EECQ 5252: TUNNEL

ENGINEERING
Underground construction

Technical University of Kenya

Department of civil engineering
Dr. Eng. Alphonce A. Owayo.
Aug-Dec
2022
Underground construction
Opening in hard rocks:
Usually by Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) or Drill and Blast
techniques
1) Drill and Blast
a) Smooth wall blasting:
• Minimizes amount of overbreak
• Minimizes loosening of remaining rocks .
b) Conventional blasting:
• More overbreak & loosening
• Less expensive and quicker
c) Advantages: adaptable procedures; well established technology d)
DisAdv.: vibration at nearby ground surface; “relatively” slow;
dangerous
2) TBM – Hard rock tunnel boring machine
a) Advantages:
– Less rock loosening than blasting thus less support required
– Mechanized operation: Faster advance rate
– Rate limited by placing support behind face and machine
operations
b) Dis-Adv.:
– High initial cost
– Design for one
ground condition
– Circular cross
section only
Open face shield
a) Advantages:
– Adaptable to many soil
conditions
– Provides continuous
support behind face
– Can use many types of
excavation techniques
b) Limitations:
– Ground at the face must be “stable”
– Problems with mixed face
– Problems with steering → shield tends to dive as a result of non-
uniform pressure on shield
– Linear must be designed to resist jacking force
Earth pressure
balance shield
a) Advanced shields
b) Soil in bulkhead balances
the outside soil and water
pressure
• Slurry shield(very soft clay, very
loose sands)
a) Pressurized slurry
(water+bentonite) injected under
pressure into the bulkhead
(continuously) to balance soil and water
pressure against face
b) Advantages: (EPB + Slurry)
– Less settlement developed than in
conventional open face shields
– Highly mechanized
c) Disadvantages
– High initial costs
– Little adaptability