s and disposing some
of them.
Conclusion
 The most governing factor of choice is the soil conditions

 The safety, level of risk, constructability, speed and cost.

 Selection criteria matrix to take all the factors governing

the method selection into account as neglecting some
of them could cause serious problems that are difficult in
fixing.
References
Thank You