A0146954U - BART VICTOR JEAN-MICHEL FELIX

CE5104 Assignment 1

PART 1: Q1b)

At RL90m the soil is mainly made of soft marine clay. Therefor an EPBM should be used.

EPBM uses the excavated material to support the face during excavation of the ground. The excavated
material enters the plenum (working chamber) behind the cutterhead and is removed by using a screw
conveyor. It removes the excavated material in a very controlled way so that the pressure in the
plenum is maintained to ensure the ground stability and the pressure behind the screw conveyor is
atmospheric. The pressure control in the plenum is achieved through a combination of thrust on the
cutterhead with pressure wall and thrust arms and the rate of removal of material via the screw
conveyor. (See figure below, from http://www.p3planningengineer.com/productivity/tunneling)

A0146954U - BART VICTOR JEAN-MICHEL FELIX

CE5104 Assignment 1

The material should help maintain pressure in the plenum and hence transmit the pressure on to the
face and maintain ground stability. It should also help minimize the ground settlement and face
pressure through its control in the screw - it should form a plug in the screw conveyor to help the
pressure differential. When not ideal, it can be conditioned with an agent: water, foam, bentonite, clay
or polymer suspension
Source: Introduction to tunnel construction, D. Chapman, N. Metje, A. Stark. (2010)

To answer the settlement questions, rather than using an excel sheet as done in the lecture examples,
MATLAB was used to calculate and draw the settlement troughs.
Parameters used to calculate the settlement function:
Tunnel 1
D
6.6m
z0
12m
y0
5m
VL
2%
K
0.5 (marine clay)
i=K*z0 6m
Smax 45.4mm

Tunnel 2
6m
37m
-5m
1%
0.45 (silt)
16.65m
6.8mm

Equation of the settlement :

(0)2

2 2

A0146954U - BART VICTOR JEAN-MICHEL FELIX

CE5104 Assignment 1

z (m for tunnel mm for trough)

y (m)

The blue and red dash-dotted lines are the settlement trough of the upper question (ii) and lower
question (iii) tunnels respectively, scale is mm. The two corresponding red and blue tunnels are
located on the graph, scale is m. The total settlement trough question (iii), addition of the two
independent trough is drawn in black, scale is mm.
At RL90m the soil is mainly made of soft marine clay whereas at RL65m it is mainly silty sand. In soft
clay EPB can achieve volume loss of 1-2% while in sands then can achieve better results of 0.5-1%.
The presence of the upper tunnel before constructing the lower one could reduce the ground volume
loss. As for a building foundations it could reduce the ground settlement. I would then recommend to
construct the upper tunnel first.

PART 2: Q2a)
Q2a)i)
D=6.5m and z0=23m hence the depth to the crown C=19.75m and C/D=3
Hence, assuming P/D=0, Nc=9.
cu=40kPa
y=16kN/m3 and y=10kN/m3
q=20kPa
t=100kPa

A0146954U - BART VICTOR JEAN-MICHEL FELIX

CE5104 Assignment 1
Hence a total overburden y*z0+q=288kPa (t=26% of total overburden) and N=(y*z0+q-t)/cu
N=7.2
LF=N/Nc=0.8
VL=0.23exp(4.4LF)=7.8% (quite consequent, the face pressure should be increased)

Q2a)ii)
Water pressure P=(19.75-0)*10+30=227.5kPa.
(I)

ULS

c=0 and =32 hence factored, c=0 and =27.5

h0H+D: from graph, F0=0.3
H/D=C/D=3: from graph, F1=2.54
Hence =F0(y-y)*D-F1*c+P=0.3*7*6.5+227.5=241.15kPa
(II)

SLS

SPT<10 hence F=0.55

At crown for 1% volume loss : =F*(y-y)*D+P=0.55*7*6.5+227.5=252.53kPa

Q2a)iii)
z0=23m
z=C-2=17.75m
K=0.5
i=K*(z0-z)=2.63m
VL=1%
hence Smax=0.313VL*D/i=50.4mm

Q2a)iv)
3 general forms of consolidation settlement over tunnels have been identified.

A0146954U - BART VICTOR JEAN-MICHEL FELIX

CE5104 Assignment 1
Form 1: generally flat with very small increase in distortion, deflection ratio and horizontal strain in
buildings. May extend for hundreds of meters. Typically associated with seepage into tunnels.
Form 2: significantly wider than the immediate settlement trough. Typically associated with
tunneling at a pressure < overburden pressure.
Form 3: approximatively same width as immediate settlement trough. Associated with over
pressurization of tunnel face and high tail void grouting pressure.

Consequences on buildings can be assessed through evaluation of cracks on walls and floors. It is
important to know how the ground movements and the structures interact. Impact of settlement
depends on the size, shape, material as well as the position of the structure relatively to the tunnel.
The stiffer the structure the lower the impacts:
- old masonry follow the ground, hence high displacements and distortion.
- reinforced concrete structure do not stretch as much (longitudinal stiffness) and do not bend as
much (flexural stiffness), hence low displacements and tilting.
Considering a Gaussian shaped settlement trough, 2 kinds of interaction exist (see fig below):

- compression and sagging over concave part

- extension and hogging over convex part
Short building are subject to uniform settlement or uniform tilt, hence less damage.
Long building are generally subject to both hogging and sagging, hence more damage.
Bending and tensile strains can be assessed and show that hogging is more damaging than sagging.
To assess the risk of damages, slope of building and max settlement are used.
To assess the level of damage, cracks width is used.