Observational construction of the urban N A T M under thin overburden

A. Yokoo Kajima Corporation Y. Fuke Kajima Corporation N. Fujii Kajima Corporation ABSTRACT: Shin Kobe tunnel, which is constructed by the NATM at the centre of Kobe city, drives through uncemented soft ground under the condition of the overburden from 4 to 10m. The tunnel length is 270m long, the depth of overburden beneath existing roads is less than 1D (D: diameter) and there are structures and lifeline facilities nearby. The control limit for settlement for lifeline facilities is less than 15mm. It was necessary, therefore, to conduct a thorough study using numerical analysis at the design stage and to the appropriateness of tunnel supports by monitoring and back analysis at the construction stage. This paper mainly describes the verification of the practice design and the effect of the applied supplementary methods. 1 INTRODUCTION Shin Kobe Tunnel Project involves the southward extension of the existing Shin Kobe Tunnel. Section No. 1 of the tunnel extension, which is a 550-meterlong section consists of two box open cut tunnel sections (L=205m and 75m) and a NATM tunnel section (L=270m). The overburden depth in the NATM tunnel section is only 4 to 10 m, and there are bridges, temple, elementary school and lifeline facilities near the route of the tunnel. To minimise ground surface settlement, therefore, various auxiliary methods of construction were employed. This paper reports on the verification of the practice design and the effect of the applied supplementary methods.
Kamiwaka exit L=204m Box section L=134m U-shaped retaining wall section L=30m Gravity retaining wall section L=40m
Direction of advance
Elementary school Temple

2 GEOLOGY The tunnel site is located in an alluvial area at the foot of Mt. Rokko. The surface layer down to depths of about 1.5 to 3.0 m consists of buried soil, and the underlying layers are composed mainly of gravelly soil of granite (host rock) origin (Figures 2 and 3). The gravelly soil formation contains large quantities of boulders, mainly from 200 to 500 mm in diameter and sometimes up to 1,000 mm. The gravelly soil formation is interspersed with thin layers (0.5 to 1.0 m) of cohesive soil. In the vicinity of the starting shaft, ground water hydraulic head from the base of the top heading is about 5m; on the arrival shaft side, it is lower than the level of the tu nnel bottom. Ground water level, therefore, was lowered by deep wells inside and outside the starting shaft.

Bridge

Ikuta River

Bridge

Box section L=205m

NATM section L=270m Main tunnel L=550m

Box section L=75m

JR y railwa Private

Figure 1. Plan of of tunnel.

3 CONSTRUCTION METHODS
Water Industrial water New Ikuta river Telephone lines

The tunnel is a two -lane road tunnel with a cross sectional area of 90 to 110 m2 (Figure 3). Grout injection long-steel forepiling was adopted over the entire length of the tunnel, and the ground at the base of tunnel supports was improved by the horizontal jet grouting method. The applied excavation method was short bench cut method. The following sections describe some of the auxiliary metho d s o f c o n s t r u c t i o n u s e d a s w e l l a s characteristics of the construction work carried out. 3.1 Grout injection long-steel-pipe forepiling For long-steel-pipe forepiling, 39 to 45 steel pipes (114.3 mm in diameter, t=6.0 mm) were driven in a cross section. Two types of forepiling were used: allwrap (12-meter-long steel pipes, longitudinal spacing 6 m) and ord inary (12.5-meter-long steel pipes, longitudinal spacing 9 m). All-wrap forepiling was used in the first 90m section from the starting shaft, which is close to existing structures, and ordinary forepiling was used in the remaining 180m section. The grouting method is to divide the steel pipe into three sections by employing packers and the three sections grouted simultaneously, using three pumps. A urethane grout (foaming time: 120 s) was adapted, and the grout was injected using controlled pressure (up to 2 MPa) and quantity (maximum grouting ratio: 30%). 3.2 Foot reinforcement For foot reinforcement, soil-cement columns with a design diameter of 800 mm were formed by horizontal two-layer jet grouting. Jet grouting is a method of forming soil-cement columns by injecting cement slurry under high pressure while cutting into the ground. Jet grouting was carried out shift by shift at the face. In the all-wrap forepiling section, the foot region in the third shift from the face was
No. 6 5 4 3 2 1 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 shift=6000 6

Buried soil (B)

9320

Gravelly soil (Tg1) TC1 Clayey soil (Tc1)

Gravelly soil (Tg2)

Figure 2. Geological cross section.

'21''

500

200 50

Steel arch support H-200x200x8x12

17 2'2 1''

17 2

No.1

1325 0

5300

R2=

50

Lining concrete t=500

Grouted long-steelpipe forepiling 114.3, t=6.0 @450 (39 forepiles) Urethane injection

50

09 32 0 4= 200 R = R3
Jet grouting of foot region (800x2)

S.L

1650

Figure 3. Typical tunnel cross section .

Photo. 1 Jet-grouted soil-cement column formed during construction test.

No. 3 2 1 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 9

100 600

shotcrete t=100, with wire netting

12000

5300 (internal dimension) 500500

5300 (internal demension) 500 600

12500

R1

1 shift=9000

=5

R=

59

30

S.L

S.L

Figure 4. Profile of long steel forepiling. (Allwrap type)

Figure 5. Profile of long steel forepiling. (Ordinary type)

reinforced by jet grouting. In the ordinary forepiling section, the foot region in the second shift from the face was reinforced. To ensure successful ground improvement, grout was injected again from the pipe end (secondary grouting) after jet grouting. In this way, soil-cement columns about 800 to 1000 mm in diameter were formed, and their 7-day unconfined compressive strength exceeded 10 MPa. 3.3 Early functioning of the tunnel support After the tunnel support was erected, textile bags were put into the space between the tunnel support and the steel pipes (or soil-cement columns), and the bags were filled with grout. The purpose of this method (preloaded shell method) is to ensure early functioning of the tunnel support by achieving close contact between the tunnel support and the ground. At this tunnel site, the preloaded shell method was applied to the 120-degree arch region and the foot (sides) of the tunnel (Figure 6). Very-high -earlystrength, nonshrink type premixed mortar grout was used. For the application in the arch region, the mortar was mixed with air to produce air-entrained mortar with the minimum strength required.
Table 1. analysis. Physical property values used in pre -ex cavation
E (kN/m2) 7,000 78,000 18,000 76,000 2.1 x 10 8 4.0 x 10
6

Photo 2. Overview of the starling shaft.

C (kN/m (kN/m (deg) 3 2 ) Photo 3. Entrance in )starting shaft. Buried soil (B) 18 28 Gravelly 19 36 soil( Tg1) Clayey soil 19 120 (Tc1 ) Gravelly 19 40 soil( Tg1) Steel support 78.5 Shotcrete Forepile 23 Origin al ground Origin al ground Origin al ground Origin al ground Original ground Original ground

0.33 0.33 0.45 0.33 Origin al ground Origin al ground

Early load transfer through support

Loosening load
Textile bag

1.0 x 10 6

120 S.L

Textile bag

Soil -cement column in foot region

5.0 x 10 5

Jet grouting of foot region

( =8002)

Figure 6. Concept of preloaded shell.

STEP 1
Initial earth pressure + live load

STEP 2
Modeling of foot improvement and forepiling followed by top heading excavation (relief ratio : 40%)

STEP 3
Modeling of steel arch and shotcrete followed by excavation of the rest of top heading; 60% relieved

STEP 4
Bench and invert excavation (relief ratio : 40%)

STEP 5
Modeling of bench steel arch, shotcrete and temporary invert followed by excavation of the rest of bench; 60% relieved

Displacement set to zero

Figure 7. Steps in FEM analysis.

4 PRECONSTRUCTION ANALYSIS AND INPROCESS MEASUREMENT 4.1 Preconstruction analysis An analysis was conducted prior to construction to investigate the influence of tunnel excavation on the surrounding ground. The analysis was a nonlinear FEM analysis using excavation-based steps. Table 1 shows the physical property values used in the analysis, and Figure 7 shows the analytical steps. The analytical results indicated that the maximum surface settlement at the centre of the tunnel was 12 to 15mm. 4.2 Results of in-process measurement Figure 8 shows the measurements conducted for the construction work. 4.2.1 Ground settlement (1) Over-the-tunnel settlement Prior to tunnel construction, horizontal boring was carried out to bore a 42-meter-long hole, and a total of 11 settlement gauges (at a spacing of 2m) were installed in the hole to measure pre-excavation settlement (Figure 9). Although common practice when measuring displacement in a borehole is to

employ i n c linometers, in this project small differential-pressure-typ e settlement gauges were installed in the borehole. Figure 10 shows the measured settlements, along with the location of the cutting face. As shown, pre-excavation settlement, which began to occur at a point about 7 to 8m ahead of the face, was about 3 to 6mm and ended at around 11 mm (about 70% of the design value) when settlement converged at a point about 10 m behind the face. (2) Ground surface and tunnel crown settlement As shown in Figure 11, in the all-wrap forepiling section, pre-excavation surface settlements of 3 to 6mm occurred over the face of the top heading, and a final settlement of 11 to 12mm occurred about 15m behind the face. As shown in Figure 12, tunnel crown settlement converged to about 6 to 7mm at points about 10 to 15m behind the face. And the settlement during the excavation of the lower bench was about 2 to 3mm.
Automatic measurement <Out -of-tunnel> Structure settlement gauge (14 locations) Structure inclinometer (6 locations) Underground inclinometer (4 locations) Over-the-tunnel settlement gauge (42 m) Ground water level (8 observation wells) <In-tunnel> Support stress (4 cross sections) Shotcrete stress (4 cross sections) Forepile stress (3 locations)

Manual measurement <Out -of-tunnel> G r o u n d s u r f a c e s e t t l e m e n t , s e t t l e m e n t o f u n d erground installations/structures, ground water level <In-tunnel> Face observation, settlement of support crown and foot regions

Figure 8. Measurements conducted

Ground surface
Ho riz on tal bo rin g
11 10 9 8 7 6 5 11 4 10

Me asu rem ent ran ge (20 m)

3 9 2 8 1 7 11 6 10 5 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 1 5 4 3 2
1

Earth-retaining wall

12m

3.5m

TP+6.224

Figure 9. Profile of over-the-tunnel settlement gauge.

5 0 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 Distance from face (m) 5 10 15 20

Settlement (mm)

-5 -10 -15 -20

Figure 10. Over-the-tunnel settlement gauge and distance from face. (All-wrap forepiling section)

(3) Comparison of settlements I n comparison of ground displacement over the tunnel, settlement at the ground surface and at the crown reveal almost the same. This, as shown in the settlement c o r r e l a t i o n s o f F i g u r e 13, s h o w s characteristics of soil ground with thin overburden, which is not conducive to ground arch action. 4.2.2 Support stress (1) Primary support stress On the basis of the averages of axial forces acting on the steel support and shotcrete, the loads acting on the primary support were converted to overbu rden depths. Overburden depths thus obtained a r e 3 t o 5 m regardless of actual overburden depth. (See Table 3). (2) Stresses in steel forepiles Figure 14 shows incremental bending stresses in steel pipes due to process of cutting face. Stresses acting on the steel pipes in the all-wrap forepiling section were smaller than those in the ordinary forepiling section. Figure 14 indicates that the steel pipes are supported at points farther than 1.0 to 1.5m from the face, and that the part of the preloaded shell in the vicinity of the face is effective as part of the tunnel support system.

5 0 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 -5

Distance from face (m)

5 10 15 20

Figure 11. Ground surface settlement and distance from face. (All-wrap forepiling section)
5 0 -5
Distance from face (m)

settlement (mm)

-5 -10 -15 -20

Settlement (mm)

-10 -15 -20

10

15

20

Figure 12. Tunnel crown settlement and distance from face. (All-wrap forepiling section)
10m 15m 10m 5mm 7mm 12mm 5mm 7mm 12mm

Influence line

Table 2. Comparisons of measured and desi gn values of settlement. Measured value Design value (mm) (mm) At face Converge At face Converged d to to Over the 36 1112 9 16 tunnel Ground 36 1112 7 14 surface Crown 67 9
30 20

Figure 13. Settlement correlations in all-wrap forepiling section.

Table 3. Results of measurement of axial force acting on primary support. Section No. 1 2 3 Actual ove rburden depth (m) 5.8 7.0 9.0 Average axial force acti n g o n 320.0 517.0 335.0 primary support (kN) Equivalent overburden depth (m) 3.0 4.8 3.1 Equivalent height / overburde n 0.52 0.69 0.34 depth
30 20

Incremental bending stress

Incremental bending stress

10 -10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10

50 55

7mm

7.5m 10m

10 0

(N/mm )

-10 -20 -30 -40 -50 -60

(N/mm )

-12

-10

-8

-6

-4

-2

Distance from face (m)

-10 -20 -30 -40 -50 -60

5.3m 3.5m 5.5m 9m 14.3m

8 10

Over-the-tunnel settlement gauge

Distance from face (m)

All-wrap type

Ordinary type

Figure 14. Incremental bending stress in steel forepiles and distance from face.

5 . BACK ANALYSIS In the back analysis, the 2D FEM model applied in t h e p r e-excavation analysis was used. The parameters in this analysis are the modulus of deformation of ground and stress relief (%) due to excavation at the time of arrival of the face. As a result of the analysis, stress relief ratios at the time of arrival of the face, and upon erection of primary support were set at 30% and 70%, respectively. When the modulus of deformation of ground was set at 1.5 times the value used in design (average of values obtained from borehole lateral loading test), back-calculated values and meas ured values of vertical displacement showed good agreement (Table 4 and 5).
Table 4. Comparison of assumptions for pre-excavation analysis and back analysis . Pre-excavation Back analysis analysis Modulus of deform ation Eo 1.5 Eo of ground Stress relief at time of 40% 30& arrival of face

tunnel sections close to existing s tructures, steel pipes were always laid in two layers. As for the foot regions of the tunnel lining, strong soil-cement columns could be formed by laying two layers of jetgrouted soil. These methods restricted ground surface settlement to 15mm or less due to top heading excavation and incremental settlements to 2 to 3mm due to bench excavation. As for preloaded shell, air-entrained mortar was used as the grout material as a means of cost reduction. Stress distributions in steel forepiles confirmed that the preloaded shell using the mortar was effective as part of the tunnel support system. The measured values of ground surface settlement directly reflect tunnel displacements, clearly showing characteristics of a NATM tunnel in soil with thin overburden, which is not conducive to ground arch formation. Measured values tended to be 70 to 80% of calculated values obtained through pre-excavation analysis. Back analysis indicated that multiplying the modulus of deformation by 1.5 and assuming a stress relief ratio of 30% results in better agreement with the measured values. The differences between pre-excavation analysis value and measured value, however, were of the order of less than five millimetres of displacement, and the analytical model and techniques used proved basically valid. Excavation of the top heading of the tunnel was completed in September 2000, and the secondary lining was completed in March 2001. The number of NATM tunnelling projects in urban areas is likely to increase in the years to come, and the authors hope that the information on the tunnelling work reported here will be available for similar future projects.

6 CONCLUSION From the results of various measurements conducted in connection with tunnel excavation, the effectiveness of a number of auxiliary methods of construction and some properties of ground have been confirmed. The results and findings of this study can be summarised as follows: In the tunnel construction reported herein, strong arch reinforcement could be provided by driving steel forepiles so as to cover a range of almost 180 degrees over the tunnel and by ensuring that in

Table 5. Comparison of predicted, measured and back -calculated values of settlement . Pre-excavation anal ysis Over-thetunnel At time of arrival of face 9 Ground surface Crown Foot 7 9 6 After erection of support 16 14 Measured value At time of arrival of face 36 36 67 410 After erection of support 1112 1112 Back -calculated value At time of arrival of face 5 4 7 4 After erection of support 11 9