Since the old water supply tunnel was damaged by river scour, the metrovancouver came up

with a new tunnel design that can withstand an earthquake and has enhance scour protection. Also,
since the demand of water increases they increase the capacity of the tunnel by increasing the diameter
of the tunnel.

RIVER SCOUR

 Factors that control scour are the river flow, the characteristics of the riverbed and riverbank
sediments, and the capacity of the river to transport sediments. Construction or other changes
upstream and downstream of a pipeline crossing can influence river flow and channel morphology .

Vortex-induced Vibration of an Exposed Pipeline

A pipeline can vibrate due to VIV in both the transverse direction (perpendicular to the direction of flow,
which would be up and down in the case of a typical river crossing) and the in-line direction (along the
direction of flow). 

 Thus, such a pipeline experiencing VIV will experience oscillatory stresses on the order of one cycle per
second or about 100,000 cycles per day. The cyclic stresses can cause fatigue failure of the piping.

Once exposed, a pipeline may be subject to failure due to hydrodynamic forces of the flowing water,
debris carried by flowing water, and/or fatigue failure due to VIV. To prevent breakage and subsequent
accidental product releases, all stream crossings should have burial depths and/or erosion
countermeasures designed.

PROJECT GEOLOGY

In the figure, it shows the simplified geologic profile that composes of various types of soil. It is
critical to know the classification of soil that is present under the Fraser River to know the best depth to
lay the tunnel.

For TSG 1, this unit is quite variable with zones of predominantly fined grained materials as well
as sand and gravel zones. In general, this unit has low permeability, although this varies in the more
granular subunits.

For TSG 2, seventy percent (70%) of the tunnelling was in TSG2 (silty clay), with the remaining
30% in TSG1 (till-like soil). The interface between TSG1 and TSG2 was encountered at both the north and
south sides of the river. This interface was known to have the potential for nested cobbles and boulders

TUNNEL LINNING

Iinitial

Each ring composed of six segments and 1 meter in length and has a thickness of 250 mm.These
are precast concrete that was made in a span of 14 months. The steel fibre-reinforced segments were
designed for MAJV by Aecom. To facilitate the installation of a tunnel air lock in the event of a
hyperbaric intervention, the segment design incorporated a deep caulking groove around each
circumferential joint. They are designed to have a compressive strength of 50 MPa, and provide
temporary support for the installation of the steel water main pipe.

Final

Each stick of pipe was installed with a rail-mounted pipe carrier and then circumferentially butt-
welded. Once all of the pipe was installed, the tunnel annulus was backfilled with a low strength cellular
concrete mix installed via grout ports in the steel pipes.

SHAFT

To ensure adequate protection from high groundwater pressure, a steel launch can, from which
to launch the TBM, was installed with three inflatable Bullflex seals as well as a rubber gasket (or wiper
seal). A steel jacking frame was set up at the base of the shaft and used to advance the TBM until
enough segmental lining had been installed to resist the full thrust of the machine.