ECE 5107

Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering

Introduction to Tunneling

Dedan KimathiUniversity of Technology

Department of Civil Engineering
Dr. Thuo J. N.

Comparison
ECE 5107: GEOTECHNICAL MSc….. Tunnel Engineering
ENGINEERING
1) Purpose of tunneling, (1) Introduction
2) Geological considerations for tunneling, (2) Failure modes of underground
a) geothermal step, excavations
b) over break, (3) Input parameters for design in tunneling
c) stand up time, (4) Strength and deformability of rock
d) logging of tunnels masses
(5) In-situ stresses in rocks
(6) Stress analysis for underground
excavations
(7) Rock-support interaction
analysis(convergence-confinement
method) and its application to support
design
(8) Introduction to NATM and NMT
(9) The application of block theory to
underground openings
(10) Applications of rock mass
classifications in tunneling
(11) Monitoring techniques and its
applications in tunneling
(12) Excavation techniques for tunneling
 Comparison
Comparison between tunnels and above ground construction projects

Tunnel Cross Section Terminology
 Site Investigation in Tunneling 
Elements of a typical site investigation

Site Investigation in Tunneling 
Example: Investigation program for a road tunnel

a) Existing Information collection and study

b) Surveys and site Reconnaissance
c) Geologic Mapping
d) Subsurface Investigation
e) Environmental studies
f) Seismicity
g) Geospatial Data Management

Seismic refraction Seismic refrection

 Site Investigation in Tunneling 
Ground parameters for the design of tunnel projects

Site Investigation in Tunneling 
(Cont.) Ground parameters for the design of tunnel projects
 Geologic Mapping 
Geologic mapping collects local, detailed geologic data
systematically including condition of rock mass or outcrop for
rock mass classification suck as:

a) Discontinuity type
b) Discontinuity orientation
c) Discontinuity infilling
d) Discontinuity spacing
e) Discontinuity persistence
f) Weathering

Geologic Mapping 
The following surface features should also be documented

a) Slides, new or old, particularly in proposed

portal and shat areas
b) Faults
c) Rock weathering
d) Sinkholes and karstic terrain
e) Ground water springs
f) Volcanic activity
g) Anhydrite, gypsum, pyrite or swelling shales
h) Stress relief cracks
i) Presence of talus or boulders
j) Thermal water (heat) and gas
 Subsurface Investigations
It is means for:

• Defining the subsurface profile ( stratigraphy, structure and

principle soil and rock types

Tunnel Geologic Profile

Subsurface Investigations
 Subsurface Investigations
Vertical and Inclined Test Boring

Vertical Test Boring/ Rock Horizontal Borehole

Coring on a Steep Slope Drilling

Subsurface Investigations
Guidelines for Vertical / Inclined Borehole Spacing
Ground Conditions Typical Borehole Spacing (m)
Cut-and Cover Tunnel 300 to 1000
Rock Tunneling
Adverse Conditions 150 to 500
Favorable Conditions 1500 to 3000
Soft Ground Tunneling
Adverse Conditions 150 to 300
Favorable Conditions 1000 to 1500
Mixed Face Tunneling
Adverse Conditions 75 to 150
Favorable Conditions 150 to 250
 Subsurface Investigations
The table is a starting point. To determine the number and location
of boring especially for a long tunnel through a mountainous area,
under a deep water body, or with a populated urban area
Engineering judgement is needed.

• Boring should be extendedd to atleast 1.5 tunnel diameters

below proposed tunnel invert
• If there is uncertainty regarding the final profile of the tunnel, the
boring should extend at least two or three times the tunnel
diameter below the preliminary tunnel invert level

Ground Improvement & Stabilization 
Techniques
(a) Ground Freezing
• The freezing method is only applicable when the ground
contains water, ideally still, fresh water.
• A ground with a moisture content greater than 5% will freeze.
Water can be added via a fire hose, a sprinkler system, a
borehole or injection device to raise the moisture content in the
ground.
• The principle of ground freezing is to use a refrigerant to convert
in situ pore water into a frostwall, with the ice bonding the soil
particles together.
• As a rule, if used from within the tunnel, freezing lances are
installed from the tunnel in the direction of tunnel excavation as
the frozen ground should create an arching mechanism
(b) Lowering of the groundwater table
• If groundwater lowering can be achieved successfully, a marked
improvement is possible in the ground properties. However,
groundwater table lowering is even a time limited measure, not
always possible
• In permeable strata where the permeability, k, exceeds about 10-3
cm/s, or where an aquifer can be dewatered below less permeable
strata, the level of the water table over a wide area can be drawn
down by pumping from boreholes and deep wells.

(c) Grouting
It involves the process of injecting a material into the ground with the
following two principal objectives
• to reduce the permeability of the ground;
• to strengthen and stabilize the ground. In soft ground this leads to
an increase in its ‘strength’ and in jointed rock in its ‘stiffness’.

For tunnel grouting, the grouting holes are drilled ahead of the
advancing tunnel in a pattern of diverging holes at an acute angle to
the tunnel axis to form overlapping cones of treated ground.
(c) Grouting

(d) Ground Reinforcement

Types
Rock dowels -These are reinforcing elements with no installed
tension. They consist of a rod, faceplate and nut (a
conical spacer is sometimes used if the angle
between the dowel and the face plate differs
significantly)
Rock bolts -These are reinforcing elements which are tensioned
during installation. They consist of a rod and
mechanical or grouted anchorage (resin capsules or
cement) coupled with some means of applying and
retaining the rod tension.
Mechanical fixings are suitable for hard rock, whereas
grouted, fixed length bolts can be used in most rock
types. The length varies between 2 to 8 m for resin
capsule grouted bars, and 3 to 20 m for an expanding
shell fixing on a bar
Rock anchors -These are reinforcing elements which are tensioned
following installation and are of higher capacity and
generally of greater length than rock bolts.
They consist of high strength steel tendons usually
in the form of cables to which is fitted a stressing
anchorage at one end and means of transferring a
tensile load to the cable at the other end.

(e) Forepoling
This technique is aimed at limiting the decompression in the crown
immediately ahead of the face
Longitudinal bars (dowels)or steel plates (forepoling plates) are
installed ahead of the tunnel from the periphery of the face, typically
over the upper third or quarter of the excavated profile. In rock, the
plates or dowels driven ahead of the excavation are also known as
spiles
(f) Face dowels
Face dowels can be used to improve the stability of an excavated
tunnel face. The technique involves installing an array of dowels
over the cross section of the tunnel face
The dowels should be made of material that can be easily excavated,
for example fibreglass. Fibreglass dowels are particularly useful
when using a TBM or roadheader as they can be cut through easily.

(g) Roof pipe umbrella

In the roof pipe umbrella method steel pipes are drilled from within
the tunnel in the direction of tunnelling around the perimeter of the
tunnel roof.
The steel pipes have a diameter of approximately 70 to 150 mm. 
After drilling, the holes are filled with grout. The spacing of the pipes 
ranges from approximately 20 to 50 cm. The length of the pipes is 
often 15 m or more.
The previous umbrella overlaps with the subsequent umbrella by at 
least 3 to 5 m. Roof pipe umbrellas act like forepoling, i.e. they are 
supposed to protect the crown area against afterfall.
(h) Compensation Grouting
Compensation grouting is a technique developed to control the
settlement of structures in the vicinity of tunnels constructed in soft
ground and is one of the most specialized forms of ground treatment.
Settlements can occur around tunnels as a result of stress changes
during construction
It is therefore not a stabilization technique to aid tunnel construction
as such, but to avoid the tunnel construction adversely affecting
adjacent structures.

(h) Compensation Grouting

(i) Pressurized Tunneling (Compressed Air)
If a tunnel is constructed within the groundwater, special precautions
have to be taken or tunnel construction methods chosen which
prevent water from getting into the tunnel as this would make the
works impossible.
One such method is by using air under high pressure within the
tunnel during construction.
Air pressure can be used to control water flow, and hence stability,
below the groundwater table and is one of the oldest pressurized
face support methods used in tunnelling.