Tunnel

Engineering
TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING

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Tunnel Engineering
 Tunnel: An artificial underground structure constructed for transportation of goods or public through
railways, roadways, pipelines or conduits.

 Open Cut: Open cut is provided artificially by cutting a hill/rock to allow construction of a road or railway
track through it. The open cut is not underground but open to the sky.

 Following are some reasons to provide Open cut or Tunnel:

 When the deviation of the route from a particular alignment will not be possible or will be
extremely uneconomical.

 When the slope limits exceed the permissible limits.

Difference between Open Cut and Tunnel

 A tunnel is provided when a much higher hill/ ridge comes on the way where it is proved to be costly to
remove the hill and an Open cut is provided where the height of the hill is relatively smaller which can be
easily removed.

 Some soil strata of the hill are soft so we can’t provide a tunnel there and choice remains only an Open
cut.

 The tunnel is an underground structure but the open cut is open to the sky.

 Tunnels prove to be much more costly than open cut as there is an extra cost of soil stabilization, lining of
tunnel ventilation, and lighting of tunnels.

 For highways, tunneling is preferred if the open cuts exceed 15 m.

Shapes of Tunnels
 Shape of the tunnel is determined on the basis of nature and type of ground penetrated whereas the size
of the tunnel is controlled by the use of the tunnel.

 Few major shapes of tunnels are as follows:

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Circular Tunnel
 These Tunnels offer greater resistance to external pressure. If the ground is highly unstable, it becomes
important to use the Circular section only.

Elliptical Shape
 These types of tunnels are preferred for allowing the water to flow under gravity like in case of sewage.
Narrow base at the bottom facilitates development of self-cleansing velocity but at the same time narrow
bottom is not suitable for railways and roadways.

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Horse-Shoe Shaped Tunnel

 Such tunnels are suitable for soft rocks and hence is the most popular section for tunnels. These tunnels
are suitable for all the purposes, be it for vehicular transportation or for flow of water or sewage. These
tunnels are semi-circular with arched sides and curved inverts.

Oval/Egg Shaped Tunnel

 These tunnels are generally adopted for sewage as narrow cross-section at the bottom provide self-
cleansing velocity at low flow rate also.

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Segmental Shaped Tunnel

 This shape of tunnels is best suited for non-cohesive tunnels. These are commonly used for subway
systems or for navigation channels. Although easy to construct, these tunnels require thick lining.

Operation Involved in Bored Tunnelling

 Probe Drilling: This type of drilling is done in order to find a suitable method for construction of a
tunnel. It is a necessary part of all drilling operations.

 Grouting: It is the process to provide additional support to drilled mines. It is done by a thick emulsion
called grout. Grout consists of water, cement, colour tint and sometimes fines gravels. Grouting leads to
the achievement of a good surface.

 Transportation of Muck: The operation of removal of the blasted stones / material after the blast has
taken place.

 Lining or Coating: Lining is done by modern methods like polishing, painting, to prevent wear and tear
and corrosion.

 Drainage: It is a process to remove the water or other liquid from the working site with the help of
pumps and pipes.

 Ventilation: Ventilation is done by proper checking of oxygen and other parameters by proper
installations for exit of hazardous gases coming out from the tunnel.

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Tunnel Construction
Soil Classification for Construction of Tunnel

 TYPES OF SOFT GROUND:

 Running Ground: required support immediately for e.g. dry sand.

 Soft Ground: roof requires immediate support while sides can remain standing for a few minutes.

 Firm Ground: roof can stand for a few minutes and sides for much longer time for e.g. dry earth.

 Self-Supporting Ground: remain unsupported up to a short length of 1.5 to 4 m for e.g. sand
stone.

Methods of Tunneling in Soft Soil

I. Fore poling Method: It is a very old method of tunneling in soft soil. This method is used in running soil
and similar soils i.e., soil with no cohesion (ex. sand, gravel etc.). The process is slow and tedious requiring
skilled miners. Tunnels of small dimensions, for laying sewers, gas pipes etc., at ordinary depths, could
advantageously be constructed by this method. This method is now replaced by the Compressed Air
Tunneling method.

II. Needle Beam Method: This method is suitable for soils, in which the roof could be depended upon to
stand for a few minutes without support. This method is used when excavating Soft soil for a short length
of tunnel with modern machinery is uneconomical.

III. Army Method: It is derived by the army of the USA for constructing small tunnels at shallow depth.

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IV. American Method: It is used for railway or highway tunnels.

V. English Method: The main characteristic of this method is excavation of a full section of the tunnel at
once using longitudinal strutting and alternating masonry work and excavation. This method involves the
use of a lot of timber and frequent shifting of heavy timber logs back and forth which is the greatest
disadvantage of this method.

VI. Belgian Method: This method is used in moderately firm or hard Soil. In the Belgian Method lighter
timber sections are used. In this method, we can start working from Different Points simultaneously.

VII. Linear Plate Method: In this method, steel plates, plain or corrugated, are used to support the soil
during excavation. The size of plates is 0.90 m x 0.40 m with a flange of .05 m. The plates are bolted to
each other through holes in the flange. When the diameter of the tunnel is 3m or more then stiffeners in
the form of Rolled Steel Beam are used.

VIII.Shield Tunneling Method: The Shield Tunneling method is a boring technique that consists of a shield (a
protective metal cylinder) and trailing support mechanisms. It is used for driving a tunnel through Clay
strata, water bearing strata and underground tunnel construction. It is an equipment which acts as a
bridge with a roof for workers. The trailing mechanism used also known as Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM)
and can be of following given types:

a. Mechanical Support TBM: It has a full face cutter head which provides face support by constantly
pushing the excavated material ahead of the cutter head against the supporting ground.

b. Compressed Air TBM: It can have either a full face cutter head or excavating arms. Confinement
is achieved by pressurizing the air in the cutter chamber.

c. Slurry Shield TBM: It has a full faced cutter head. Confinement is achieved by pressurizing boring
fluid inside the cutter head.

d. Earth Pressure Balance Machine: It has a full faced cutter head. Confinement is achieved by
pressurizing the excavated material in the cutter head chamber.

e. Mix Face Shield TBM: It has a full faced cutter head. It can work in closed and open mode with
various confinement.

Methods of Tunneling in Rock

I. Full face method: This method is conveniently adopted for tunnels of small cross sectional area. The full
face is opened out once for all and driven. Tunnels up to 3m dia. could be conveniently handled by this
method. Entire section is drilled, the holes are charged and explosives are discharged. Bars are installed
where width is less than height. Columns are installed vertically whose height is less than its width.

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I. Heading and bench method: It is used when the tunnel is very large and the quality of rock is not
satisfactory. If rock is hard and self-supporting, heading advanced ahead by one round than that of the
bench. But in case the rock is badly broken, the top heading will need support, and the bench will afford
the platform for this. The bench provides a platform for timber supports. The heading is usually 3 to 3.5 m
ahead of the bench.

II. Drift method: It consists in driving a small sized heading, centrally at top or bottom of the face, which is
later enlarged, by widening and benching. The top drift method is popular and the main operations
involved are as follows:

a. Boring or blasting a top centre heading or drift end to end.

b. Widening and enlarging the drift.

c. Benching in stages.

Other Important Components of Tunnel

Lining of Tunnel
 The objects of providing a tunnel with permanent lining are as follows:

1. It strengthens the sides and roof of the tunnel to prevent collapse.

2. It gives the correct section to the tunnel.

3. It withstands soil pressure when driven in soft soils.

4. It reduces losses in friction and erosive action, and ensures stream line motion, when the tunnel
has to carry water by providing a smooth passage at good velocity, free from turbulence.

5. It forms a good protective covering to certain types of rocks prone to air slaking.

6. It keeps the inside of the tunnel free from water percolation.

7. It supports large slabs of rock which might have become loosened during blasting.

 Types of lining:

1. Brick Masonry Lining: Brick masonry lining has become obsolete except in the case of
underground sewer as bricks are more acid resistant. At Later stage in the life of the tunnel, it may
cause uneven pressure and also the design of brick masonry lining requires a heavy cross section to
facilitate indeterminate factors.

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2. Stone Masonry Lining

3. Timber Masonry Lining: It is the oldest form of lining and is still used as semi lining.

4. Steel Lining: Steel lining of tunnels are used to convey water from reservoirs to hydraulic
turbines in hydro-power plants or vice-versa in case of reversible pump turbines in pumped storage
schemes or for other similar installations.

5. Concrete Lining: Cement concrete has become the standard material for tunnel lining in both
rock and soft soils. The main advantage of concrete is that it lies in a plastic state which allows it to
be well packed between the form and the soil. Further, cement concrete lining provides good
enough waterproofing.

Drainage in Tunnel
 Drainage of a tunnel means controlling of water during and after the construction of the tunnel.
Controlling of water is achieved by preventing excess quantities of water from entering the tunnel and
removing the water that does enter the tunnel.

 In driving a tunnel water comes from two sources:

1. Wash water used for washing drill holes.

2. Ground water or sub soil water.

 Drainage system is divided mainly into two different systems:

1. Temporary Drainage system

a. Open ditch drainage system

b. Pumping system

2. Permanent Drainage system

a. Central drain system

b. Corrugated sheet roof with side drains

c. Single side drain system

Ventilation in Tunnel
 It is necessary to provide proper ventilation during tunnel construction. the main objectives of ventilation
are as follows:

1. To supply fresh air to the working crew.

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2. To remove injurious and obnoxious fumes and gases of explosion.

3. To safely remove the dust caused by drilling, blasting and mucking.

 Following conditions determine the form and capacity of the ventilating system:

1. Length and size of tunnel.

2. Amount of explosive and frequency of blasting.

3. Temperature and humidity inside the tunnel.

 Types of Ventilation:

1. Natural Ventilation: When a drift is driven from portal to portal, it provides fair ventilation during
the enlarging operations, particularly when the tunnel is a short one but in case of long tunnels this
natural ventilation is inadequate, and mechanical ventilation becomes necessary.

2. Mechanical Ventilation: Mechanical ventilation is provided by one or more electric fans or

blowers, which may blow fresh air into a tunnel or exhaust the dust and foul air from the tunnel.
There are following systems of Mechanical Ventilation:

a. Blowing

b. Exhausting.

c. Combination of blowing and exhausting.

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