Designing Sydney’s ane Cove Tunnel he progession of the USS823M Lane ‘Cove Tunnel Project has been rapid, following planning approval in 2002. ‘Tenders were submitted in January of 20083 and following a period of bidding ‘and negotiations, the New South Wales Government entered into an agreement withthe Lane Cove Tunnel Consortia in December 2003 to design, construct, finance, operate and maintain the project as a toll road. A joint venture of Australian contractors, Thiess ‘and John Holland are delivering the project under a dosign-construct contract. Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) js the lead designer for the tunnels and the cil structural components ofthe project. Inadditon to the tunnoling work, the project spans ‘over 8km of surface roadway improvements through a congested roadway corider, passing through residential and industvial areas in north west Sydney. {igure 1), The benefits ofthe project includ reduced travel time, reduced congestion, improved public transport and improved neighbourhood amenities for pedestrians and bicycle users. “The scheme design begen in December 2009 and is now at a mature stage. Tunnel design will be ‘completed before Christmas 2004 The project is being delivered under a rigorous ‘quality assurance program involving both internal anc extemal review by the Roads and Trafic Authority (FA) and an independent verifier. The frst temporary ‘access tunnel design was approved in time for ‘construction to begin in May 2004 from the western fend and the second in July from the eastern end. The: first permanent tunnel design was approved in time for ‘mainline tunnel construction to bagn in August By mid-September adkitional design had been approved and four roadheaders are now operating at three locations. Altogether, seven SOOkw roadheaders are scheduled to excavate the tunnels, two Mitsui SLB 200 and five Voest Alpine ATM105 (figure 2). The ‘mechanised tiling end instalation of rockbolts is performed by either an Atlas Copco Boltoc LD unit or ‘8 Boomer 135/352. ‘Tunnel design overview ‘The 3,6km long east-bound and west-bound tunnels comprise the signature features of the Lane Cove ‘Tunnel Project. However, a labyrinth of additional Underground ventilation and emergency egress tunnels are also required to meet stringent operational congested mode and emergency scenarios. ‘The eastbound tunnel provides two traffic lanes in a cross sectional area ranging trom 53.271-58.40m°, ‘rom the western driven portal to point just east of Stringyberk Creek. Here the tunnel widens to 76.26m? ‘to accommodate three traffic lanes for a distance of 1500m, and then a lane diverges as an exit ramp to the Pacile Highway, whist the two main lanes PROJECT REPORT - AUSTRALIA ‘continue {0 the eastem portal. The exit ramp will be some 450m long, and comprises two trafic lanes. The westbound tunnel starts as a 53.27n-68.49m® two lane tunnel from the east portal, and is then joined (efter a distance of approximately 600m) by an entry ramp from the Pacific Highway. Folowing the junction vith the entry ramp, the tunnel becomes a 76.26m" three lane cariageway all the way to the west portal “The entry ramp will be approximately 350m long, enc ‘comprises one trafic lane with a 2m wide emergency stopping lane. Pedestrian cross passages/emergency egress are provided at a maximum spacing of 120m, in accordance with the project egress requirements. The ‘ross sectional dimensions of the passages are about ‘5m wide by 3.9m high. Two vehicular cross passages, with fe rated role shutter, are provided at one-third distances in the tunnel for access for emergency Vehicles during an incident. These cross passages are sized to allow a single uit tuck to negotiate a U-turn from one tunnel te the othor in one pass. ‘Two ventilation tunnels wil connect the main tunnols to ventilation stacks located at Marden Siroct and Skius Road. These entiation tunnels will be approximately 60m" and 90m? in cross. section respectively, to mest ventilation requirements, and are ‘about 500m in length. The Marden Street ventiation tunnel will extract viiated ar from the eastbound tunnel and the Pacific Highway exit ramp. The Sirius Road ventilation tunnel off-take from the main wastbound tunnel will be located at a distance of approximately 1360m from the west porta, and the tunnel will be about 500m in length with a low point ‘below the crossing of Stinaybark Creek. Al the end of the Sirus Road ventlation tunnel, a 35m deep vertical ‘shaft wil provide access to the surface. ‘A sepatate ventilation exhaust tunnel Is provided bbolow the westbound carriageway to remove vitiated air from the east and westbound tunnels. The exhaust ‘ducts for these cariagenays are located upstream of ai gona ‘The 3.6km long twin-tube Lane Cove Tunnel in Sydney, New South Wales is scheduled to open in 2007. Here, Jim Rozek, project design director for Parsons Brinckerhol, describes the current status of the project and details how the local geology has affected the tunnel design Bolow: Fig 1 - Plan iogram of the Lane Cove Tunnel project NOVEMBER 2004 Tunnels & Tunnelling InternationalPROJECT REPORT - AUSTRALIA Fights Fig 2 - Pan of the ‘tunnel systems with roadeader excavation sections marked up Marden Stroot ventilation ‘oxhauet tunnel owbeay Park work ta ‘Peacheader access) & astound ‘ne Silus Road Frodharitake [i rocercadert IRE Poscheecor 2 WI Rascneacer 5 MEI Roecheacer 7 us poed| (MI | pu ecacreader2 EE Roscroecer + WE Roaceecors the inlet vent tunnel at approximately the mic point of the tunnels “The exit and entrance ramps tothe Pacific Highway require emergency egress provisions at 120m spacing Capable of wheelchair egress, simier to the mainline tunnels. Since the ramps are close to the surface than the main lane tunnels, emergency egress is provided between the ext and entrance ramps. by using ‘separate passages in the adjacent ventiation tunnels to provide egress. Driven tunnel and cut & cover ‘The Lane Cave tunnels are predominantly driven tunnels, with cut and cover sections at each end of the rain lane tunnels and the portals of the ramps. The ‘main lane tunnels have common cut and cover ‘structures at both the western and eastam ends. The western cut and cover structure is located east of the Mowbray Road intersaction in Epping Road. This portal section will involve bored pile and top down ‘construction within a stagad excavation. “The eastern cut and cover portal is Iocated in the middle of the Gore Hill Freavy, immediataly west of the Reserve Road fly-over. A short cut and cover box is required to facilitate the transition from driven tunnel to a deep cutting, The cut and cover box will be ‘approximately 76m long and 15m-20m deep. A secant pile perimeter wall supported with up to four levels of {ground anchors will be used to support the excavation Until the tunnel roof and floor slab is constructed. The fexcavation above the cut and cover tunnel wil then be bbackillad end landscaped, ‘The westbound entry ramp from the Pacific Highway joins the two lane west bound tunne! 200m wost of the Pacitic Highway, via a portal and deciine fn the eastern side of the Pacific Highway beneath Ato piace, ‘The east bound exit ramp to Paciic Highway reaches the Gore Hill Freeway in a deep cutting Geotechnical conditions ‘The tunnels will be excavated in the upper sedimentary formations of the Sydney Basin stratigraphic sequence, which consists of sub horizontal bads of middle to early Tassic aged rock comprising Hawkesbury Sandstone, Mittagong Formation and Ashfield Shale, “The Hawkesbury Sandstone formation is. ill known a8 a good tunnel medium, comprising predominantly fine to medium grained quartzose Sandstone deposited in 1m-m thick beds and lenses that exhibit either massive structure or foreset cross beds dipping at 20-30". Erosive contacts are common between beds, and shale breccia channe! lag type deposits are observed at the base of some beds. ‘Shale (sitstonenterbeds and lenses make up a minor part of the sequence. “The Mittagong Formation is typically 5m thick and ‘comprises interbedded sandstone, laminate, siltstone ‘and. claystone and is the tanstion ffom the Hawkesbury Sandstone and the upper Ashfield Shale. ‘The Ashfield Shale comprises dark grey to black laminated carbonaceous and calcareous siltstones ‘and mudstone with rare sandstone laminae: Typically the bedding planes are subhrizontally bedded, although steaper bedding canbe encountered in the Ashfield Shale, The spacings between bedding planes in the Hawkesbury ‘Sandstone is typically 0.5m-3m, Joints are typically discrete and contained within. individual beds, approximately 15% have a vertical continuity of about '5m of more. The major joint sets in the Hawkesbury Sandstone trend north-south and eastanest with a ‘subordinate northwest-southeast set Design parameters vere developed on the basis of geotechnical information available, supplementary project specific exploration was cared out, and (geological experiance in the Sydney Basin environment was used to develop the design parameters for the various goological strata and defect types. Driven tunnelling conditions The majority of the tunnel in the western half will bo Within Hawkesbury Sandstone. From the tunnels mid- point to the eastern portal, the tunnel horizon ‘comprises the Mittagong Formation, and the lower member of the Ashfield Shale. The tunnel traverses ‘through all the above formations and is expected to Tunnels & Tunnelling International NOVEMBER 2004PROJECT REPORT AUSTRALIA Fight: An excavated section of tree lane tunnel plus breakdown bay ‘panning 16m. Note the ‘wo heading development atthe far face Acknowledgments: “The author would ke to thank P's Dr. Doug ‘Maconachio, who ‘managed and led the tunnel design, and to his staff of tunnel, structural, geotechnical engineers and geologists. The tunnel sign tear is comprised of Parsons Brinckerhof staf and its subconsultants, Coffey Geosciences ‘and Polls Sulivan & Meynick. Grateful ‘acknowledgement is ‘also made to the stat (of Thiess and John Holland, for their ‘support and active participation in the osign process. Bolow: Atypical section of ‘wo lane tunnel excavated In sandstone with a fat root encounter zones of inferior rack associated with faults, shale interbeds, volcanic dykes and joint swarms. Heavier support will be required to these areas, The fist 275m of tunnel from the eastern portal postions the tunnel crown within about 4m ofthe floor of a back filed brick pit. The quality of the rock ‘beneath the brick pit is assessed to be typicaly good, ‘put may be fractured as a result of blasting/excavation ‘ofthe shale during operation of the brick pit Probe driling and grouting will be carried out forthe 200m section of the tuna in this aree. Appropriate Contingency measures are being doveloped, with {routing expected to be used if short-term dewatering (ofthe backfiled brik pit would result in unaccoptable surface settlements. ‘Where a tunnel crown is located in sandstone possessing nearhorizontal bedding planes and Characteristic joint sets and typically reguar joint ‘spacing of between 2m-Sm, the tunnel will have a fat arch roof. The temporary and permanent support consists of rockoolts, whose length is largely dependent on the span, The tunnel sidewalls are excavated as vertical walls thereby completing the 53.27? cross sectional area designed for two lane stretches, ‘Where the crovin is located in the shale formation, a higher arched tunnel crown will be constructed giving a larger 58.49m? cross sectional area in the two lane tunnel length. At the junction of the Pacific Highway coxit and entry ramps with the main tunnels, the ‘excavation profile requires spans of up to 21m. ‘A rock pila of suficiont width is required to carry the rock load without being over stressed. These substantial spans requir significant support in the form of rock anchors, steel fibre re-inforoed shotereta and latice girders. Cablo bolts will bo installed forthe reck support in the ramp junction areas. The tunnel junctions are located in Mittagong Formation and Ashfield Shale. Low cover occurs in the eastern end of the tunnels ‘beneath the Artaman brick pit and in the entry ramp. Depending on the characteristics of the rock mass ‘encountered at these critical sections, the support selected will take one of the following forms: «@ In areas of highly weathered rock mass (mainly in the Ashfield Shale), passive support will be provided sing techniques such as: canopy tubes, spiing ‘bars, sequential heading and bench methods, lattice gilars and fibre reinforced shoterete (FRS), steel sets ‘In areas of weathered rock mass or very shallow cover, passive support wil be provided by lattice dirders/stea sats and FAS. Active support trom pre- tensioned rock bots is nt achievable; and in areas of competent rock, rock bolts in combination with FRS will be used. The exact number of bolts and shotorete thickness will vary depending on the class of the rock mass ‘encountered and the span ‘Tunnelling mathode similar to those used in soft ‘ground may be adapted to tunnel beneath the brick pit fil at the eastern end of the tunnel. These methods. ‘may comprise sping bars or canopy tubes, sequential heading and bench, lattice girders, stool sets, FRS, ‘ground treatment (grouting). Suppor requirements il bbe derived based on detailed analyses of the ground loading and settlement criteria Design methodology ‘The design methodology that has been utlsed began with the development of geotechnical long-sections and cross-sections to assess the likely rock block ‘szes to be encountered. A study of precedent practice of large-span caverns in Hawkesbury Sandstone and simiar strata was performed to establish precedents for roof support raquirements ‘and measured deformations. There was a comparison fof empirical guidelines for large-span tunnels. in horizontally bedded strata. Analysis was performed Using Voussoir beam methods and bedding plane hear reinforcement concepts. Numerical modeling was performed to investigate the rock mass response with the support levels indicated by the analytical study. This modeling was typically used for wide span junctions, jet fan ‘enlargements, intersections in typical and advoreo rock conditions, and excavation and support sequencing. Analytical and numerical studios wore ‘also performed for secondary openings, junctions and passageways. Inthe analysis ofthe flat bedded roofs, the stability of the tunnel excavation within horizontally bedded strata was analysed by considering the performance ‘of a single roof beam deflecting under its own weight and an allowance for surcharge loading. ‘The subsequent design of rock bolt support involved the assessment of shear displacements along horizontal bedding planes. The fundamental requirement of the design process was to control the shear displacements along bedding planes within the required thickness ofthe ‘lineer arch’ assumed to form inthestrata, Tunnels & Tunneling International NOVEMBER 2004PROJECT REPORT - AUSTRALIA ‘The rock bolt reinforcoment thereby artificially ‘ensures that the thickness of the roof beam is sufficient for the beam to become sof-supporting. Numerical analysis was performed utilising either Phase? or FLAC. The numerical analyses using Phase* software was used to assess the tunneling-induced ‘round movernents and stesses. Inthe arch roof, Phase’ modeling ofthe typical roof ‘construction was performed. It was important to reflect the geotechnical concitions, and examine the effects of the staging of excavation and installation of supports. Te effects of shearing atthe haunch in the arched roof sections in shale was examined in greater etal. Considerable numerical modeling was performed. Geotechnical sections for numerical modeling were selected based on various {geotechnical profes, overburden thickness, surface structures and special ggological features. Models ‘were set up to represent possible tunnel config- trations and geological conditions along the tunnel alignment General aspects of the analytical modelling included parametric studies using generic models in Phase®. Its aim was to assess the impact of various ‘geometric and geological features on the tunnel designs and to identify critical design parameters/conditions. Phase” was also used to ‘address specific design issues during the intial ‘modeling stage. In particular, the sensitivity of in situ stress state and tunnel geometry on tunnel and ground surface displacements was studied. Two ‘geological domains (typical and adverse concitions), tunnel support systems, specific structures and ‘construction sequences were analysed as appropriate. Construction requirements Construction access to the eastern ond of the driven tunnels is provided through the excavation ofthe easter ventilation tunnel and access adit from Marden Street, which joins the mainline tual, ‘The adit may be used to house equipment for the permanent works and during the tunnel operation phase it may also be used as a permanent access for emergency vehicles to gain Abo ‘access to an incident inthe tunnel Construction staging ‘As can be gathered, the tunnels will be major ‘excavations in rock. The rock mass response to the ‘excavations willbe dependent toa large degree on the ‘excavation sequence adopted. It Is therefore a key requirement that the tunnel design is progressed in Close liaison with the construction planning team, anc that construction sequencing forms an integral pat of the design. ‘The excavation staging takes into account the plant ‘and equipment to be used by the contractor. For ‘example, all excavation stages must be dimensioned to sult the requirements of the principal roadheader ‘excavation plant in terms of advance lengths and reach, etc. Similarly, the rock support elemonts, in the form of rock bolts and/or cable bots, will be installed close to, or at specitiod cistances from, advancing faces headings. we one tuna in sandetone with an AMIO5, roadheader perked beside | ‘an ar serubber unit NOVEMBER 2004 Tunnels ¢ Tunnelling International What is most 2 fe As. important when concreting tunnels! is the right partner! Putzmeister has just the right system solution for your project. With powerful concrete pumps, reliable | placing systems and of course a lot of know-how from numerous tunnel projects. Confide in our experience as pioneer in the economical conveying ofconcrete. Putzmeister AG, D-72631 Aichtal, Tel. +49 (71 27) 599-0, Fax +49 (71 27) 599-520, www.putzmeister.de