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(Asce) 0733-947X (1983) 109 1
(Asce) 0733-947X (1983) 109 1
ABSTRACT: This article considers the development of pipe and box jacking tech-
niques in the UK and Europe. There is particular reference to the installation
of large rectangular units to serve as structural foundations for bridges, or as
tunnels and culverts. Typical construction and design details of pipe joints and
equipment are considered, and brief case histories of certain projects demon-
strating the main techniques are given.
INTRODUCTION
who have designed purpose-built rigs, hydraulic jacks and pumps, and
shields and excavating equipment. However, many operators also de-
sign and develop their equipment to suit the special circumstances of
their business. This applies particularly to those contractors who helped
to develop the techniques in the 1960's.
For optimum speed of jacking it is usual to use jacks which will give
a total thrust which is in excess of the standard pipe lengths. In the
U.K., pipes are usually 8 ft 0 in. (2.4 m) long by agreement with the
British Pipe Jacking Association.
In some parts of Europe pipes up to 12 ft 0 in. (3.7 m) length are
commonly used. The jacks used in conjunction with these pipes are
usually two stage with a telescopic extension. Ram heads and feet utilize
a ball and socket joint to accommodate minor bearing displacement and
any misalinement.
For purpose-made circular or rectangular units it is usual to use
shorter throw jacks (1 ft 0 in. (30 cm)) and spacers to accommodate the
travel of the pipe through the pit. Although necessitating more opera-
tions, there are advantages in reduced dead-lengths of the cylinder, with
greater general utilization of jacks and easier replacement or repair in
case of damage.
Hydraulic equipment operates to maximum pressures in the 5,000 psi-
10,000 psi range, with individual rams usually having a maximum ca-
pacity of 100-300 ton.
Originally it was considered necessary to arrange the jacking force
symmetrically around the pipe, but experience indicated that this was
not so and it is usual to position the jacks around the lower half of the
pipe, which allows for easier mucking and working conditions and still
permits adequate control of the jacking operation. Hydraulic power
packs and control systems are purpose-built to provide capacities and
flexibility suitable for the operation.
Pipes.—The range of concrete pipes used in jacked installations has
to some degree become standardized in cooperation with specifying au-
thorities, pipe manufacturers, and contractors' associations, and a range
of standard diameters from 2 ft 6 in. to 16 ft 6 in. (800 mm to 5 m) is
generally in use, although not universally available in every country.
Pipes are generally of the centrifugally spun type and comply with rel-
evant codes of practice and standards applicable to each country, with
a range of wall thickness and reinforcement appropriate to the spec-
ification.
It is interesting to note that the typical joint configuration varies con-
siderably from one country to another. In the U.K. the standard joint
is of the spigot and socket type formed within the wall thickness and
using a flexible rubber ring to act as a seal. In Germany the favored joint
is an external metal band, usually embedded into the leading edge of
the following pipe, which slides onto the installed pipe and is again
sealed with a rubber ring. The French have developed a concrete pipe
with an embedded internal steel cylinder which acts as the reinforce-
ment, and joints are made in situ by welding of sleeves and by closing
the gap left between the pipe ends with a rapid-hardening mortar.
These three main types of joint are shown in Fig. 1. In all cases it is
standard practice to use resilient packs between the concrete faces of the
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pipe A pipe B
jute canvas
J^ pipe A
packing-
GERMAN JOINT
FIG. 1.—Typical Types of Pipe Joint Used in the United Kingdom, France and
Germany
pipes to eliminate point and bursting loads on the joint during jacking.
In addition, a wide range of special pipes have been jacked to meet spe-
cial purposes such as steel with protective coating, fiber glass, and pre-
stressed concrete pressure pipes, which incorporated the use of spe-
cialized linings such as PVC to counteract aggressive trade effluents.
The writers experience has been that joints are the weakest part of the
system, particularly from a sealing aspect, and the use of the longest
practical pipes. Thus, a minimum number of joints is advantageous.
Intermediate Jacking Stations (IJS).—The use of ITS is described in
detail in Mr. Drennon's paper. They are considered to be an essential
part of the system and are installed as a matter of course in European
practice, even when site circumstances have indicated that they are only
marginally required. By the very nature of the technique and the rapid
change of ground conditions that can occur along a drive, it is prudent
to have the facility to incorporate extra jacking force into the system
should it prove beneficial. On long drives where the sequential opera-
tion of IJS would be a limiting factor on the jacking cycle, the hydraulic
arrangement is such as to enable two or more stations to be operated
at the same time in the line. Up to 15 IJS have been installed in a single
line of drive. Normally, at the end of the drive, IJS are closed up and
sealed when the jacking equipment has been removed.
Shields.—The range of shields used in jacking parallels the diversity
of shields used in traditional tunneling. Depending on size, ground con-
ditions, and nature of drive, they vary from a simple steel cutting ring,
mounted on the leading pipe, to a sophisticated bentonite or air lock
shield. On all but the shorter, simplest drives, the shield is equipped
with rams for independent operation to enable line and level adjustment
60
vance is faster than the cutter head the slits open up to increase the
spoil intake and the head relative to the shield advances at a faster rate.
However, if the cutter head advances faster than the shield, the slits are
automatically closed down and the rate of advance of the head slows
down in relation to the advance of the shield.
This combination of systems enables work to be undertaken safely and
quickly in difficult ground conditions which until now would have re-
quired compressed air, freezing, chemical injection, or other expensive
measures.
Various types of machines have been developed which range in size
from the largest of over 4 m diameter to the miniaturized versions which
will drive accurately concrete pipes as small as 350 mm diameter.
The combination of the remote controlled counterbalanced slurry
shield with pipe-jacking could have a revolutionary effect in the field of
laying underground services in difficult ground conditions.
Lengths.—Theoretically, the length that can be undertaken by pipe-
jacking using intermediate jacking stations is unlimited, although there
are, of course, practical and economic factors which determine limits.
A few years ago in the UK a 328 ft (100 m) drive was thought to be quite
long. Today, lengths of over 3,280 ft (1,000 m) are being successfully
driven in Europe from one shaft. This provides a measure of the prog-
ress which has taken place in less than 20 yr.
For some time it was considered that the nature of jacking required
drives to be in a straight line. But a number of jobs have been under-
taken with either a vertical or horizontal curve. This curve is limited by
the angle of deflection that the individual pipe joints will accept and,
in addition, it is necessary to design IJS which will accommodate angular
change.
These techniques have been used in Vienna and for a major crossing
under the Rhine River in Germany. An outstanding example of Euro-
pean pipe-jacking work which combined many sophisticated techniques
on one job was the work done recently at Harburg, Germany, a suburb
of Hamburg.
The contractor was a joint venture consortium comprising: Heilmann
and Littmann Bau, F & N Kronibus, and Leonard Moll. They success-
fully jacked 4,790 ft of 8 ft 6 in. (1,460 m of 2.6 m) diameter concrete
pipe from one shaft, the work involving an initial straight section, a cen-
tral section of 1,312 ft (400 m) with a curve of about 4,265 ft (1,300 m)
radius, and a final straight section.
Ground conditions included water bearing sand with clay silt and peb-
bles, and the water table was virtually at the ground level. Advance
ground treatment was undertaken from ground level by the injection of
silicate of soda solution to produce a cohesive but not too firm ground
mass and to displace water.
Initially the scheme was designed to drive under compressed air using
a lock on top of the shaft, but this was subsequently modified using a
lock near the drive face and with a secondary lock in the line some dis-
tance back from the shield as an additional safety measure and only to
be used in emergency. Excavation was mainly by hand onto a conveyor
where spoil was taken to a mixing tank for slurrying and pumping to
the disposal pond at ground level. Stones over 2 in. (50 mm) were sep-
63
arated before slurrying for separate disposal by skip. The main jacking
equipment in the shaft consisted of six No. 300 ton jacks, and 15 No.
ITS were installed, each having 24 No. 70 ton jacks, although in practice
it was found that it was not necessary to operate all these IJS units. An
average production of over 66 ft (20 m) per day was achieved, working
two 10-hour shifts.
Another spectacular job was carried out in Switzerland to form a ser-
vices tunnel beneath the Rhine at Basle, where a circular tunnel, 11 ft
4 in. (3.5 m) internal diameter, was installed by pipe-jacking from a shaft
100 ft (31 m) deep beneath the river. A distance of 778 ft (240 m) with
an estimated cover of only 18 ft (5 m) beneath water bearing gravels,
were some of the problems engineers faced.
Excavation, therefore, was carried out using a rotating cutter boom
type machine mounted on skids. Provision was made to seal off the
shield in the event of an inrush of material at the face, and a further
steel bulkhead was provided farther back in the tunnel so that com-
pressed air working could have been introduced if needed, although it
was not. Tunnel driving was completed in about 100 working days, or
an average progress of about 8 ft (2.5 m) per shift using precast tunnel
rings of length 6 ft 6 in. (2 m), and with a wall thickess of 12 in. (30
cm).
The writers have been directly involved for over 15 years in devel-
oping and extending small diameter pipe-jacking technology to permit
the construction of large subterranean structures through the use of sim-
ilar techniques. As with circular pipe-jacking, the main impetus to de-
velopment has come from the need to construct new works beneath
existing railways, truck roads, and other key services with only a min-
imum of disruption to these services.
As the UK motorway network was being constructed during the late
1960's and through the 1970's there was a need to construct roads under
rail bridges in many locations, and to meet both physical and environ-
mental requirements. During this same period the British Rail were in-
vesting heavily in providing a service of high-speed trains running on
tight schedules with speeds in excess of 100 mph (160 kph) for passenger
services, with goods and container trains running scheduled services at
over 70 mph (112 kph).
Similar developments in both road and rail networks were being car-
ried out in many other Western European countries with the same con-
flict of interests. Railway engineers were, therefore interested in ideas
which offered an alternative to sheet piling through the tracks and pro-
viding temporary support on way-beams, which had been the tradi-
tional solution for constructing underbridges. Construction often caused
considerable interference to railway services with long periods of re-
stricted speed running.
An alternative pioneered by the writers was to form rectangular box
structures by pipe-jacking units through the tracks and then using these
in various configurations as basic bridge abutment structures.
64
The initial abutment units were formed from simple rectangular pre-
cast concrete units, lowered into a jacked pit and pipe-jacked into po-
sition, to carry a simple support bridge deck which was installed sub-
sequently during short weekend track closures.
In order to accommodate varied ground conditions, increased head-
room, and bigger spans, a number of more complex configurations have
been developed since that early concept. To provide road headroom up
to the UK a standard 15 ft 9 in. (4.8 m) multi-tier abutment units have
evolved. A base drive is first installed and then further second tier and,
in some cases, third tier units are driven one above the other. Upon
completion of the pipe-jacking phase, the composite abutment units are
cleaned out, concreted, and stressed together to form homogeneous
abutments.
In order to deal with poor ground bearing conditions, bored concrete
or jacked-in steel bearing piles have been constructed from within the
abutment units where required (Fig. 2) and, similarly, either cross-struts
have been jacked between abutments or ground anchors have been
formed. This accommodates the severe overturning and braking forces
which have to be allowed for with high-speed rail traffic.
In each of these solutions, once an abutment structure is completed,
FIG. 2.—Bored Piling from within Abutment Box (Wigan, United Kingdom)
65
66
cross-section
68
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CONCLUSION
APPENDIX.—BIBLIOGRAPHY
Clarkson, T. E., and Ropkins, J. W. T., "Pipe Jacking Applied to Large Struc-
tures," Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, London, England, Nov.,
1977.
Dip-Ing H., and Kronibus, N., "Vorpressen Grosser Stollen aus Stahlbetonfer-
tigteilen fur eine Unterirdische Trafostation in Zurich."
Drennon, C. B., "Pipe Jacking: State of the Art," Journal of the Construction Di-
vision, ASCE, Vol. 105, No. C03, Sept., 1979, pp. 217-223.
Jenkins, A. H., and Holloway, B. G. R., "New Railway Bridges over London's
East Cross Route," Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Part 1, No. 56,
1974, pp. 537-557.
Lanz, B., "Pipe Jacking," Tnls Trilling, Vol. 5, Mar., 1973, pp. 165-166.
Lanz, B., discussion, "Tnis Tnlling," Vol. 5, Mar., 1973, pp. 166-174.
Musso, G., "Jacked Pipe Provides Roof for Underground Construction in Busy
Urban Area," Civil Engineering, ASCE, Nov., 1979.
Sulinski, S. J., "The Jacking Method in Tunnel Construction," Proceedings of the
Rapid Excavation and Tunnelling Conference, American Institute of Mining, Metal-
lurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Chicago, 111., 1972, pp. 983-995.
72