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Design and construction of mined tunnels in

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World Tunnel Congress 2008 - Underground Facilities for Better Environment and Safety - India

Design and construction of mined tunnels in challenging site condition

S.Y. Tong, R. Stadelmann, C.R. Mann & S.K. Tang

Amberg & TTI Engineering Ltd.

M. Marotta, M.C. Joshi, & V. Singhal

WH STEC AM JV Contract 855, Singapore

C.N. Ow
Land Transport Authority, Singapore

SYNOPSIS: Mined tunnel construction is considered a special tunnelling technique in Singapore. Most
tunnels in Singapore are constructed either by cut and cover method or tunnel boring machine (TBM). In
the construction of the Circle Line Stage 4 and 5 Contract 855, mined tunnels were proposed for a section
of about 70 m where cut and cover section was not feasible due to the close proximity of the critical
utilities such as high voltage electrical cables, gas pipes and telecommunication cables. The mined tunnel
section consisting of two tunnels also underpasses a four-lane two-way roadway (Ayer Rajah Avenue) and
is named as AYA tunnels after the road name. The tunnels, with an overburden of 10 m and span a
maximum width of 12 m with height of about 10m, pass through residual soil and highly weathered
sandstone and siltstone with distinct discontinuities at certain locations. Due to the challenging ground
conditions and constraints, the design and construction of the mined tunnels have to be carried out in a
manner that will not cause excessive movement to the utilities and the roadway.
This paper addresses the key design principles and construction techniques of the mined tunnel adopting
different construction methodologies. Various engineering challenges such as ground water control, face
stability, as well as engineering solutions implemented in overcoming the difficult ground condition are
also discussed in the paper.

1. INTRODUCTION only minimal deformation during construction

As part of the Circle Line Mass Rapid Transit
(MRT) Project, Contract 855 comprises 4 stations
and 5.2 km of tunnels, of which are mostly
constructed by cut and cover method or bored
tunnelling method. The AYA tunnels are located
between the already completed Cut and Cover
tunnel and also an underground station (One North
Station). Refer to Figure 1 for the location plan.
At present, the construction of the Inner Bound
tunnel is completed, including the permanent lining,
and the construction of the Outer Bound Top
heading has also been completed.
The construction of the AYA twin tunnels has
been challenged by the following factors:
Location, as the tunnel is situated in urban area,
under passing a four-lane two-way roadway
and a number of utility service lines, therefore
is allowed.
Shallow cover of around 1 to 1.2 tunnel
diameters (10 m to 13 m cover).
Application of different construction
techniques, such as multi drift method, heading
bench invert method, use of soil and rock
profiles, and mixed application of the
mentioned systems.
Challenging geological conditions, with
excavation from rock to residual soil under a
layer of artificial fill and soft clay and below
the water table.
Close proximity of the two tunnels, with a soil
pillar width of 1 m to 4 m.
The construction of the Inner Bound tunnel
started in December 2006, and it was almost
immediately interrupted by shotcreting quality due
 Ayer Rajah
Avenue
SCL Mined
Tunnels

Inner Tunnel
One North
Station Cut and Cover Section
Outer Tunnel

Figure 1. Site location plan

to the unavailability of fine sand. The situation
regularized only in the beginning of March 2007
where alternative sources of quality sand was made
available in Singapore.
2. GEOLOGICAL CONDITION
The site is situated in Jurong Formation (JF) with
overlying Fill. The thickness of the fill varies from
0.7m to 7m. The backfill generally consists of
heterogeneous soils frequently mixed with gravels,
rock fragments, bricks, wood pieces and organic
materials. There is also a localized estuarine clay
layer of thickness between 0.5 m to 2.5 m beneath
the fill. The estuarine layer consists of very soft to
soft dark grey to black peaty clay. The longitudinal
profile is shown in Figure 2.
The Jurong Formation is composed of a series
of sedimentary rocks such as sandstone, mudstone,
and siltstone. This formation has been severely
folded and faulted in the past as a result of tectonic
movements. The formation is believed to be formed
in Upper Triassic to Early Jurassic period (about
100 to 200 million years ago). The tunnel is located

Re duce d Le ve l
(m )

Fill 115m
JF Re s idual Soil Pe aty Clay
N<20 110m
105m
JF Re s idual Soil JF Re s idual Soil
20?N<50 100m
N?50
95m
JF Rock 90m
85m
80m
75m
CH77300 CH77320 CH77340 CH77360 CH77380 CH77400
Chainage (m )
Figure 2. Geological longitudinal profile
in one of the facies of Jurong Formation, known as
Tengah Facies which comprises muddy marine
sandstone with occasional grit beds and
conglomerate. The member is usually deeply
weathered but appears not to have been strongly
lithified at any stage. Also, the degree of
weathering generally decreases with depth.
The top portion is the residual soil of Jurong
Formation, which is generally stiff to hard or
medium dense to very dense in consistency with
SPT-N values ranging from 12 to over 100. The
thickness of the residual soil is about 10 m to 20 m.
Underlying the residual soil is the sedimentary
rocks, which comprises mainly of siltstone and
sandstone of various weathering grades. Localized
discontinuities of close spacing and slickensides
were observed along the tunnel alignment, as shown
in Figure 3.
Quartz with
Slickenside observed
Figure 3. Face observations during heading excavation at CH77368 (Left) & CH77376 (Right)
3. DESIGN MODULES AND CONSTRUC-
TION METHODOLOGY
The entire 70 m of both inner and outer bound
tunnels were divided into four modules each. The
length of each module varies from 14 m to 21 m, as
presented in Figure 4.
In order to accommodate an additional
branching railway track, two of the modules in the
inner bound tunnel (Module 1 and 2) were larger in
dimension of which the largest module spans about
12 m in width with a height of about 10 m. Based
on experience from Uetliberg Tunnels in Zurich,
Switzerland in similar ground condition but larger
in size (147 m2 excavation face, spanning a width of
14.7 m and height of 12.7 m) which adopted multi-
drift approach, it was decided that these two larger
modules were constructed in similar way, also
adopting multi-drift methodology with the
excavation of the tunnel face carried out in four
successive excavations in order to provide better
control over ground deformation. Partition
excavation will also allow a smaller face to be
exposed, thus reducing pre-deformation.
The remaining modules were smaller but
typical in size with maximum width of about 11m
and height of 9 m. Conventional top heading, bench
and invert construction methodology was thus
adopted for these modules. The geometry of the
design modules is shown in Figures 5 and 6.
The tunnels were constructed module by
module. Due to the close proximity of the tunnels
to each other, it was decided that the inner tunnel
being larger in size, was to commence excavation
first. It is envisage that the influence of the outer
smaller tunnel excavation on the completed bigger
Highly weathered
sandstone
inner tunnel would be smaller than if the outer
tunnel was to commence excavation first. It is also
important that the excavation of the bigger tunnel
was carried out in relatively undisturbed ground.
Prior to the commencement of each module,
pipe roof of length varying from 21 m to 27 m were
installed depending on the length of each module,
keeping a design overlapping of at least 7m to the
next pipe roof array. The pipe roof consisting of
114 mm diameter steel pipes of thickness 6.3mm,
and were installed at 300 mm centre to centre
spacing at a vertical inclination of 2 to 4 degrees.
The pipes were packer grouted after installation.
For the multi-drift construction approach in
Module 1, 1A excavation was carried out meter by
meter, supported with spray concrete lining (SCL)
all the way to the end of the module. In order to
 I4 I3 I2 I1 INNER
BOUND

ONH
station OUTER
O8 O7 O6 O5 BOUND

Figure 4. Design modules for inner and outer tunnel

Heading:
1A: 27-32 m ² 3a: 2A 37-57 m ²
9.3-10.0 m

8.4 - 9.0 m
1B: 25-28 m ² 3b: 2B
Bench/Invert:
19-22 m ²

10.5-11.8 m 8.5-10.9 m
TOTAL: 76-93 m ² TOTAL: 56-79 m ²

Figures 5 and 6. Geometry of design modules

have a good bearing for the 1A profile, elephant
footings were provided at the invert of 1A, with
additional H-beams to provide lateral restraint to the
lateral earth pressure. After which, 1B excavation
was carried out beneath the H-beams all the way to
the end of the module. 2A/2B excavation was
carried out in staggered fashion with 2B lagging at
2m behind 2A.
For the conventional top heading, bench and
invert construction approach, the excavation was
carried out first with top heading and temporary
invert and elephant footings. The temporary invert
was required due to the low strength of the residual
soil, of which the SPT N-value ranges from 20 to 50
at certain locations which results in lower bearing
capacity. It was subsequently followed on with
bench and invert excavation, of which the lagging
distance depends on the ground condition and the
deformation of the tunnel. In the initial design, the
distance is about 8m behind the heading. Module 3
was constructed adopting this 8m distance between
the heading and the invert. However, the
construction sequence for the Outer Tunnel was
adapted with the top heading and temporary invert
excavation proceeding all the way 70m before
followed on with bench and invert excavation.
Micropiles were installed at certain locations to
improve stability and reduce settlement.
In both types of construction approach, the
design support consists of 300mm thick shotcrete of
Grade 30 and 2 layers of T8-100 meshes. Lattice
girders were adopted as non-structural member to
provide the profiling for the final shape of the
tunnel geometry. Dumplings (or soil berms) and
systematic face nails were provided to improve the
face stability during each advance especially at
locations where distinct discontinuities and
slickenside were observed.
4. INSTRUMENTATION AND MONITORING
In the construction of the mined tunnels, our
approach emphasize strongly on observational
methodology. CIRIA Report 185 defines the
observational method in ground engineering as a
continuous, managed, integrated, process of design,
construction control, monitoring and review that
enables previously defined modifications to be
incorporated during or after construction as
appropriate. Also, all these aspects have to be
demonstrably robust. Thus, monitoring of how the
tunnel and ground reacts during the excavation
Array 5 ArrayW4
I I
E
E
W
Figure 7. Layout of surface monitoring instrumentations
2A
1A
1B
2B
Figures 8 and 9. Layout of in tunnel monitoring for multi-drift (Array P, Left) and heading profile (Array Q, Right)
becomes paramount especially where there are
several major utilities above the tunnels.
With this emphasis, extensive instrumentation
and monitoring were proposed both at the ground
surface and in the tunnels. The layout is presented
in Figure 7.
For the surface monitoring, 5 lateral
monitoring arrays across the tunnels were installed.
The instruments comprised of ground and building
settlement markers, utility settlement markers, rod
extensometers, vibrating wire piezometers, water
standpipes and inclinometers.
For the in-tunnel monitoring, two types of
monitoring array, Array P and Q (in Figures 8 and
9), which consist of optical prisms, were installed
generally at 7m spacing along the tunnels alignment.
Readings for the instruments were taken daily
during excavation. The frequency of the monitoring
Array 3 Array 2 Array 1
W
P
I
W
E
E I E I W
E E
W
I
P W
Heading
Tem p Invert
Bench/Invert
was increased whenever there was significant
change in the rate of settlement.
5. CONSTRUCTION OF THE AYA TUNNELS
5.1 Different excavation methodologies
The following sections will describe the adopted
methods, with reference to the location where the
methods have been applied (I.B. Inner bound tunnel,
O.B. Outer bound tunnel, Module, Tunnel Meter
TM with 0 as starting chainage).
5.1.1 Multi-drift, horse-shoe profile (I.B. tunnel,
Module 1, TM 0 to TM 10)
During the excavation of the inner tunnel module 1
drift 1B, rock was found at spring line level dipping
down towards excavation direction.
The presence of rock and the limitation of
using heavier equipment caused a cycle time of 36h
for the first round of 1m in 1B.
To improve the efficiency and also ensure a safer
working condition by reducing a vertical slope during
excavation and hacking in a confined space condition,
horse-shoe tunnel profile (Fig.10) socketing in rock was
then used during construction of the first 10m of the
inner tunnel module 1. This particular area has also
been characterized by the installation of an "A" frame
on the first 5m of tunnel in order to allow clearance for
equipment access, yet still provide a good control of the
deformations, as the original horizontal H beam (at
tunnel spring line level), was just 1.8m above the tunnel
access level (cut and cover permanent slab level).
The maximum tunnel settlement recorded
using this method is 18mm, of which 83% (15mm)
has occurred during 1A & 1B excavation stages.
1: 1A
A frame 3a: 2A
3b: 2B
2: 1B
Figure 10. Multi-drift horseshoe profile
5.1.2 Multi-drift (I.B. tunnel, Module 1, TM 10 to
TM 21)
The use of multi-drift has been designed and
implemented in order to reduce the excavation area
at each stage, thus reducing the deformation.
The excavation sequence was the subsequent
completion of every drift (1A, 1B, 2A & 2B) for
every tunnel module in order to install the pipe roof
canopy for the subsequent module.
1: 1A 3a: 2A
3b: 2B
2: 1B
Figure 11. Multi drift
The application of this method (Fig.11) has
resulted in challenges during construction in terms
of:
Reduced excavation area, with consequent
limitations in the use of certain equipment
Difficult joint construction between side drift
and enlargement sections (1A/2A and 1B/2B)
Accessibility problems, especially during the
1B stage, mining under the horizontal H beams
installed during 1A excavation.
In order to minimize possible disruptions due
to the construction of the difficult joints, a 1 to 1
scale mock up of the joint was constructed for
training purpose while a second one was used to
verify the shotcreting quality which would have
been affected by the congestion of reinforcements
(lattice girder, mesh, lapping bars). However,
during construction, back grouting has been done at
crown joint location in order to avoid any possible
settlement due to eventual gaps behind the shotcrete.
The maximum tunnel settlement recorded
using this method is about 34mm, of which 53%
(18mm) has occurred during 1A & 1B excavation
stages.(Fig.12)
 Figure 12. Excavation of drifts 2A/2B
5.1.3 Multi-drift plus bench & invert & micro-
piles (I.B. tunnel, Module 2, TM 21 to TM
38)
The accessibility during 1B excavation for this
approach was a main problem especially the area of
1B is smaller as compared to that in Module 1.
Using multi-drift (Fig.13) method, the full profile
ring closure is achieved only upon completion of
the full section. Therefore the deformations during
1A and 1B stage, are time dependent. A longer
period of construction to close the full profile is
likely to cause additional settlement.
1: 1A
2: 2A
1a: Micropiles
3: Bench
4: Invert
Figure 13. Side drift + bench/invert
The problem was solved by modifying the
original method to a different one, consisting in the
excavation of drift 1A for the entire module length
(max 17m), followed by the excavation of the drift
2A and a rapid ring closure with bench and invert
excavation.
In order to assure a proper load transfer
mechanism, and to reduce face instability problems,
micropiles were installed ahead of the bench face
along the 1A temporary drift supports.
The maximum tunnel settlement recorded
using this method is about 26mm, of which 65%
(17mm) has occurred during 1A excavation stage,
showing the advantage of having a rapid ring
closure.
5.1.4 Top heading, bench & invert (I.B. tunnel,
Module 3, 4 TM 38 to TM 68 & O.B. tunnel
Module 8 TM 56 to TM 68)
This method (Fig.14) was adopted for the rest of the
mining, and entirely for the outer bound tunnel,
although at the present stage of construction we can
predict the use of horse-shoe tunnel profile socketing
in rock at certain locations of the outer tunnel.
The excavation using this more traditional
system has been less challenging then using the
multi-drift method, although controlling the
deformation (both pre-deformations and shotcrete
deformations) has required particular attention.
The face was mainly supported by use of
systematic face nailing and face wedge. Temporary
invert was kept as close as possible to the face,
however during the excavation of the outer bound,
micropiles have been extensively used in order to
minimize the settlement.
The maximum tunnel settlement recorded
using this method is about 12mm, of which 83%
(10mm) has occurred during top heading with
temporary invert stage.
1: Heading
2: Temp Invert
3: Bench/Invert
Figure 14. Heading, bench, invert
5.1.5 Top Heading, bench & invert, with
Micropiles (O.B. Bound tunnel Modules 5, 6,
7 TM 0 to TM 50)
This method (Fig.15) was adopted in the outer
bound tunnel, in order to minimize the settlements
during top heading excavation and prior to the
bench/invert excavation.
Face nailing, together with staged excavation
and face wedge was also adopted.
Micropiles were installed as contingency
measure from TM 0 to TM 38 in order to alleviate
ongoing settlements, of which a maximum value of
21mm was recorded in the tunnel. From TM 38 to
TM 50, micropiles were installed systematically
during heading and the maximum recorded
settlement is about 14mm.
1: Heading
2: Temp Invert
3: Bench/Invert
Figure 15. Heading, bench, invert with micropiles
5.2 Face stability
One of the challenges during construction is
carrying out the excavation in relatively difficult
geological conditions, especially in terms of
localized instability problems due to the presence of
narrow spaced discontinuities.
The measures adopted in order to control the
stability of the face were:
Face nailing
Staged excavation & face wedge
Figure 16. Face nailing
Face nailing was included in the design for the
drifts 2A/2B, for the top heading excavation and at
the end of each tunnel section where a full face is
formed.
During construction face nailing has been
extensively used during all the stages of excavation
(1A, 1B, bench invert). The execution of face
nailing (Fig.16) solved the localized instability
problems and also acted as a confinement at the
working face to reduce pre-excavation deformation.
Despite a systematic use of face nailing,
problem of local instability still occurred, mainly
due to the narrow spacing of discontinuities and
separation planes, as shown in Figure 17, which
indicates the surface from where a block was
detached from the face, as the separation planes
were located in-between the installed face nails.
This problem was addressed by increasing the
number of face nails on the face.
During the excavation of the Inner Tunnel
using multi-drift method, additional forepoling on
the temporary side drift have also been installed to
address potential extension of face failure over the
temporary drift.

Detached block
Face Nails
Figure 17. Localized face failure
Although the original design addressed the
face stability in term of wedge failure, the spacing
and the orientation of discontinuities created
challenges even after the extensive implementation
of face nailing.
For this reason, during excavation, each face
was subdivided into smaller portions, as indicated in
Figure 18, excavate and immediately seal with
shotcrete on all exposed ground prior to advance of
the next meter.
1a: Heading
1b 1c
Wedge
2: Temp Invert
3: Bench/Invert
Figure 18. Staged excavation
5.3 Pipe roofing canopy execution
It was important during pipe roofing execution to
achieve the best possible drilling accuracy in order
to reduce over-excavation or pipe intrusions during
construction, which would result in delay of support
installations and causing higher deformations. In
order to do so, drilling has been executed directly
using the pipe roof pipes as casing (pull drilling),
with a system that allows retrieval of the drill string
upon completion but sacrificing the pilot bit.
A survey was executed after each pipe
installation. The absolute deviation of the pipe
deflection from the intended design inclination or
drilling accuracy was measured to be a maximum
value of 0.5%. The deflection of pipes during
drilling, which usually occurred due to the self
weight and change in ground conditions, was also
measured and found as low as 0.2% for the longest
27m length canopy.
Based on this execution/monitoring process,
continuous adjustments were made to the drilling
methodology in order to achieve the desired results.
Although in the design, arching effect of pipe
roofing was not considered, double packer grouting
has been performed in almost every canopy in order
to improve the portion of soil between adjacent
pipes, generally spaced at 300mm center to center.
Double packer grouting was completed in steps of
1m.
A total of 6,066 m length of pipe roofing has
been completed with a total grout intake of 140 m3.
Average grout intake was estimated to be 11.5 litre
per metre length for the packer grout and of 11.7
litre per metre length for the fill grout. Attention
was also given to the sequence of drilling and
grouting, with grouting being executed after the
drilling of a maximum of 2 to 4 pipes.
5.4 Pillar stability
The stability of the pillar was a concern when
excavating the outer tunnel. The owner Land
Transport Authority (LTA) routinely appointed a
board of international renowned consultants to
review the construction risk. The Board of Advisors
advised that the permanent lining in the inner tunnel
to be cast first to increase the tunnel stiffness so as
improve the pillar stability, prior to commencement
of the outer tunnel excavation (Fig.19).
The measures implemented comprises the
casting of the side walls and base slab in the inner
tunnel, the stitching of the 2 tunnels with tie rods,
continuous face nailing ahead of the face, extended
pipe roofing at Outer Tunnel Module 5 and
controlled excavation to minimize over-excavation
at the pillar side.
 Extended
pipe roofing
1

2 3 Perm anent
4
lining
5: Tem p Invert

pillar stitching

Figure 19. Pillar stability control measure at Inner tunnel module 1

6. CONCLUSIONS of major infrastructure projects involving deep

The implementation of different construction
methodologies in the 70m long twin tunnels
undercrossing several major utilities and road (AYA)
shows how design and construction are strongly linked
in terms of performance monitoring, observation, and
modification to the actual ground conditions. This is a
good example of cooperation among client, contractor
and designer to successfully construct the tunnels in
challenging ground conditions.
REFERENCES
1. CIRIA Report 185 (1999), The Observational
Method in Ground Engineering : Principles and
Applications.
2. ICE Design and Practice Guide (1996), Sprayed
Concrete Linings (NATM) for tunnels in soft ground,
The Institution of Civil Engineers, Thomas Telford,
London.
3. Schnelli .O, Marti .D, Maurhofer .S, Bolliger .J and
Voerkel .M (2003), Uetliberg Motorway Tunnel
(Switzerland). Proceedings of the ITA World
Tunnelling 2003, (Re)claiming the Underground
Space, pp.419-426.
BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS OF THE AUTHORS
“Tong Swei Yeh Marcus graduated
in Civil Engineering from Nanyang
Technological University in
Singapore in 2000 with a first class
honours degree and obtained a
Master of Science in Civil
Engineering from National
University of Singapore in 2003. He
has been extensively involved in the consultancy design
excavation, tunneling, deep foundation and slope
stabilization, both in Singapore and overseas. He is also
a qualified Professional Engineer registered with the
Singapore Professional Engineer Board.”
“Rolf Stadelmann obtained his M. Sc in
Civil Engineering from the ETH Zurich,
Switzerland in 1992. He specializes in
general stability analyses, temporary &
permanent excavation support systems,
as well as in structural design of all
types of tunnel lining. His core
competence is also in the quality
management for geotechnical analyses as well as in the
development of Contractor’s alternatives. He has in-depth
experiences in underground space design for all kinds of
rock conditions. Since 2003 he is Head of Geotechnical
Department of Amberg Engineering Ltd in Switzerland.”
"Massimo Marotta obtained a Survey
Engineering diploma in 1992. He
served the National Service as officer
in the corps of engineers. In 1996 he
joined the Italian company I.N.C.-
General-Contractor in Israel for a
hydraulic tunnel project first and, in
1997 in Taiwan for a rail tunnel in
D&B, with position as Branch Manager. In 1998 he joined
ITAI as Technical manager for freeway, railway and
hydraulic tunnels using D&B and in difficult ground
conditions, as the Hukou tunnel, part of the Taiwan High
Speed Railway. In 2006 he moved to Singapore with
WSA-JV as NATM Manager for Circle Line contract
C855"

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