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An incident of runway heaving due to shield tunneling for Taipei MRT construction
Un incident de levée de la piste dû à un tunnelage de bouclier pour la construction
de MRT de Taipei

Y.S. Fang, D.R. Wang, C. Liu, Y.C. Shih

Department of Civil Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
E-mail address: ysfang@mail.nctu.edu.tw

C.C. Kao
Department of Rapid Transit Systems, Taipei City Government, Taipei, Taiwan

ABSTRACT: In this paper, the heaving of an airport runway in Taipei due to shield tunneling for the construction of Taipei
Rapid Transit Systems (TRTS) was reported. The runway heaving incident, its emergency treatment, and the causes of this
incident were introduced. It was found that, the mud injection pressure at the face, and backfill grouting pressure were
significantly greater than the limiting values assumed for construction. The material ejected to the ground surface was found to be the
same as the mud injected at the face. The excess fluid pressure in the ground caused an upward flow, and an upward thrust on the
runway pavement, causing the runway heaving.

RÉSUMÉ : Dans cet article, on a signalé le soulèvement d'une piste d'aéroport à Taipei en raison de la construction de tunnels
bouclier pour la construction des systèmes de transport rapide de Taipei (TRTS). L'incident du soulèvement de la piste, son traitement
d'urgence et la cause de cet incident ont été introduits. On a constaté que la pression d'injection de la boue au niveau du visage,
la pression d'injection du remblai et la pression d'injection secondaire étaient significativement supérieures aux valeurs limites prises
pour la construction. On a trouvé que le matériau éjecté à la surface du terrain était le même que la boue injectée au niveau du visage.
L'excès de pression de fluide dans le terrain a provoqué un écoulement vers le haut, et une poussée vers le haut sur les couches de sol
au-dessus et du soulèvement de la piste.
KEYWORDS: backfill grouting, face pressure, heave, mud injection, runway, shield, tunnel.

1 INTRODUCTION and 25mm, respectively. In Figure 1, tunneling for down-track

(DT) started at the ventilation shaft, passing under the runway,
In recent years, due to the rapid development of urban areas, a the taxiway, the apron, and arrived at the Songshan Airport
lot of public facilities such as Rapid Transit systems and station (BR1) station. The DT tunnel length was 1,241 m, and
underground sewerage systems have been contructed. Because the up-track (UT) tunnel was 2,286 m-long. Two cross passages
of the disruptive effects of the cut-and-cover method, its has were constructed between the UT and DT tunnels.
been becoming more popular to employ the shield tunneling
method for passing under areas with heavy traffic.
The Taipei Metro consists of five lines: Wenhu Line, 2 SHIELD TUNNELING UNDER AIRPORT
Tamsui-Xinyi Line, Songshan-Xindian Line, Zhonghe-Xinlu
Line, and Bannan Line. Currently, the total operating net work 2 .1 Subsoil conditions
length is 131.1 km, and the number of stations is 117.
The Wenhu Line is a medium capacity transit system, each The project was located in Zone K1 of the Keelung River basin
train consists 4 cars. Each train can accommodate about 424 of Taipei city. The lacustrine soil deposits above the tunnels
passangers for BOMBARDIER trains, or about 464 passangers were mainly soft silty clay (CL and ML) as indicated in Figure
for MATRA trains. Operation control center controls the entire 2. Below the 0.5 to 6.0 m-thick surface fill, there was a 50 to 60
operation of the line, which is computerized, fully automated, m-thick soft silty clay. The ground water table was located at
and driverless. The maximum train speed is 80 km per hour. the depth 2.0 m.
Taipei Songshan Airport was established on April 16th, 1950.
It was the first aviation terminal setup in Taiwan, and also the
hub for domestic aviation trasportation. The airport has an east-
west bound runway with a length of 2,605 m and width of 60 m.
The capacity of the runways is 34 flight/hr, and they can
accommodate aircraft models as large as A330-300 and B767
and B787. Songshan Airport is a 24-hour operational airport.
However, due to noise control policy, the flight operation
period started from 06:00 to 23:00. Except the seven domestic
flight routes, there are 13 cross-strait flight routes to Mainland
China. International flights reach two destinations of Haneda
Airport in Tokyo and Gimpo Airport in Seoul.
Figure 1 showed the shield tunnels of Lot CB420 of Wenhu
Line were constructed under the Taipei Songshan Airport. It
should be noted that, for tunneling under the airport, the
warning value and action value of surface settlement was 20 Figure 1. Location of shield tunnels and runway heaving

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 Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Seoul 2017
Figure 2. Geological profile and tunnel location.
2.1.1 Surface fill
The brown silty clay was about 2.0~2.9 m-thick, with a water
content of 36.5%, and SPT-N values of about 5.
2.1.2 Silty clay layer
The thick grey silty clay contained more than 95% of silt and
clay particles. The silty clay has medium sensitivity, and its
fabric and strength could be changed upon disturbance.
This layer could be subdivided into the follow sublayers:
(a) From depth 2.9 to 16.5 m, SPT-N value was less than 3,
natural water content ωn = 28 ~ 33%, liquid limit ωL = 29 ~ 39,
and plastic limit ωp = 6 ~ 13.
(b) From depth 16.5 to 28.5 m, SPT-N = 4 ~ 5, natural water
content ωn = 31 ~ 41%, liquid limit ωL = 36 ~ 42, and plastic
limit ωp = 13 ~ 18.
(c) From depth 28.5 to 40 m, SPT-N = 6 ~ 11, natural water
content ωn = 33 ~ 42%, liquid limit ωL = 39 ~ 45, and plastic
limit ωp = 11 ~ 16.
2.1.3 Dense silty sand interlayer
Thin silty sand interlayers were reported, containing about 40%
of sandy particles, natural water content ωn = 20 ~ 25%, and
SPT-N = 25 ~ 41.
In Figure 1, at the intersection of the shield tunnels and
airport runway, the centerlines of tunnels were located at the
depth of 27.5 m, the spacing between the tunnel centers were 20
m, and the diameters of the tunnels were 6.0 m, as illustrated in
Figure 2.
2 .2 EPB shield machine
The cutter disc in front of the shield machine was used to cut
the ground, and soils moved into the earth chamber were
removed with the screw conveyor. During the excavation
process, if the soil friction was too significant, mud materials
could be injected into the earth chamber through the three
injection holes on the cutter disc. The mud materials used for
Lot CB420 included water, clay, bentonite, and polymer
additives.
2 .3 Lining segments
To reduce the lining ring deformation, which might cause
excess ground settlement, special lining segments were made
for the tunnel construction under the airport.
The lining segment for Lot CB420 had the outside diameter
of 6.0 m, and an inside diameter of 5.4 m. The segment
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thickness increased from 250 mm for ordinary Taipei Rapid
Transit Systems (TRTS) tunnel, up to 300 mm for this project.
The mass of reinforcement steel used increased from 1.55 ton
up to 2.34 ton per ring. The bolt diameter increased from 22
mm up to 25 mm for Lot CB420. 300 mm-thick steel lining
segments were used for the construction of cross passages.
2 .4 Backfill grouting
For the excavation of down-track tunnel, the outside diameter
of the shield was 6.15 m, and the outside diameter of lining
segments was 6.0 m. When the lining ring left the protection of
the steel shield, a 75 mm-thick tail void was generated between
the segment and excavated ground. Backfill grouting was
conducted to fill the tail void. For straight-line tunneling, the
controlled backfill injection rate was 150%, and the grouting
pressure range applied was 100 ~ 200 kPa higher than the
ground water pressure. Backfill grout was injected through the
grouting holes on the lining segments.
2 .5 Secondary grouting
For tunneling under the airport, the extra protection measure of
secondary grouting was taken to fill the ground loss and reduce
ground stettlement. Two layers of chemical-grout injection,
each 0.5 m-thick, formed a 1.0 m-thick fan grout zone above
the tunnel.
2 .6 Monitoring system
Consider the safety of aviation, most sensors of the monitoring
system in the airport were operated with automation and
wireless data transmisson. The installed monitoring instruments
included surface marker (SM), settlement of building (SB),
extensometer (EXM), shallow settlement indicator (SSI), slope
inclinometer (SIS), and electronic pore pressure transducer
(ELP).
However, the installation of instruments on runway, taxiway,
and apron might endanger the operation of aircrafts. In these
special areas, surface markers were replaced by a cross painted
on the surface with non-reflection paints, and field data were
recorded manually.
3 MANAGEMENT OF TUNNELING PRESSURE
3 .1 Face pressure management
For Lot CB420, the soils excavated were mainly silty clay, and
the overburden above the tunnel was about 19 to 28 m. The at-
rest lateral earth pressure in the cohesive soil could be
calculated as follows:
po = Ko (t H + q) (1)
where po was the at-rest lateral earth pressure (kN/m2), t was
the unit weight of soil (about 18.0 kN/m3), Ko was the
coefficient of earth pressure at-rest (estimated to be 0.6), H was
the overburden thickness above the tunnel (19 ~ 28 m) +
location of earth pressure transduce in earth chamber (1.2 m),
and q was the surcharge load (estimated to be 9.8 kN/m2).
Limiting pressure values for face pressure management were
as follows:
(a) Lower bonud of face pressure:
pmin = po + precautionary pressure (20 kN/m2) (2)
(b) Upper bound of face pressure
pmax = pmin + 40 kN/m2 (3)
 Technical Committee 204 & Joint Technical Committee 2 / Comité technique 204 & Comité technique conjoint 2

Based on equations (2) and (3), the limiting values of face 4 HEAVING OF RUNWAY
pressure ranged from 244 to 379 kN/m2.
The Civil Aeronatics Administration of Taiwan required, the 4 .1 The incident
warning and action values of surface settlement due to
tunneling in the airport was 20 and 25 mm, respectively. To On January 9th of 2004, the down-track shield tunnel was
reduce the amount of ground settlement due to construction, Ko driving under the Taipei Songshan Airport. When surface
coefficirnt in equation (1) was increased to 0.8. The lower and settlement measurement was carried out on the shutdown
upper bound of face pressure was increased to 318 and 486 runway at 02:00 a.m., a 1.5 m x 3.8 m heaving area above ring
kN/m2, respectively. 316 was observed with a maximum heave of 65 mm, as shown
in Figure 3 and 4. Mud materials injected at the face seeped out
3 .2 Mud injection pressure management under the pavement at the nearby edge of the runway. When
heaving was observed, the shield machine had excavated about
To maintain the plastic flow of soils in the earth chamber, mud 10 m into the runway zone. Shield tunneling operation was
was injected to the face through three injection holes on the stopped right after the heaving occurred.
cutter disc. The actual amount of mud injected ranged from 5 to
14% of the volume of excavated ground. The measured 4 .2 Emergency treatments
injection pressure varied from 491 to 589 kN/m2, which was
much higher than facce pressure. For ring 281, located at the The heaving area was located on the main runway of the airport.
depth of 28.3 m, assuming t = 17.7 kN/m3 and Ko = 0.6, the If any accident happened on the runway during landing on take
earth pressure at-rest po acting at the center of the cutter disc off of an aircraft, the results would be unbearable . The airport
would be 300 kN/m2. The measured mud injection pressure △p must reopen in the early morning and emergency treatments
almost doubled the po value. The high mud injection pressure were necessary. After evaluation and discussion by the DORTS
behaved like high grouting pressure, which could cause and the contractor, the 10 m x10 m x 120 mm-thick asphalt
hydraulic fracture in the cohesive soil layer. concrete (AC) pavement was removed as shown in Figure 3.
During the scraping of AC, seeping of face mud was observed.
3 .3 Backfill grouting pressure management Then new asphalt concrete was backfilled and compacted with a
drum compactor as shown in Figure 5. The airport reopen in the
For design, the backfill grouting rate of 150% was suggested. morning on time.
The backfill grouting pressure was recommended to be the
hydrostatic pressure of 196 to 284 kN/m2, plus the extra
pressure of 98 to 196 kN/m2 as management values. The
specification of the Department of Rapid Transit Systems
(DORTS) of Taipei suggested that, the maximum backfill
grouting pressure should not exceed 353 kN/m2.
However, since the overburden was quite thick, following the
DORTS specification, the amount of backfill injected would be
limited, and excessive ground settlement became possible. For
Lot CB420, 300 mm-thick lining segments and significant
amount of reinforcement steel were used. Without damaging the
lining segments, and to reduce the amount of ground settlement,
the measured backfill grouting ranged from 383 to 579 kN/m2.
The recorded grouting rate varied from 120 to 160%.

Figure 4. Runway Heave observed.

Figure 3. Location of runway heave. Figure 5. Emergency resurfacing of runway.

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 Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Seoul 2017
Figure 6. Possible cause of runway heaving.
Figure 7. Estimated and measured surface settlement due to shield
tunneling.
4 .3 Adjustments after the incident
After the runway heaving incient, the following adjustments
were made:
(1) To reduce the pressure at the face, the estimated at-rest earth
pressure coefficient Ko was reduced from 0.8 to 0.7. The
limiting face pressure values were reduced from 318 ~ 486 to
275 ~ 432 kN/m2.
(2) The maximum backfill pressure was reduced from 491
kN/m2 to 392 kN/m2.
(3) The mud injection pressure and secondary grouting pressure
were adjusted following field conditions.
(4) To prevent ground heaving and seeping of injected mud to
the ground level, past drilling holes and subsurface exploration
locations were investigated, and subsurface openings along
tunneling aligment were studied.
5 POSSIBLE CAUSES OF RUNWAY HEAVING
5 .1 Seepage path in the ground
Continental Engineering Corp. and Tekken Corporation (2004)
reported, in the soil layer under airport as shown in Figure 6,
there might remain subsurface openings, such as drilling holes
for geological explotation, piles, and abandoned wells. During
tunnel excavation, mud were injected with pressure at the face,
flowed and accumulated in the openings in the ground. After
the shield machine passed , the backfill grout and high pressure
pushed the mud in the openings upward. The mud seeped
through the weak path in the ground, accumulated beneath the
500 mm-thick concrete pavement and 250 mm-thick AC
pavement, and push the runway pavement to heave.
5 .2 Uplift pressure causing heave
For Lot CB420, operating pressures for tunneling included: face
pressure, mud injection pressure, backfill grouting pressure, and
secondary grouting pressure. Field data indicated that, the face
pressure was maintained within the management pressure range.
Apparently, face pressure was not the cause of runway heaving.
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However, field data regarding mud injection pressure,
backfill grouting pressure, and secondary pressure were mostly
greater than the management values, and could be even greater
than the overburden pressure of 500 kN/m2. The recorded
backfill grouting rate was 120 ~ 160%, which meant the volume
of injected grout was much more than the volume of tail void.
Obviously, some part of backfill grout was pushed to the
ground. Testing results indicated that, the seeped-out mud
sampled at the edge of runway had the PH value of 8 to 9,
which was the same as that of the mud injected at the face.
Based on the investigation, it could be concluded that, the
runway heaving was caused by the high grouting pressure and
great input volume of grout. The accumulated hydraulic
pressure could not dissipate, seeped through existing paths in
the ground, causing runway heaving and mud leaking.
5 .3 Settlements measured after the incident
After the incident, tunneling resumed with adjustments
discussed in section 4.3. The maximum settlement on the
runway was kept at about 10 mm. No more runway heaving
was reported. Figure 7 showed the surface settlements measured
at section C on the runway 47 days after the passage of the
shield machine. The settlement curves estimated with the Peck-
Fujita method (Fang et al. 1994) was also illustrated. Probably,
due to the pavement stiffness, the measured maximum
settlement was only 11.4 mm, which was less than the warning
and action value of 20 and 25 mm, respectively.
6 CONCLUSIONS
For the runway heaving incident due to shield tunneling for Lot
CB420, Wenhu Line of Taipei Rapid Transit Systems, the
following conclusions could be drawn.
Based on the field records regarding mud injection at the face
and backfill grouting, it was found that the injection pressure
was significatly higher than the management values. At several
locations, the applied grouting pressure was even greater than
the overburden pressure of 500 kN/m2. The seeped out mud
sampled at the edge of the runway was the same matrerial as the
mud injected at the face. It may be conducted that, the runway
heaving was caused by the high pressure of mud injection at the
face and backfill grouting. The hydraulic pressure could not
dissipate, seeped through existing openings in the ground,
accumulated under the pavement, causing runway heaving and
mud leaking.
7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors thank the East District Project office, Department
of Rapid Transit Systems, Taipei City Government, for
providing valuable information and support. The assistance of
Mr. Jerry Chou, Continental Engineering Corp. is gratefully
acknowledged.
8 REFERENCES
Continental Engineering Corp. and Tekken Corporation. 2004. Taipei
Metro Wenhu Line Lot CB420 - Causes of runway heaving due to
tunneling under Songshan Airport. (in Chinese)
Fang Y.S., Lin J.S. and Su C.S. 1994. An estimation of ground
settlement due to shield tunneling by the Peck-Fujita method.
Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 31(3), 431-443
Wang D.R. 2004. The incident due to shield tunneling and its
restoration. Master thesis, National Chiao Tung University,
Hsinchu, Taiwan. (in Chinese)