The University of Sydney

School of Civil Engineering – CIVIL 3811/8811/9811

Tutorial Solutions – Week 6

1. Introduction:
Tunnelling is an important part of many modern transport infrastructure projects. The procedures are costly
and bring significant problems to the project due to the geological uncertainties. The presentation by the
British Tunnelling Society’s Young Members (BTSYM) discusses TBM tunnelling issues relating to
geological heterogeneity, earth and water pressures, groundwater inflow, TBM lining defects, portal
instabilities and cutter inefficiencies.
2. Aims & Objectives:
The presentation evaluates the design and execution of TBM tunneling procedures. It identifies different
technical problems and mitigation strategies with TBM tunneling sequences which arise from various
geological factors. Wherefrom it explores both the macro level analyses (during the design phase) and the
micro level analyses (during the execution phase).