TUNNELS

 A tunnel is an underground or underwater passageway, enclosed

except for entrance and exit, commonly at each end.
 A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or
for a canal. The central portions of a rapid transit network are usually
in tunnel.
 Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for
hydroelectric stations or are sewers.
 Utility tunnels are used for routing steam, chilled water, electrical
power or telecommunication cables, as well as connecting buildings
for convenient passage of people and equipment.
 Secret tunnels are built for military purposes, or by civilians for
smuggling of weapons, contraband, or people.
 Special tunnels, such as wildlife crossings, are built to allow wildlife
to cross human-made barriers safely.
 A tunnel is relatively long and narrow; the length is often much
greater than twice the diameter, although similar shorter excavations
can be constructed such as cross passages between tunnels.
 A Babylonian king circa 2180 – 2160 B.C connected his royal palace
to the Temple of Jupiter on the opposite bank of the Euphrates by a
brick arched tunnel under the river.
 Other examples or early tunnels are those hewn in the rock in the
tomb of Mineptah at Thebes in Egypt and the early Greek tunnel,
constructed about 687 B,.C., used for conveying water on the island of
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Samos.
 The majority of these early tunnels were constructed in rock subsoils
and therefore required no permanent or temporary support.
 Today, tunneling in almost any subsoil is possible. Permanent
tunnels for underground railways and roads can be lined with metal
 and/or concrete but such undertakings are the province of the civil
engineer.
 The general building contractor would normally only be involved
with temporary tunneling for the purposes of gaining access to
existing services or installing new services, constructing small
permanent tunnels for pedestrian subways under road or railway
embankments and forming permanent tunnels for services.
 When the depth of a projected excavation is about 6.000m the
alternative of working in a heading or tunnel should be considered
taking into account the following factors:
1. Nature of subsoils – the amount of timbering that will be required in the
tunnel as opposed to that required in deep trench excavations
2. Depth of excavation – over 9.000m deep it is usually cheaper to tunnel or
use one of the alternative methods such as thrust boring. The cover of
ground over a tunnel to avoid disturbance of underground services, roads,
paving’s and tree roots is generally recommended to be 3.000m minimum.
3. Existing services – in urban areas buried services can be a problem with
open deep – trench excavations; this can generally be avoided by tunneling
techniques.
4. Carriageways – it may be deemed necessary to tunnel under busy roads to
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avoid disturbance of the flow of traffic.

5. Means of access – the proposed tunnel may be entered by means of an open
trench if the tunnel excavation is into an embankment access may be gained
by way of a shaft.
 1. Construction Regulation – part IV of the Construction (General provisions)
Regulations 1961 sets out the minimum requirements for the protection of
operatives working in excavations, shafts and tunnels covering such aspects
as temporary timbering, supervision of works and means of egress in case of
flooding. Part VII deals with the ventilation of excavations and Regulations
47 in Part XI covers the provision of a adequate lighting.

SHAFTS
 A temporary access shaft is sometimes necessary during the excavation of a
tunnel.

They are usually circular and go straight down until they reach the level at
which the tunnel is going to be built.

 A shaft normally has concrete walls and is usually built to be permanent.

Once the access shafts are complete, TBMs are lowered to the bottom and
excavation can start.
 Shafts are the main entrance in and out of the tunnel until the project is
completed.

If a tunnel is going to be long, multiple shafts at various locations may be

bored so that entrance to the tunnel is closer to the unexcavated area.[7]

 These are by definition vertical passages but in the context of building

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operations they can also be used to form the excavation for a deep
isolated base foundation. In common with all excavations, the extent and
nature of the temporary support or timbering required will depend upon:
i. Subsoil conditions encountered.
ii. Anticipated ground and hydrostatic pressures.
iii. Materials used to provide temporary support.
 iv. Plan size and depth of excavation.

 In loose subsoils a system of sheet piling could be used by driving the

piles ahead of the excavation operation. This form of temporary support
is called a cofferdam.
 Alternatives to the cofferdam techniques for shaft timbering are tucking
framing and pile framing. These methods consist of driving short timber
runners, 1.000 to 2,000 m long, ahead of the excavation operation and
then excavating and strutting within the perimeter of the runners.
 The process is repeated until the required depth has been reached. It is
essential with all drive and dig methods that at all times the depth to
which the runner has been driven is in excess of the excavation depth.
The installation of tucking framing and pile framing in shafts is as
described for deep trench timbering – see fig II.1.1.
 Both tucking framing and pile framing have the advantages over sheet
piling of not requiring large guide trestles and heavy driving equipment.

 In firm subsoil the shaft excavation would be carried out in stages of

1.000 to 2.0000 m deep according to the ability of the subsoil to remain
stable for short periods. Each excavated stage is timbered before
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proceeding with the next digging operation.

 The sides of the excavated shaft can be supported by a system of
adequately braced and strutted poling boards – see figs II.16 and II.17.
Sometimes a series of cross beams are used at the head of shaft timbering
to reduce the risk of the whole arrangement sliding down the shaft as
excavation work is proceeding at the lower levels.
  Shafts are usually excavated square in plan with side dimensions of
1.2000 to 3,000 m depending on:
i. Total depth required
ii. Method of timbering.
iii. Sizes of support lining to save unnecessary cutting to width.
iv. Number of operatives using or working within the shaft
v. Size of skip or container to be used for removing spoil
vi. Type of machinery used for bulk exaction.
 If the shaft is for the construction of an isolated base then an access or ladder
bay should be constructed. This bay would be immediately adjacent to the
shaft and of similar dimensions, making in plan a rectangular shaft.
 The most vulnerable point in any shaft timbering is the corners, where high
pressures are encountered, and these positions should be specially
strengthened by using corner posts or runners of larger cross section – see
Fig. II.16.
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 TUNNELS
 Purposes of rock tunneling.
i. Transportation.
ii. Water and sewage.
iii. Conveyance.
iv. Mine access.
v. Hydro-electric power generation.

 The operational sequence of excavating and timbering a tunnel or heading

by traditional methods can be enumerated thus:
1. In firm soils excavate first 1,000m long stage or bay; if weak subsoil is
encountered it may be necessary to drive head boards and lining boards
as the first operation.
2. Head boards 1,000m long are placed against the upper surface.
3. Sole plate and stretcher are positioned; these are partly bedded into the
ground to prevent lateral movement and are leveled through from
stretcher to stretcher.
4. Cut and position head tree.
5. Cut side trees or struts to fit tightly between sole plate and head tree and wedge
into position.
6. Secure frames using wrought iron dogs, spikes and cleats as required
7. Excavate next stage or bay by starting at the top and taking out just
enough soil to allow the next set of head boards to be positioned.
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8. If loose subsoils are encountered it will be necessary to line the sides

with driven or placed horizontal poling boards as the work proceeds – see
Figs. II.17 and II.18.
  After the construction work has been carried out within the tunnel it can be
backfilled with hand-compacted material extracting the timbering as the
work proceeds. This method is time consuming and costly; the general
procedure is to backfill the tunnel with pumped concrete and leave the
temporary support work in position.
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 L2. Alternative methods

 Where the purpose of the excavation is for the installation of pipe work
alternative methods to tunneling should be considered.
Small diameter pipes
 Two methods are available for the installation of small pipes up to 200 m
diameter
1. Thrust boring – a bullet-shaped solid metal head is fixed to the leading end
of the pipe to be installed which is pushed or jacked into the ground
displacing the earth.
2. Auger boring – carried out with a horizontal auger boring tool operating
from a working pit having at least 2,400m long x 1,500m wide clear
dimensions between any temporary supporting members. The boring
operation can be carried out without casings but where the objective is the
installation of services, concrete or steel casings are usually employed. The
auger removes the spoil by working within the bore of the casing which is
being continuously rammed or jacked into position. It is possible to use this
method for diameters of up to 1.000m.

Pipe jacking
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 This method can be used for the installation of pipes from 150 to 3,600 mm
diameter but it is mainly employed on the larger diameters of over 1.000m.
basically the procedure is to force the pipes into the subsoil by means of a
series of hydraulic jacks and excavate, as the driving proceeds, from within
the pipe by hand or machine according to site conditions.
  The leading pipe is usually fitted with a steel shield or hood to aid the
driving process.
This is a very safe method since the exaction work is carried out from within
the casing or liner and the danger of collapsing excavations is eliminated;
there is also no disruption of the surface or underground services and it is a
practical method for most types of subsoil.
 The most common method is to work from a jacking or working pit which is
formed in a similar manner to traditional shafts except that a framed thrust
pad is needed from which to operate the hydraulic jacks.
 The working pit must be a large enough for the jacks to be extended and to
allow for new pipe sections to be lowered into the working bay at the bottom
– see Fig.II.19.
 Pipe jacking can also be carried out from ground level and is particularly
suitable for driving pipes through an embankment to form a pedestrian
subway.
A series of 300 mm diameter lined augered bore holes are driven through
the embankment to accommodate tie bars which are anchored to a bulkhead
frame on the opposite side of the embankment.
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 The reactions from the ramming jacks are thus transferred through the tie
bars to the bulkhead frame and the driving action becomes one of pushing
and pulling – see Fig. II .20. In firm soils the rate of bore by this method is
approximately 3.000 m per day.
 Pipes can also be jacked, from ground level, into the earth at a gradient of up
to 1.12 using a jacking block attached to a row of tension piles sited below
the commencing level.
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 PIPES
 The pipes used in the above techniques are usually classified in diameter
ranges thus:
1. Small pipes – 150 to 900 mm diameter – thrust or auger bored.
2. Medium pipes – 900 to 1,800 mm diameter – pipe jacking
techniques.
3. Large pipes – 1,800 to 3,600 mm diameter – pipe jacking
techniques.
 Two materials are in common use for the pipes, namely concrete and steel.
Spun concrete pipes are specially designed with thick walls and have a
rubber joint making them especially suitable for sewers without the need for
extra strengthening.
 Larger diameter pipes for pedestrian subway constructions are usually made
of cast concrete and can have special bolted connections making the joints
watertight which also renders them suitable for use as sewer pipes. Steel
pipers have a wall thickness relative to their diameter and usually have
welded joints to give high tensile strength, the alternative being a flanged
and bolted joint.
 They are obtainable with various coatings and linings to meet special
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requirements such as corrosive – bearing effluents.

 Geotechnical investigation and design
 Geological problems.
i. High temperature.
ii. Weak zones.
iii. Dangerous zones.
iv. Over break.
 A tunnel project must start with a comprehensive investigation of ground
conditions by collecting samples from boreholes and by other geophysical
techniques.
 An informed choice can then be made of machinery and methods for
excavation and ground support, which will reduce the risk of encountering
unforeseen ground conditions.
 In planning the route the horizontal and vertical alignments will make use of
the best ground and water conditions.
 Conventional desk and site studies may yield insufficient information to
assess such factors as the blocky nature of rocks, the exact location of fault
zones, or the stand-up times of softer ground.
 This may be a particular concern in large-diameter tunnels. To give more
information, a pilot tunnel, or drift, may be driven ahead of the main drive.
 This tunnel will be easier to support should unexpected conditions be met,
and will be incorporated in the final tunnel. Alternatively, horizontal
boreholes may sometimes be drilled ahead of the advancing tunnel face.

 Other key geotechnical factors include:

1. Stand-up time is the amount of time a tunnel will support itself without any
added structures. Knowing this time allows the engineers to determine how
much can be excavated before support is needed. The longer the stand-up
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time is the faster the excavating will go. Generally certain configurations of
rock and clay will have the greatest stand-up time, and sand and fine soils
will have a much lower stand-up time.[5]

2. Groundwater control is very important in tunnel construction. If there is

water leaking into the tunnel stand-up time will be greatly decreased.
  If there is water leaking into the shaft it will become unstable and will not be
safe to work in. To stop this from happening there are a few common
methods. One of the most effective is ground freezing.
 To do this pipes are inserted into the ground surrounding the shaft and are
cooled until they freeze. This freezes the ground around each pipe until the
whole shaft is surrounded frozen soil, keeping water out.
 The most common method is to install pipes into the ground and to simply
pump the water out. This works for tunnels and shafts.[6]
3. Tunnel shape is very important in determining stand-up time.
 The force from gravity is straight down on a tunnel, so if the tunnel is wider
than it is high it will have a harder time supporting itself, decreasing its
stand-up time.
 If a tunnel is higher than it is wide the stand up time will increase making
the project easier. The hardest shape to support itself is a square or
rectangular tunnel.
 The forces have a harder time being redirected around the tunnel making it
extremely hard to support itself. This of course all depends what the material
of the ground is.[7]

Choice of tunnels vs. bridges

 For water crossings, a tunnel is generally more costly to construct than a
bridge. Navigational considerations may limit the use of high bridges or
drawbridge spans intersecting with shipping channels, necessitating a tunnel.
 Bridges usually require a larger footprint on each shore than tunnels. In areas
with expensive real estate, such as Manhattan and urban Hong Kong, this is
a strong factor in tunnels' favor.
 Boston's Big Dig project replaced elevated roadways with a tunnel system to
increase traffic capacity, hide traffic, reclaim land, redecorate, and reunite
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the city with the waterfront.

 In Hampton Roads, tunnels were chosen over bridges for strategic
considerations; in the event of damage, bridges would prevent U.S. Navy
vessels from leaving Naval Station Norfolk.
 The 1934 Queensway Road Tunnel under the River Mersey at Liverpool was
chosen over a massively high bridge for defence reasons: it was feared
aircraft could destroy a bridge in times of war.
 Maintenance costs of a massive bridge to allow the world's largest ships to
navigate under were considered higher than for a tunnel. Similar conclusions
were reached for the 1971 Kingsway Tunnel under the Mersey.
  Water-crossing tunnels built instead of bridges include the Holland Tunnel
and Lincoln Tunnel between New Jersey and Manhattan in New York City,
the Queens-Midtown Tunnel between Manhattan and the borough of Queens
on Long Island, and the Elizabeth River tunnels between Norfolk and
Portsmouth, Virginia, the 1934 River Mersey road Queensway Tunnel, the
Western Scheldt Tunnel, Zeeland, Netherlands, and the North Shore
Connector tunnel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
 Other reasons for choosing a tunnel instead of a bridge include avoiding
difficulties with tides, weather and shipping during construction (as in the
51.5-kilometre or 32.0-mile Channel Tunnel), aesthetic reasons (preserving
the above-ground view, landscape, and scenery), and also for weight
capacity reasons (it may be more feasible to build a tunnel than a sufficiently
strong bridge).
 Some water crossings are a mixture of bridges and tunnels, such as the
Denmark to Sweden link and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in Virginia.
 There are particular hazards with tunnels, especially from vehicle fires when
combustion gases can asphyxiate users, as happened at the Gotthard Road
Tunnel in Switzerland in 2001. One of the worst railway disasters ever, the
Balvano train disaster, was caused by a train stalling in the Armi tunnel in
Italy in 1944, killing 426 passengers.
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Cost estimates and overruns

 Government funds are a major factor in the creation of tunnels.[8] When a
tunnel is in the process of being constructed, economics and politics play a
large factor in the decision making process. This division of the project is
 part of the construction/project management aspect of civil engineering. The
project duration must be identified using a work breakdown structure (WBS)
and critical path method (CPM). Understanding the amount of time the
project requires, the amount of labors and materials needed is a crucial part
of the project. Also, the amount of land that will need to be excavated and
the proper machinery that is needed is also very important. Since
infrastructures require millions, or even billions of dollars, acquiring these
funds can be challenging.
 The need for an infrastructure such as a tunnel must be identified. Political
issues are bound to occur as it was shown in 2005 when the US House of
Representatives approved a $100 million federal grant to build a tunnel in
the New York Harbor.
 However, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was aware of
this bill and had never asked for a grant or for such a project.[9] The current
state of the economy reflects on the amount of money the government can
give for public projects.
 Since taxpayers money goes to projects such as the creation of tunnels, or
any other infrastructures, increasing taxes may cause issues.[10]

Machine tunneling.
 Weak zones.
 Homogeneity.
 Hardness.
 Stratification.

Construction
 Tunnels are dug in types of materials varying from soft clay to hard rock.
The method of tunnel construction depends on such factors as the ground
conditions, the ground water conditions, the length and diameter of the
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tunnel drive, the depth of the tunnel, the logistics of supporting the tunnel
excavation, the final use and shape of the tunnel and appropriate risk
management.

 There are three basic types of tunnel construction in common use:

i. Cut-and-cover tunnels, constructed in a shallow trench and then covered
over.
ii. Bored tunnels, constructed in situ, without removing the ground above. They
are usually of circular or horseshoe cross-section.
 iii. Immersed tube tunnels, sunk into a body of water and sit on, or are buried
just under, its bed.

Cut-and-cover

 Cut-and-cover construction of the Paris Métro in France

 Cut-and-cover is a simple method of construction for shallow tunnels
where a trench is excavated and roofed over with an overhead support
system strong enough to carry the load of what is to be built above the
tunnel.
 Two basic forms of cut-and-cover tunnelling are available:

i. Bottom-up method: A trench is excavated, with ground support as necessary,

and the tunnel is constructed in it. The tunnel may be of in situ concrete,
precast concrete, precast arches,or corrugated steel arches; in early days
brickwork was used. The trench is then carefully back-filled and the surface
is reinstated.
ii. Top-down method: Side support walls and capping beams are constructed
from ground level by such methods as slurry walling, or contiguous bored
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piling.

 Then a shallow excavation allows making the tunnel roof of precast beams
or in situ concrete. The surface is then reinstated except for access openings.
This allows early reinstatement of roadways, services and other surface
features. Excavation then takes place under the permanent tunnel roof, and
the base slab is constructed.
  Shallow tunnels are often of the cut-and-cover type (if under water, of the
immersed-tube type), while deep tunnels are excavated, often using a
tunnelling shield. For intermediate levels, both methods are possible.
 Large cut-and-cover boxes are often used for underground metro stations,
such as Canary Wharf tube station in London. This construction form
generally has two levels, which allows economical arrangements for ticket
hall, station platforms, passenger access and emergency egress, ventilation
and smoke control, staff rooms, and equipment rooms.
 The interior of Canary Wharf station has been likened to an underground
cathedral, owing to the sheer size of the excavation.
 This contrasts with most traditional stations on London Underground, where
bored tunnels were used for stations and passenger access.

Boring machines

 A tunnel boring machine used to excavate the Gotthard Base Tunnel

(Switzerland), the world's longest tunnel.
 Tunnel boring machines (TBMs) and associated back-up systems are used to
highly automate the entire tunnelling process, reducing tunnelling costs.
 In certain predominantly urban applications, tunnel boring is viewed as
quick and cost effective alternative to laying surface rails and roads.
Expensive compulsory purchase of buildings and land, with potentially
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lengthy planning inquiries, is eliminated.

 There are a variety of TBM designs that can operate in a variety of
conditions, from hard rock to soft water-bearing ground.
 Some types of TBMs, the bentonite slurry and earth-pressure balance
machines, have pressurised compartments at the front end, allowing them to
be used in difficult conditions below the water table.
 This pressurizes the ground ahead of the TBM cutter head to balance the
water pressure. The operators work in normal air pressure behind the
 pressurised compartment, but may occasionally have to enter that
compartment to renew or repair the cutters.
 This requires special precautions, such as local ground treatment or halting
the TBM at a position free from water.
 Despite these difficulties, TBMs are now preferred over the older method of
tunnelling in compressed air, with an air lock/decompression chamber some
way back from the TBM, which required operators to work in high pressure
and go through decompression procedures at the end of their shifts, much
like deep-sea divers.
 In February 2010, Aker Wirth delivered a TBM to Switzerland, for the
expansion of the Linth–Limmern Power Stations in Switzerland. The
borehole has a diameter of 8.03 metres (26.3 ft).[11] The four TBMs used for
excavating the 57-kilometre (35 mi) Gotthard Base Tunnel, in Switzerland,
had a diameter of about 9 metres (30 ft).
 A larger TBM was built to bore the Green Heart Tunnel (Dutch: Tunnel
Groene Hart) as part of the HSL-Zuid in the Netherlands, with a diameter of
14.87 metres (48.8 ft).[12]
 This in turn was superseded by the Madrid M30 ringroad, Spain, and the
Chong Ming tunnels in Shanghai, China. All of these machines were built at
least partly by Herrenknecht.

4. Tunneling Safety and security requirements

 Owing to the enclosed space of a tunnel, fires can have very serious effects
on users. The main dangers are gas and smoke production, with even low
concentrations of carbon monoxide being highly toxic.
 Fires killed 11 people in the Gotthard tunnel fire of 2001 for example, all of
the victims succumbing to smoke and gas inhalation. Over 400 passengers
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died in the Balvano train disaster in Italy in 1944, when the locomotive
halted in a long tunnel.
 Carbon monoxide poisoning was the main cause of death. In the Caldecott
Tunnel fire of 1982, the majority of fatalities were caused by toxic smoke,
rather than by the initial crash.
 Motor vehicle tunnels usually require ventilation shafts and powered fans to
remove toxic exhaust gases during routine operation. Rail tunnels usually
require fewer air changes per hour, but still may require forced-air
ventilation.
  Both types of tunnels often have provisions to increase ventilation under
emergency conditions, such as a fire. Although there is a risk of increasing
the rate of combustion through increased airflow, the primary focus is on
providing breathable air to persons trapped in the tunnel, as well as
firefighters.
 When there is a parallel, separate tunnel available, airtight but unlocked
emergency doors are usually provided which allow trapped personnel to
escape from a smoke-filled tunnel to the parallel tube.

 Larger, heavily-used tunnels, such as the Big Dig tunnel in Boston,

Massachusetts, may have a dedicated 24-hour manned operations center
which monitors and reports on traffic conditions, and responds to
emergencies.[17]
 Video surveillance equipment is often used, and real-time pictures of traffic
conditions for some highways may be viewable by the general public via the
Internet.

 Examples of tunnels


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 The three eastern portals of Liverpool Edge Hill tunnels, built into a hand
dug deep cutting. The left tunnel with tracks is the short 1846 second Crown
Street Tunnel, next on the right partially hidden by undergrowth is the
2.03 km (1.26 mi) 1829 Wapping Tunnel, to the right again hidden by
undergrowth, is the original short 1829 Crown Street Tunnel.
 

 A short section remains of the 1836 Edge Hill to Lime Street tunnel in
Liverpool. This is the oldest rail tunnel in the world still in active use.

 The 1,659-foot (506 m) Donner Pass Summit Tunnel (#6) was in service
from 1868 to 1993.
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 Liverpool Lime Street Approach. The original two track tunnel was removed
to create a deep cutting. The road bridges seen across the cutting are solid
rock and in effect a series of short tunnels.