ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONALE DES TRAVAUX EN SOUTERRAIN

AITES

ITA

INTERNATIONAL TUNNELLING ASSOCIATION

Towards an improved use of underground Space

In Consultative Status, Category II with the United Nations Economic and Social Council http://www.ita-aites.org

Topic
IMMERSED AND FLOATING TUNNELS Title
Scrading - a new approach to the foundation of concrete tunnel elements

Author
H. Smink

Originally published
in "(Re)Claiming the Underground Space", Vol. 1, pp. 287 - 289, Year 2003. by A.A. Balkema, Lisse ,The Netherlands, www.balkema.nl and www.szp.swets.nl Working Group: Open Session, Seminar, Workshop: "Immersed Tunnels", Amsterdam, 2003 Others:
Meetings
known as the Scrader Concept has been developed and successfully applied at the Oresund Tunnel and other projects. A gravel bed is simultaneously placed and leveled at the desired depth prior to the immersion of the elements. Vertical accuracy within centimeters is achieved and losses of material are kept to a minimum.

Abstract: Depositing and leveling materials used in underwater construction has always been difficult. A new technique,

Rsum:

Remarks: -

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(Re)Claiming the Underground Space, Saveur (ed.) 2003 Swets & Zeitlinger, Lisse, ISBN 90 5809 542 8

Scrading a new approach to the foundation of concrete tunnel elements

H. Smink
Boskalis bv, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

ABSTRACT: Depositing and leveling materials used in underwater construction has always been difficult. A new technique, known as the Scrader Concept has been developed and successfully applied at the resund Tunnel and other projects. A gravel bed is simultaneously placed and leveled at the desired depth prior to the immersion of the elements. Vertical accuracy within centimeters is achieved and losses of material are kept to a minimum.

1 INTRODUCTION In Europe concrete immersed tunnel elements are originally founded on a sandbed. The element is first immersed and placed on temporary foundation pads, after which a sand-water mixture is flushed under the element to provide a stable foundation. There are, however, a few possible constraints with this sandbed foundation, such as the risk of an instable element due to hydraulic forces immediately after the immersion. Moreover, the new high-speed trains do require a much stricter tolerance in the

horizontal alignment of the completed tunnel. Also in earthquake risky areas a gravel bed is preferred. 2 SCRADER CONCEPT Depositing and leveling materials used in underwater construction has always been difficult. Accuracy, reliability, environmental issues and construction time have always been and will be issues of concern. Therefore, a new technique, known as the Scrader Concept, has been developed and

Figure 1 Multi Purpose Pontoon Scradeway.

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successfully applied by Boskalis. A gravel bed is placed in the dredged trench prior to the immersion of the elements. The depositing and accurate leveling of the gravel layer is performed in one operation. 3 SYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS The developed scrader tool consists of a telescopic fallpipe, which is attached to a specially designed vessel, a Multi Purpose Pontoon (MPP), named the Scradeway. Placing and leveling of the material is executed simultaneously: scrade material is conveyed into the fallpipe, while the fallpipe is moved horizontally. The material is continuously maintained in the lower section of the fallpipe. The bottom end of the fallpipe remains at a constant level and is in permanent contact with the scrade layer while moving. The vertical movements of the vessel are monitored continuously with the aid of a rotating laser and compensated by the hydraulic system of the fallpipe. With the aid of new surveying techniques accuracy within centimeters can be achieved. 4 SPECIAL APPLICATION A special application of the scrader concept is the capability to construct a rubble stone of an intermittent pattern of identical berms alternated by grooves instead of a closed plane. The interval of the berms can be varied depending 287on the specific design applications. As foundation base for structures, such a construction introduces

several advantages in comparison with a closed integral plane:

At the joints of the elements the distance between the berms can be increased, minimizing the risk of aggregate particles being trapped between elements.

Figure 3. The pattern of gravel berms with alternating grooves.

Figure 2. General plan Multi Purpose Pontoon.

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Water and siltation are more easily dissipated through the grooves when lowering the element on to the foundation. Berm construction with intermediate grooves avoids the risk of high spots at overlapping tracks of gravel.

For 20 elements a gravel bed was placed, up to a water depth of 20 m, with a vertical accuracy of 25 mm. After the first successful application at resund, the technique has further been applied at other projects, like the foundation of the elements of the 2nd Benelux tunnel in the Netherlands.

5 EXPERIENCE Experience with the scrading technique has been obtained at the resund tunnel project in Denmark.

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