stabilised with 4 per cent sabove. speoe 1 @ 300mm soil blanker acted as above, but at on etal, 1963), 1 1 5,6 t0 10,4 MI, has now ugh it is still too early to lised basin floor, the per. and the stabilised layer y soils are now much less ng that thelr tert on, the leakage from the ave remained dry Case History 17 jor Tunnel Through Rocks of the Cape Granite S DU TOSTSKLOOF TUNNEL, by P.A. Loudon and R.K. McLea ‘The formidable chain of mountains stretching from Cape Agulhas in the south to Clanwilliam in the north has always been a barrier to transport routes from the port of Cape Town to the hinterland. These mountains, the ape Fold Belt and erosion-resistant quartzites, are traversed by a number of road and rail routes. The major road route to the north is through Du Toitskloof, while th result of folding and upthrust, associated with the main railway line from Paarl to Worcester makes a 60 km northerly deviation, rersing the valley formed along the line of the Worcester Fault and so avoiding the mountains. Rapid economic development in the western Cape has resulted in the need ‘or more efficient road links between Cape Town and the interior. It was therefore decided that the freeway route through Worcester should be carried through the mountain range in a long road tunnel rather than following the present carriageway route over the crest of the mountains. A two-lane tunnel 4 km long, with its associated approach roads, is thus being built in the locality shown in Figure 61. Construction of the main tunnel was preceded by that of a pilot bore in which detailed geological and rock igations were made to aid the design and construction of the The pilot bore which lies 36 m to mechanics inv main tunnel (Cockcroft & Loudon, 197 the north and parallel to the main tunnel will also act as a service tunnel and sgency escape route LOCAL GROLOGY In the Du Toitskloof tunnel area the planed surface of the Wellington granite pluton is overlain by quartzites of the Peninsula Sandstone Formation. The tunnel traverses a 3,4 km section of the granite and a 0,6 km length of down- faulted quartzitic sandstone (Figure 62). Case History 20 describes the portion of the tunnel in rocks of the Table Mountain Group. The western portal and the first 10m of the pilot bore are in soft decomposed granite. Geological investigations were an integral part of the feasibility and design studies done for the project. In particular, studies of the properties of the residual granite soil and its transition to weathered and fresh rock were undertaken, EXCAVATION IN THE RESIDUAL GRANITE. the material The granite at the western portal is decomposed into a residual soil to a depth of up to 50 m (Figures 63 and 64 and Table 64). X-ray diffraction analyses Natur 157Engineering Geology of Southern Africa indicate that the dominant alteration product is kat of the total specimen), while remnan clase, minor plagioclase and mica, Th olinite (about 12 per cone * primary minerals are quartz, orthe ¢ fabric of the parent rock and struct. i a» Noe \ (osiiy Tale Wace Aiure61 Granite outcrops. the western Cape and the location othe Du Toltskloof Tunnel Cape Granite Suite 159 ral features such as joints and faults are retained in the residual soil. The residual soil, or decomposed granite as itis locally known, can be classified in Irfan & Dearman’s (197 pletely to highly weathered, Strength and indicator tests on the residual soil show remarkable homo geneity (Table 64). Shear box tests on undisturbed samples gave relatively high strengths: mean values of ¢” of 37° and c' of 26 kPa. Special triaxial tests, showed no evidence of structural sensitivity in the undisturbed state. However, the soil loses its inherent strength easily when disturbed. It erodes scale of mass weathering grades in granite as ct easily and, in the presence of excess water, it deteriorates into a mud, Hydrogeological conditions The residual granite is influenced by in greater extent than any of the oth ‘nal hydrogeological conditions to a materials encountered along the route: it ranges from a stable, dense, silty sand at low pore-water pressure to an oozing mud at high pore-water pressure. Water-flows and excessive seepages were encountered over most of the section of the pilot bore in residual granite. Flows of water increased notice- ably as the contact between the totally decomposed granite and the weathered granite was approached. So excessive was the flow that it could be stemmed only by extensive grouting and eventually by ground-freezing Water-flows can be related to the numerous inter-connected joint and fault planes inherited from the parent rock. These are now partially clay-filled and the soil mass has a low permeability (Table 64). It is therefore concluded that the paths of water flow are dominantly along the joint planes — and this could be seen in some places ~ although therc is also evidence of some flow through the soil mass as a whole Behaviour of residual granite durin Tunnelling in the idual soil proved to be extremely difficult. Over the first 491m of the pilot bore, where the overburden was less than go m and little or no water was encountered, the tunnel was advanced using forepoling and partial or full face support. In the seepage zones or where stronger fissure flows were encountered, forepoling was necessary both in t 1e crown and side- Te Distance between underground partals = 3 $25 m - = 200 of fea aoe 2 me T= teem] mo (ae Seer] Pe =e » 2 Ao ‘igure6e Du Toitskloof Tunnel pilot bor~ hi Pebruary 1 deep, ere sed, was recharged mainly from water in the permeable weathered granite. The effect was a chain reaction leading eventually toa mudflow Attempts to improve tunnelling conditions by drainage and grout injection were relatively unsuccessful as excessive quantities required to seal off the fissures. Well-pointing was partially successful in reducing the ter flow in the decomposed granite but had little influence near the weath- ered granite where higher flows were experienced. The last 50m of the decomposed granite in the pilot bore was driven using ground-freezing. Lining in the form of steel ribs with invert struts and lagging plates was -ction before thawing took place. d to weathered to fresh granite is a gradation in f the feldspars and thus the degree of interlocking of the primary minerals. The boundary betw and weathered granite was defined as the point where core recovery using normal rotary drilling techniques from ground surface was possible, but not necessarily continuow In the pilot bore this point was first obtained during probing ahead of the and coincided with the occurrence of a harder rock which could not be exca- vated with hand-held pneumatic picks and had to be blasted. The rock at this stage of weathering is classified in Irfan & Dearman’s (1978) weathering as moderately weathered and grades rapidly into k (Figure 64) 65 Du Toitskloof Tunne! pilot bore: freeze pipes and the feathered granites are variable with zones of brown and olive material ints grading into patches of blueish and grey, less weathered granite. Blasting was required for excavation, Strong water-flows caused slight dete. rioration around the softer more highly weathered 2 uulting in the need for continuous support. - The transition zone between weathered and fresh granite was excavated b drilling and blasting using short rounds of approximately one metre. Support ‘was provided with rockbolts. A feature of the first 40 m of the fresh rock from the western side was the presence « hhtly weathered rock around the larger joint or shear planes; these were simply discc ly increased fracturing, and presented n¢ ing in decomposed From the experience gained in the pilot bore, ground-fre the most practical method of advancing a tunnel th and often disturbed residual soil. It not only provides a tent frozen material around the working area, but seals off all minor seepage areas and zones of water inflow which caused so much difficulty in the pilot bore (Figure 66). Ground freezing results in an increase in strength. The cube strength at ~20°C was about ro MPa, about 80 times higher than that of the disturbed unfrozen material (Cockcroft & Graham, 1979). The amount of Swell and the swelling pressure of the frozen soil were determined in the lab- oratory. Swells were generally low, less than 5 per cent for fully saturated samples. Swelling pressures were also low, about 38 kPa for a fully saturated sample ata moisture content of 32 per cent.Engineering Geology of Souther frica EXCAVATION INTHE RESIDUAL GRANITE The major portion (83 per cent) ofthe pilot bore and of the future main tunnel is in solid granite which was found generally to be a good competent tunnel. ling medium, though with varying geotechnical properties, Distinct variations observed along the pilot bore resulted in the need for a classification system for the granite rocks. The classification adopted is based primarily on texture, while colour variations are used for further subdivision. ‘Three basie divisions were recognised, namely porphyritic granite, fine-grained granite and gneissic Porphyritic grani Porphyritic granite was encountered over slightly more than half the length of the pilot bore, i.e. over approximately 2 km. The rock is medium hard to hard, with occasional softer zones where itis slightly weathered. Colour varies ftom grey alone to grey with different shades of red and pink, plus prominent black, white and green speckling. The texture is coarse-grained and porphy- ritic with phenocrysts of feldspar up to go mm in diameter. The dominant minerals are quartz and orthoclase, followed by micro-perthite, and with lesser amounts of microline, biotite and chlorite. The porphyritic granites proved to be the most competent rock type and generally were traversed with little or no support. ‘The other granitic rocks discussed below are generally intrusive into the porphyritic granites Fine-grained granite The fine-grained granites constituted only about 6 per cent, or 235 m, of the rock encountered in the pilot bore. They are very hard and vary in colour from reddish brown to greenish grey. They contain mainly orthoclase and quartz with minor amounts of muscovite, chlorite and biotite. Alteration Products, in the form of slightly sericitised feldspar and slightly chloritised biotite, are evident. It is thought that these fine-grained granites were devel oped during the later stages of the formation of the granite body: hence the finer grained texture and intrusive relationship suggested at some of the contacts with the other granites. ‘The fine-g nites are more brittle than the coarser grained varieties and consequently develop a more intense and blocky fracture pattern with t, smooth, unwavy joints. They are extremely hard with a mean uncon- fined compressive strength of 206 MPa. They required little support in the pilot bore. ined gr Gneissic granite The second most abundant rock type was gneissic granite, which was encoun: tered over approximately 19 per cent, or 730 m, of the pilot bore. The rock is hard to very hard and varies in colour from grey to grey and red, with black white and green speckling, Tt is m {to coarse-grained and exhibits a pronounced foliation which varies in orientation but has a mean strike of 130° and near-vertical dips. No distinct planes of splitting of the rock due to the gneissic foliation were Cape Granite Suite 165 observed: Jointing is medium-spaced and some joints contain calcite gouge Support in the form of steel arches and shotere was required only in the fault zones. FAULTING There are two sets of faults in the Du Toitskloof area (De Villiers, Jansen & Mulder, 1964). The older set developed prior to the deposition of the rocks of the Table Mountain Group and is thus confined to the granite. The younger set developed during the post-Cape phase of folding and is thus represented in both the sandstone and granite sections of the tunnel Faults are generally represented by zones of weaker altered rocks where tunnelling conditions become more difficult and greater support is required. While faults at Du Toitskloof follow this pattern in general, the conditions vary considerably depending on the rock types and size of each fault. Faults in granites Approximately 4 per cent of the granite was faulted material, of which 7o per cent required some form of support. The fault zones varied in width from 9,5 mup to 10 m. Three characteristic zones of alteration were recognised: 1. Zones of sheared granite with clay along the fault contact: generally not greater than 300 mm wide 2. Soft friable zones, 0,5 in to 2 m wide which, unlike the zones of sheared granite, retain much of the original rock texture, suggesting a process of in situ alteration, 3. Fractured zones, o, iated with the other ‘wo zones, where slight alteration and chloritisation of the rock is seen, The width of the faults and degree of deterioration of the rock material is to 4m wide, generally regular. Some of ihe faults were seen to pinch and swell, varying over short distances from a major feature requiring full support to a minor narrow band of fractured rock requiring no support. Support in the fault zones took the form of steel arches, lagging plates and concrete backfill, although shoterete and mesh alone were installed in places. Du Toitskloof Fault ‘The Du Toitskloof Fault is a major reverse fault which has resulted in a large sandstone block being thrown down into juxtaposition with the granite (Figure 62). In the pilot bore it is represented by a zone of altered granite and fractured sandstone, 150 m wide. The altered granite forms a distin 50m wide consisting of greenish grey, soft rock, highly weathered, s and slickensided material in contact with the fractured s. band red, The altered granite contains orthoclase and quartz followed by calcite and clay with lesser amounts of sericite and chlorite. A strongly foliated, fine- gained groundmass surrounds the larger crystals of quartz and orthoclase, This rock type is assumed to have resulted from tectonic disturbance followed by in situ weathering, It tended to deteriorate after exeavation, with scaling and slabbing of the sidewalls and crown due in part to stress relief along the foints. Deterioration was greatly accelerated in the prese ence of water, espe-166 Engineering Geology of Southem Africa cially in the lower sidewalls where the granite came into contact with chan- nelled water. Hand samples of the weathered granite disintegrated completely within minutes of being soaked in water. Fortunately, however, no water was encountered in this rock type. Sections of shotcrete applied as a support measure on the sidewall developed lateral and vertical cracks due to opening up along joints in the granite. Support in the form of steel arches and a concrete floor was required over the entire section of altered granite. (GEOTECHNICAL PROPERTIES OF THE FRESH GRANITE Laboratory measurements ‘The geotechnical properties of the granites are summarised in Table 59 and the results of laboratory triaxial tests are given in Table 6o. The specific gravity of the rock particles for the different types of granite is relatively uniform, with values ranging between 2,63 and 2,68. The unit weight of the rock is about 2 630 kg/m®, except for the weathered and slightly weathered granites at the Du Toitskloof Fault which have a unit weight of about 2 540 kg/m?. The elastic modulus and Poisson’s ratio show a consider- able variation between the different fresh rock types. The tangent modulus varies from 61 to 86 GPa while the secant modulus varies from 57 to 82 GPa, Poisson’s ratio shows less variation, from 0, 18 to 0,23. The unconfined compressive strength (UGS) obtained from rock cores varied considerably. The maximum UGS was obtained for gneissic granite sampled horizontally and parallel to the foliation. The tensile strengths also varied: the porphyritic and gneissic granites gave a maximum value of about 11,6 MPa, and the slightly weathered granites near faults gave the lowest values of about 4,1 MPa. The weathered granite at the Du Toitskloof Fault could not be tested for tensile strength as the core was not sufficiently com- petent. Typical values of UCS and tensile strength are listed in Table 61 in decreasing order of UCS. Swell, absorption and apparent saturation moisture content are generally insignificant in the fresh granite and can only be measured with reasonable accuracy in the weathered rocks. At the Du Toitskloof Fault it was found that the greater the weathering of the rock, the greater the swell and absorption." ‘Typical values are given in Table 61 ‘The results of triaxial tests and a selection of elastic moduli and Poisson's ratios under triaxial compression are included in Table 60. In situ measurements Rock temperatures ranged from 17,0° to 20,2°C and followed the general pattern of being highest under the maximum cover and gradually decreasing towards the portals Primary or virgin stresses were determined in the pilot bore in order to cal~ culate the secondary stresses which would be generated by the excavation of + The weatheced granite was extremly dfficale to test inthe laboratory ast disincegrates in water som samples disintegrated completly sa 14 minutes. Hence these revuls reprezent only the beter portions theweathered granite, Le those tat could be cored Cape Granite Suite 167 the main tunnel. Jn situ stress measurements were carried out using the system developed at the CSIR (NMERI, 1973) with some modifications. The results of successful tests are summarised in Figure 67. Higher horizontal stresses than vertical were generally found, while the correlation between vertical stress and overburden accords well with published data for southern Africa (Orr, 1975). Displacement measurements were made around a full-sized test chamber positioned within a relatively unfaulted block of granite under maximura overburden. Convergence measurements, extensometers and a deflectometer indicated movements of only a few millimetres, which correlated well with predictions. ses 4, 8) Depth of oreturdn n) ee wa Sepa Depth orecburden Figure67_ Dia Toitskloof Tunnel: results fin situ stress measurements