Professional Documents
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Foundation
For both steel and concrete types of tunnels, the main tasks are:
Maintenance dredging.
Except for cases where very soft subsoil, deemed unsuitable for
support of the tunnel, has to be removed and replaced by suitable
materials, the general requirements for the dredging of the trench
bottom are:
A clean, even surface, as close as possible to the upper acceptable
limit in order to avoid the economic consequences of having to fill
overdredged areas;
A minimum disturbance of the remaining exposed upper soil layers in
the trench bottom, in order to limit the changes in the geotechnical
characteristics of the subsoil.
The possible physical disturbance and softening of the exposed soil
layers in the trench bottom, particularly in cohesive subsoils, can
have a considerable influence on the geotechnical behaviour of these
soil layers later-and, hence, on the quality of the tunnel support as a
whole. This in turn influences the design of the structural tunnel body
and, thus, eventually the overall economy. These technical
requirements are met by:
Using the proper type of dredger(s).
Careful controlling the position of the cutting tool, bearing in mind
that the dredging normally has to be done in tidal waters and
sometimes in waters subject to swell and waves.
Careful planning the dredging operation in order to avoid undesirable
failures of the slopes.
Timing of the dredging operation, in order to limit the time that the
trench bottom is exposed and, at the same time, to limit the
sedimentation caused by subsequent dredging nearby.
Casting Basins
The tunnel elements can be prefabricated in a casting basin or in a dry dock. For shorter roadway
and railroad tunnels, the elements are normally cast in one batch in a casting basin. A programme
for control of concrete density and concrete dimensions is required in order to control the weight
and displacement of the tunnel elements.
The typical casting sequence is bottom/walls/roof, but sometimes all at once, in 15-20 m
segments.
The tunnel elements can be monolithic, or they can be provided with flexible joints between tunnel
segments within the elements. The latter arrangement minimises longitudinal bending moments
caused by compression of the subsoil in the permanent stage, but is unsuitable for railway tunnels
in soft ground and in seismic regions.
Normally the tunnel elements will be buoyant and need to be ballasted prior to flooding of the
casting basin in order to make sure that they remain parked until they are to be brought to the
immersion location. This ballasting is normally done with water contained in purpose-built ballast
tanks inside the tunnel element. Pumps and associated pipelines allow charging and removal of
the ballast. A number of lifting eyes and bollards must be provided on the element roof.
Watertight, temporary bulkheads are installed at the ends of the element, and rubber gaskets are
mounted around the periphery of the one end of the tunnel element, while a plane steel plate is
provided at the opposite end. Later, when the tunnel element is joined to the previously placed
tunnel element, this gasket provides a watertight seal between the two tunnel elements.
As the casting basin is flooded or as the tunnel is launched from the dock, the tunnel element is
checked for watertightness, the attention being directed principally towards the temporary
bulkheads and pipe let-ins.
The tunnel element is lowered to its final place on the bottom of the
dredged trench.
Backfill
material is
placed beside
and over the
tunnel to fill
the trench and
permanently
bury the
tunnel, as
illustrated in
the figures.
WATERTIGHTNESS
It is often assumed that the process of building a tunnel in
water, rather than boring through the ground beneath it will
increase the likelihood of leakage. In fact, immersed tunnels
are nearly always much drier than bored tunnels, due to the
above-ground construction of the elements. Underwater joints
depend on robust rubber seals which have proved effective in
dozens of tunnels to date.
A NEW DEVELOPMENT
The starting point of an immersed tunnel design is required cross-sectional area i.e. the
hollow space. The tunnel must have the same number of traffic lanes as the road.
Dimensional requirements vary from country to country; generally speaking the lanes should
be 3,5 m wide with headroom above, depending on local regulations (e.g. 4.5 m for Holland).
There should also be a clearance from the carriageway to the walls of 0.8 to 1.0 m, for
broken down cars. The clearance will also reduce the wall effect; drivers shying away from
the wall thereby reducing the capacity of the road. Above the headroom there should be
adequate room for ventilation booster fans, luminaries and signal equipment. In the dualcarriageway tunnels there is often a service gallery for cables located between the traffic
tubes.
After construction, the elements are floated to their final position. The
element is then made heavier than its displacement by means of temporary
ballast (often water), after being temporarily supported by the immersion
rigs. At a later stage this ballast is replaced by definitive ballast in the shape
of non-reinforced concrete below the future carriageway or externally, or
other secondary interior structural concrete. By this time the immersion
equipment and bulkheads will have to be removed. The element must now
weigh sufficiently more than its buoyancy to remain in place.
The pressure head of the groundwater below the tunnel base may lag
behind the water level in the river. At low tide this may result in an additional
upward force. To compensate for effects of this kind, the design criterion
often adopted at this stage is that the weight of the tunnel must exceed the
water displacement by an absolute minimum margin against flotation when
all removable items and backfill are removed. This floation margin may be in
the range of 1.075, but is determined on a project basis. The safety margin
is later increased because the sides and top of the dredged trench into
which the tunnel was placed is then backfilled.
This results in the first place in a load on the roof; whereas friction on the
walls is ignored. Erosion protection is placed to continuously maintain a 1.15
or 1.2 factor of safety against flotation, depending upon the clients
requirements, and safety against sinking ships and dropping anchors.
The tunnel cross-section accommodates two tubes for the two-track railway and two tubes for the
four-lane motorway. A central installation gallery between the motorway tubes doubles as a safe
and smoke-free escape route in case of emergency.
The immersed part of the tunnel consists of 20 elements, each approximately 175 m long,
resulting in a total immersed tunnel length of 3,510 m. Each element is made from 8 segments,
joined together by temporary prestressing, and weighing approximately 56,000 t. The outer crosssectional dimensions are 8.6 m by 38.8 m, the height being governed by the railway clearance
profile. The track is fastened directly to the bottom slab, the omission of the ballast reducing the
required tunnel height. The elements were placed in a pre-dredged trench, and founded on a
gravel bed. Backfilling along the sides and on the roof was designed to offer a permanent cover
and protection of the tunnel in all situations.
The final tunnel profile is in general below seabed level, and at the Drogden navigation channel
the top of the cover is 10 m below water level. The rock cover was designed to withstand a falling
or dragging anchor, or a sunken ship. Furthermore the protective layer is stable against scour and
erosion caused by currents or ship propellers.