J. Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ. (Sci.

), 2018, 23(4): 490-504

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12204-017-1883-8

Protection of Historical Buildings in Metro Line Construction: A Case

Study in Shanghai, China

FAN Fan ( ), CHEN Jinjian ( í ), WANG Jianhua∗ (  )

(Department of Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China)

© Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany 2017

Abstract: This research presents a holistic approach to the protection of historical building group adjacent to
metro line construction, in which health investigation, protection criterion determining, numerical simulation anal-
yses, corresponding protection measures and field monitoring analyses are incorporated as main procedures. A
case relating to the conservation of a seven-storey brick-wood pagoda, Longhua Pagoda, adjacent to the construc-
tion of Shanghai Metro Lines 11 and 12 in China, is presented. A reasonable protection criterion is determined
rationally by means of numerical simulation based on the health investigation results combined with related stan-
dards, which can help to achieve a fine balance between system safety and cost constraints in protection measures
determining. A full numerical model is developed to analyze the effect of dewatering, excavation, tunneling, and
shield departure/reception, and corresponding measures are adopted to ensure the safety of the pagoda. Especially
a brand new method, steel jacket method, is introduced in detail, which has a good performance on decreasing the
amount of dewatering and maintaining a stable working face. Results demonstrate the application potential of the
proposed approach, as well as its feasibility. The proposed approach can be used in the industry by practitioners
to provide positive guidelines on the conservation of historical building group against metro line constructions.
The reliable and detailed data in this case can also provide verification for subsequent research.
Key words: protection of historical building, excavation, tunneling, steel jacket method
CLC number: TU 473 Document code: A

0 Introduction hai. Then, a transit line network as long as 1 050 km

Historical buildings reflect the evolution of the urban
expansion and the cultural development of a country[1] .
Now, a lot of historical buildings in many cities around
the world are currently used for various functions, such
as offices, museum centers and memorial halls. The his-
torical buildings still play an important role with its his-
torical significance, symbolism and economic benefits in
modern society[2] . However, those buildings are aging
and some kinds of damages may occur due to long-term
operations in the past time. Hence, they usually do not
have complete load-bearing capacity as designed and
are more likely to suffer from adjacent construction[3-5] .
In recent decades, urban tunnel construction has in-
creased rapidly as a result of space restriction, growing
populations and rising environmental concerns. It is es-
timated that 337 km rail transit line will be constructed
during 2017—2025, and 52 km extended line in Shang-
Received date: 2016-09-19
Foundation item: the National Natural Science Founda-
tion of China (No. 41330633), and the Research Pro-
gram of Shanghai Science and Technology Committee
(No. 14231200702)
∗E-mail: wjh417@sjtu.edu.cn
will arise in Shanghai[6] . Metro line construction such
as tunneling and station excavation in the soft soil in-
evitably results in soil deformation which may lead to
ground and adjacent buildings to deform, distort, rotate
and possibly cause unrecoverable damages[7-9] . Because
of the low deformation resistance of historical buildings,
the metro line construction may make these buildings
destroyed, so comprehensive health investigation and
accurate risk analyses need to be conducted and effec-
tive protection measures need to be implemented.
In recent years, many scholars have carried out large-
scale research on the structure health assessment and
protection of historical buildings in metro line construc-
tion and have made certain achievements. Different
kinds of techniques and approaches to estimate the
structure health are involved in both research and speci-
fications/standards. Reliability assessment method and
degradation models are usually used in the research.
For example, deep beam models[10] , extended models[7]
and angular distortion[11] have been developed and ap-
plied to estimate the building capacity and predict its
future performance. The criteria of building damage
induced by tunneling are typically developed according
to the strain state theory. Skempton and Macdonald[11]
J. Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ. (Sci.), 2018, 23(4): 490-504 491

used the angular distortion β which is the difference ing conservation measures adopted in the procedures of
between rigid body rotation and distortion to estimate station excavation, tunneling, and shield machine de-
the building damage. Burland and Wroth[10] modeled parture/reception achieve great effects in the protection
a building as a deep isotropic beam to relate strains in of the historical building. A case regarding the pro-
the building to the imposed deformations, where ten- tection of a seven-story brick-wood pagoda, Longhua
sile strain served as the limiting criterion for visible Pagoda, adjacent to Shanghai Metro Lines 11 and 12 is
crack development based on an elastic analysis of the presented. Results demonstrate the application poten-
building. In the specifications and standards, for ex- tial of the proposed approach, as well as its feasibility.
ample, the standard GB 50292-1999[12] issued by the
Ministry of Construction in China and the standard 1 Project Profile
DB11/T637-2009[13] issued by the Construction Com-
mittee in Beijing, China, the health conditions of main 1.1 Profile of Longhua Historical Building
building components including the load-bearing, non- Group
load-bearing, and decorative elements are taken into Being one of the national relic protection units,
account to determine the building as different safety Longhua historical building group built in the Northern
levels based on numerous test results that provide an Song Dynasty (977 A.D.) is the oldest and most magnif-
easy solution for the evaluation works especially when icent historical building group in Shanghai, and it has
a large group of buildings need to be evaluated. a history more than one thousand years. After 1949,
In recent years, many cases have been introduced and the Chinese government has carried out many repairs
research on impact analysis and prescriptive measures on the pagoda and its original appearance when newly
has been carried out. For instance, Meng et al.[14] stud- built has been restored, as shown in Fig. 1. It is a rare
ied the effects of micro-vibration excited by traffic ve- architectural treasure in China even around the world,
hicles on Xi’an Bell Tower by establishing the vibra- which is of great historical value. When construction
tion model of timber structure and carrying out the is carried out adjacent to the building group especially
dynamic response test. Jiang et al.[15] established a the pagoda, the principle of not changing the cultural
three-dimensional (3D) nonlinear finite element model relics must be complied with according to the Law of
to study the impact of shield tunnel construction on the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of
Xi’an Bell Tower in loess strata. Employing numerical Cultural Relics.
simulation and field monitoring, Wu et al.[16] studied
the settlement of the adjacent ancient architectures in-
duced by the construction of metro jet system (MJS)
piles and the side-crossing of newly shield-driven tun-
nel. Zhang et al.[6] presented a holistic approach to
the conservation of historical buildings adjacent to tun-
nel excavations, in which health conditions of histori-
cal buildings, safety risk assessment, numerical simula-
tion analyses, corresponding conservation measures and
implementation effects were incorporated. Although
many achievements have been obtained in the above re-
search via numerical simulation and field measurement
method, many problems still exist: there is a lack of
study on the method of ancient building health investi-
gation; there is a lack of study on reasonable protection
criterion determining; most of the measures adopted in
historical building protection are traditional reinforce-
ment method, and only a few new techniques and mea-
sures have been presented in their studies.
In this research, a holistic approach to the protec-
tion of historical building group in metro line construc-
tion is proposed, in which health investigation, protec-
Fig. 1 Profile of Longhua Pagoda
tion criterion analyses, numerical simulation analyses,
corresponding conservation measures and field moni-
toring analyses are incorporated as main procedures. Longhua Pagoda which is the most valuable building
Detailed information obtained from the health investi- in the group is a seven-storey pavilion style tower built
gation makes the criterion determining before construc- with wood and bricks, with a total height of 41.03 m.
tion more convincing and reasonable. The correspond- The inner layer of the pagoda body, namely the pagoda
492 J. Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ. (Sci.), 2018, 23(4): 490-504

wall which is the main load-bearing component, is built
with bricks and the outer layer is formed by wood
frame. On the first floor, the inner and outer edges
of the wall are regular octagon with a side length of
2.55 m and the thickness of the wall is 1.33 m. The
inner edges of the pagoda wall change to square from
the second layer. The side length and thickness of the
pagoda wall gradually decrease with the increase of the
height. There are four doors in the pagoda wall of
each story and the direction of the doors rotates 45◦
for each increasing storey, which brings not only a vari-
able appearance but also a uniform load distribution.
There are eight columns connected to the pagoda wall
with wood structures in each storey. The load of the
eaves, roofs and stands is transferred to the wall by
wood structures. The wood structure in the top is com-
posed by four inclined columns around the center of the
pagoda. The frame bears the weight of the top cover,
and transfers it to the wall of the pagoda.
According to the records, the foundation of Longhua
Pagoda consists of three layers, as shown in Fig. 2. The
Stone
Brick
brick
foundation
Wood pad
Tabia
Wood piles
Fig. 2 Illustration of the Longhua Pagoda foundation
Pe
bottom layer is built with stakes about 30 m in length
and 0.18 m in diameter, and is filled up with tabia in
the space between the stakes. The top surface of the
bottom layer is about 2 m deep underground. There is
a 0.13 m thick wood pad above the stakes, acting as the
middle layer. The top layer is built with bricks and its
thickness is about 1.7 m. The brick base, slightly lower
than the ground, is laid with stone bricks.
1.2 Engineering Background
The tunnels of Metro Lines 11 and 12 are constructed
by slurry balanced shield machine. The diameter of
the tunnel is 6.2 m and the buried depth is in a range
of 10.1—16.8 m. The spatial relationship between the
metro lines and the Longhua historical building group is
shown in Fig. 3. The tunnels of Metro Line 11 are in the
south side of Longhua Pagoda, and the nearest distance
is 65 m with a depth of 15.6 m. The station excavation
of Metro Line 11 is 70 m away from the pagoda and it
has a length of 150 m, a width of 27.2 m and a maximum
excavation depth of 25.285 m. The nearest distance be-
tween the tunnels of Metro Line 12 and the pagoda is
only 25 m with a depth of 10.2 m, which brings great
difficulties to the protection of the historical buildings.
The station excavation of Metro Line 12 is in the north-
east of the pagoda, and the nearest distance is 85 m.
The excavation has a length of 162.45 m, a width of
28.4 m and a maximum excavation depth of 17.081 m.
During the progress of construction, dewatering, exca-
vating and shield tunneling may have negative effects
and cause potential damages to the pagoda, leading to
excessive deformation, inclination and even collapse.
The timetable of construction activities is shown in
Table 1.

N
d
es

Longhua Pagoda
tr
ia
n
st
ad

Buidings in Longhua Temple

re
Ro

et
a
hu

65 m
ng

85 Longhua Station
m
Lo

25 m

m
70 of Metro Line 2
t
es
W

Longhua Road
156 m
Pede
150 m

st
rian

Longhua Station
stree

of Metro Line 11
t

Longhua port

Fig. 3 Plan view of Longhua historical building group and Metro Lines 11 and 12
J. Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ. (Sci.), 2018, 23(4): 490-504 493

Table 1 Timetable of construction activities

Stage Event Date Time/d

1 Dewatering of Metro Line 11 station excavation Since 2011-07-15 —

Excavating of Metro Line 11 station excavation 2011-07-22—2011-10-28 98
2 Tunneling of Metro Line 11 (Loop No.1020—No.1050) 2012-02-23—2012-04-06 43
Tunneling of Metro Line 11 (Loop No.1050—No.1080) 2012-04-06—2012-05-05 29
3 Dewatering of Metro Line 12 station excavation Since 2012-09-29 —
Excavating of Metro Line 12 station excavation 2012-10-15—2013-01-19 96
4 Shield tunneling entry 2013-10-28 —
Tunneling of Metro Line 12 (Loop No.1—No.130) 2013-11-07—2013-12-01 24

1.3 Engineering Geology
The subsoil in the construction site consists of qua-
ternary deposits, which are primarily saturated clay,
ers are very soft saturated clay with the characteristics
of creep.
The groundwater in the site consists of submersible
water, feeble confined water in the layer 2 and the


silt and sand, as shown in Fig. 4. The geotechnical in-
vestigations include both laboratory and in-situ tests
and are carried out before the construction. Figure
5 shows the results of the geotechnical investigations,
where γ is unit weight, wW is mass fraction of water,
Cu is undrained shearing strength, f is angel of internal
friction, kh is horizontal permeability and kv is vertical
permeability. The seven soil layers have a total depth
up to 72 m at the site, of which the fourth and fifth lay-
 
layer 2, and confined water in deep layers (the layer
is the first confined water layer and the layer is
the second confined water layer), as shown in Fig. 4.
Detailed information about the groundwater is shown
in Table 2. Dewatering in the excavation may lead to
settlement of surrounding soil, which directly relates to
the safety of adjacent buildings. Therefore, the ground-
water treatment is one of the critical factors in the pro-
tection of historical buildings in this project.

ķ ķ
ĸ ĸ
Ĺ Ĺ

ĺ1 ĺ1

ĺ2 ĺ2

Ļ2 Ļ2

Ļ3-1 Ļ3-1

Ļ3-2 Ļ3-2 Concrete/steel support

Diaphragm wall
Submersible water
Ľ2-1 Ľ2-1 Feeble confined water
Confined water

Ľ2-2 Ľ2-2

Fig. 4 Profile of Metro Lines 11 and 12 station excavation

494 J. Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ. (Sci.), 2018, 23(4): 490-504

Silty clay Fill

0

−10 Soft clay

Firm clay
−20
Depth/m

−30 Stiff silty

clay
−40

−50
Silty-fine
−60
sand

−70
17 18 19 20 15 30 45 60 0.8 1.2 5 10 15 20 10 20 30 101 102 103 104
Soil profile γ/(kN·m−3) wW/% e Cu/kPa f/(°) k×109/(m · s−1)
Plastic limit, Liquid limit, Natural moisture content, kh, kv

Fig. 5 Geotechnical profile and soil properties of construction site

Table 2 Detailed information of underground water

Underground water Located stratum Buried depth/m Absolute elevation/m

Submersible water — 0.95—3.40 3.77—0.97

Feeble confined water 2
2, 5.4—7.5 −0.55—−3.05
Confined water  8.3—8.6 −3.70—−4.00

2 Health Investigation of Longhua 2.1 Deformation Measurement of Longhua

Pagoda Pagoda
In the deformation measurement of Longhua Pagoda,
The results of heath investigation on historical build- eight control points surrounding the pagoda are set and
ings can reflect the foundation settlement, structural the coordinate values and altitudes of the control points
deformation and potential structural damage, which are obtained by total station, as shown in Table 3 and
provides a basis as to how much additional load or de- Fig. 6. A local coordinate based on the control points
formation they are able to bear, since some kinds of is established, in which the line between the point A
structural damage are likely to occur in the historical and the point E is parallel to the x axis.
buildings during the long-term operation due to aging The positions of the measuring points on the de-
factors[4] . The aging factors are rarely considered in formed pagoda in the local coordinate are obtained by
previous numerical approach and engineering analyses total station in the site. Figures 7—9 illustrate the de-
owing to the complicity and essential characteristics of tailed information about the pagoda deformation.
the aging facilities, which will further affect the valid-
ity and accuracy of the final analysis results to some Table 3 Coordinate values and altitudes of the
degree. Based on the health investigation results com- control points in the health investigation
bined with related standards, reasonable deformation
warning value and protection criterion can be deter- Control point x/m y/m Altitude/m
mined validly and conveniently. It not only provides Point A 200.000 300.000 3.206
references for protection measures determining but also Point B 235.103 326.184 3.072
helps to rectify inclined building in the construction ac- Point C 255.413 327.461 1.746
cording to its current status. In order to analyze the Point D 252.163 337.254 1.737
safety and serviceability of Longhua Pagoda, it is nec- Point E 280.346 300.000 2.588
Point F 278.151 362.432 2.756
essary to conduct the health investigation on structural
Point G 226.520 359.566 —
integrity and durability of the building structures and
Point H 216.817 321.268 —
their various components.
J. Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ. (Sci.), 2018, 23(4): 490-504 495

Pe
de
N O

st
x

r
ia
n
st
Measurement control point

r
ee
F

t
G

Longhua Pagoda D

C H
B

E A
Longhua Road

Fig. 6 Local coordinate and measurement control points

338
D F1 Center of each storey
336 F2 30 30
F3
334 F4
F5 25 25
332 F6
y/mm

F7
Height/m

Height/m
330 20 20
Control point
Base
328
15 15
C
326
B
10 10
324

322 5 5
258 256 254 252 250 248 246 244 242 240 238 236 234 232 −1 0 1 −1 0 1
x/mm x/m y/m
Fig. 7 Horizontal displacement of every storey and inclination of Longhua Pagoda

P6 28 21 28
P7 0 1 0
P5 19 73 70 55 19 71 71
71 71
P8 59 5 120 0 59 5
61 51 61
52 158 52
P4 7 56 131 65 7 56
68 58 143 106 68 58
P1 4 11 4
S-N
P3 15 117 15
P2 E-W 69 54 69
F1 F2 F3
21 58 53 86
1 5 0 9
73 125 144 160
70 55 92 57 97 66 136 74
120 0 154 0 185 21 203 0
51 48 82 42
N 158 176 195 216
131 65 152 86 147 90 185 83
143 106 155 124 199144 187128
y 11 30 47 22

117 131 162 155

54 85 98 85
x O
F4 F5 F6 F7
Fig. 8 Differential vertical displacement of every storey (mm)
496 J. Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ. (Sci.), 2018, 23(4): 490-504

200 (a) On x axis 200 (b) On y axis 30 (c) On x axis 30 (d) On y axis
100 100
0 0
200 200 25 25
100 100
200 300
Measuring point altitude/mm

100 200
20 20
0 100

Height/m
200 200
100 100
15 15
200 200
100 100
0 0
200 200 10 10
100 100
0 0
200 200
5 5
100 100
0 0
−3 0 3 −3 0 3 0 20 40 0 10 20 30
Distance/m Settlement rate/‰
F7, F6, F5, F4, F3, F2, F1, Center of each storey
Fig. 9 Inclination and differential vertical displacement rate of every storey

Figure 7 illustrates the horizontal displacement of ev-
ery storey and inclination of Longhua Pagoda. Seven
storeys are marked by F1 to F7, respectively. It can be
found that the pagoda wall is preserved well in general,
and the section of the pagoda wall of every storey is
still regular octagon as newly built. The inclination of
the pagoda increases linearly from base to top and it
reaches a maximum on x axis 638 mm and on y axis
172 mm at the top. The inclination rate of the pagoda
is 2.36% to the north.
Figure 8 illustrates the differential vertical displace-
ment of pagoda wall and columns. Eight corners are
marked by P1 to P8, respectively; positive value in
Fig. 8 indicates that the measuring point is higher than
the reference point. As seen in Fig. 8, the vertical dis-
placement of the columns is larger than pagoda wall.
It is because the columns made of wood show a much
smaller stiffness than the pagoda wall built with bricks
in the long term of aging, wear and tear.
Inclination and differential vertical displacement rate
of every storey on x axis are shown in Figs. 9(a) and
9(c). It can be found that the south side of the stages
is slightly higher in every storey and the differential dis-
placement rate of every storey increases firstly and then
decreases with the increase of pagoda height. The dif-
ferential displacement rate is 18‰ in the first storey,
31‰ in the fourth storey and reduces to 16‰ in the
seventh storey. Figures 9(b) and 9(d) illustrate the in-
clination and differential vertical displacement rate of
every storey on y axis. The western side of the stages
is slightly higher in every storey in general. It can
also be found that the differential displacement rate
increases firstly and then decreases with the increase of
the height. The differential displacement rate is 3‰ in
the first storey, 15‰ in the fourth storey and reduces
to 13‰ in the seventh storey. It happens because the
pagoda wall is masonry structure whose deformation
mode is mainly bending instead of shearing. Therefore,
the vertical differential displacement rate first increases
and then decreases with the increase of the height.
2.2 Investigation of Building Materials
Strength and Building Damage
In order to obtain the strength of bricks in the pagoda
wall, a sampling inspection on the brick strength is com-
pleted in the health investigation with rebound instru-
ment according to the standard JC/T796-2013[17]. The
brick strength is assessed as MU10. That is to say,
the average value of the ultimate compressive strength
is not smaller than 10 MPa. Masonry mortar of the
pagoda wall is composed of sand and lime, and the
strength of the mortar is considered to be 0 for the sake
of reliability in calculation and analysis because the
strength test on it cannot be carried out in accordance
with current standards. Figure 10 shows the current
damage. The structural damage detection of Longhua
Pagoda is also completed in the health investigation.
J. Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ. (Sci.), 2018, 23(4): 490-504 497

(a) Metope paint peeling off (b) Wood paint peeling off (c) Slight rot in the door and (d) Mild weathering in the
window wood structures base and stage tiles
Fig. 10 Building damage of Longhua Pagoda

The detection result suggests that the main structural
components are well preserved in general, and termite-
eaten or other biological damage is not found in the
wood structure.
2.3 Structure Health Assessment
In this research, the standard DB11/T637-2009[13] is-
sued in 2009 is taken as a guide in the health estimation
of Longhua Pagoda. In this standard, the health condi-
tions of main building components including the load-
bearing, non-load-bearing and decorative elements are
taken into account, and the comprehensive health con-
dition of the pagoda can be assessed within four differ-
ent grades, namely “Level A” (good), “Level B” (nor-
mal), “Level C” (poor) and “Level D” (endangered), as
seen in Table 4. This method can be easily accepted
by engineers in construction field due to its operability
and comprehensiveness.
In regard to Longhua Pagoda, the load-bearing el-
ements are preserved well in general because of com-
prehensive protection and maintenance and only slight
damage is observed in the non-load-bearing and deco-
rative elements. According to the health investigation
results, the overall health condition of Longhua Pagoda
is rated as Level B (normal) according to the evalua-
tion criteria, as shown in Table 4. The detailed results
of the health condition investigation regarding building
components of the pagoda are presented in Table 5.

Table 4 Gradation of building health conditions

Grade Description Building health condition

Level A Good The building structure is safe and reliable without any serious defects or dangerous building compo-
nents. The building can be used safely under the normal applying load.
Level B Normal The building structure is safe without any dangerous building components. The buildings can be
used safely under the normal applying load.
Level C Poor The capacity of partial structural components cannot satisfy the requirement of ultimate state under
normal serviceability. Some structural components are unsafety, leading to partially endangered
buildings.
Level D Endangered The capacity of the load-bearing components cannot satisfy the requirement of ultimate state under
normal serviceability. Major structural components are unsafety, leading to totally endangered
buildings.

Table 5 Comprehensive health condition of Longhua Pagoda

Comprehensive
Component Descriptions of health condition
evaluation

Load-bearing elements Pagoda wall The wall is well preserved and no safety-affecting Level B (normal)
cracks and damage are found.
Non-bearing elements Non-bearing walls No serious damage is observed but slightly metope
paint peeling off and small cracks.
Wooden structure No serious damage is observed but slightly wood paint
peeling off.
Decorative elements Doors and windows No serious damage is observed but slight rot in the
wood structures.
Stage tiles Mild weathering in the base and stage tiles is observed.
498 J. Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ. (Sci.), 2018, 23(4): 490-504

2.4 Protection Criterion Determining boundary condition to the central points of every storey
In order to determine the deformation protection cri- (State B); based on State B, the inclination of varying
terion of Longhua Pagoda in metro lines construction, degrees is subjected to the model by adopting a forced
the finite element software ABAQUS is applied to es- displacement boundary to the pagoda foundation. The
timate the stress state of the pagoda wall at different maximum stress of different states obtained in numeri-
inclinations first. Then, the maximum stress is com- cal calculation is shown in Table 6. And the stress states
pared with the criterion provided by relevant standards of the pagoda at inclination rates of 10‰, 15‰, 23‰
to ensure the safety of the pagoda. Besides, the stan- and 25‰ are shown in Fig. 11. It can be found that
dards covering the topics such as building protection the pagoda wall deformation only provides a stress in-
adjacent to excavations and tunneling are also taken crement of 0.04 MPa and the inclination has a more
into consideration in the criterion determining. significant impact on the stress state. The maximum
The investigation results are shown in Fig. 11. A nu- of brick stress reaches 0.83 MPa when the pagoda incli-
merical mode of the pagoda wall is developed using a nation rate is 25‰, which exceeds the strength design
3D coordinate system. The wood structure components value, 0.67 MPa, prescribed by the standard GB50003-
are removed because of the light weight and weak stiff- 2011[18]. Therefore, 25‰ is taken as the inclination
ness in simplified analysis. The pagoda wall is treated rate criterion and if the pagoda inclines more it can be
as plastic material in calculation and it has an elastic at risk. Furthermore, the protection criterion of accu-
modulus of 1.199 GPa, a Poisson’s ratio of 0.15 and a mulated settlement is in a range of 10—60 mm, and the
density of 20 kN/m3 , which can refer to the health in- settlement growing rate is in a range of 1—3 mm/d for
vestigation results and calculation experience of other the buildings adjacent to excavations according to the
engineering projects in China. The bottom boundary standard GB50497-2009[19]. Considering that Longhua
condition of the pagoda is assumed to be fixed because Pagoda is a national relic protection unit which has im-
of the pile foundation. The stress states of the pagoda portant historical value and its aging factor, the criteria
under different circumstances are analyzed and com- of accumulated settlement and settlement growing rate
pared. For example, assume that initial state is with- are determined as 10 mm and 1 mm/d respectively to
out wall deformation and inclination (State A); based ensure its safety.
on State A, the deformation of the pagoda wall is sub-
Table 6 Maximum stress of the pagoda wall under
jected to the model by adopting a forced displacement
different circumstances
Maximum
State
1.561E+05 1.301E+05 stress/MPa
−1.132E+04 −9.363E+03
−1.787E+05 −1.488E+05 Initial state without wall deformation and 0.48
−3.461E+05 −2.883E+05 inclination
−5.135E+05 −4.277E+05 State A with wall deformation as investiga- 0.52
−6.809E+05 −5.672E+05 tion result
−8.483E+05 −7.067E+05 State B with an inclination rate of 10‰ 0.56
State B with an inclination rate of 15‰ 0.60
z z State B with an inclination rate of 23‰ 0.65
(current state)
O x O x State B with an inclination rate of 25‰ 0.83
(a) 25‰ (b) 23‰
1.171E+05 1.041E+05
−8.385E+03 −7.408E+03
−1.339E+05 −1.189E+05 3 Major Concern Analyses and Pro-
−2.594E+05 −2.305E+05 posed Response
−3.849E+05 −3.420E+05
−5.104E+05 −4.535E+05 The influence induced by construction on the pagoda
−6.359E+05 −5.651E+05 mainly consists of four aspects, namely dewater-
ing, excavating, tunneling, and shield machine depar-
ture/reception in this project. Numerical simulation,
z z in-situ tests and field measurement are carried out be-
O x O x fore and during construction to analyze the effect de-
gree of each aspect. And this also helps to determine
(c) 15‰ (d) 10‰
the type of conservation measures, and estimate their
Fig. 11 Stress states of the pagoda wall at different incli- validity and economical efficiency.
nation rates (Pa)
Based on the design scheme and geological reports,
J. Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ. (Sci.), 2018, 23(4): 490-504 499

the finite element software ABAQUS is applied to com-

plete the numerical simulation on the impact of the sta-
tion excavation and shield machine tunneling. A full
numerical model is developed using a 3D coordinate z
system, as shown in Fig. 12. Table 7 illustrates the ma- y
O x
terial properties of the tunnel, soil, pagoda foundation
and retaining system of the station excavation. Fig. 12 Numerical model of the project

Table 7 Material properties of the soil and structures in the numerical model

Elastic
Soil and Density/ Internal friction Cohesion/ Poisson’s
Type Thickness/m modulus/
structure (kN · m−3 ) angle/(◦ ) kPa ratio
MPa

Pagoda Foundation 20.00 2 — — 20 000 0.15

Tunnel Segment 25.00 0.35 — — 34 500 0.15
Grouting 17.00 0.50 — — 1.0 0.20
Soil  12.50 2.62 — — 20.0 0.30
 14.05 1.06 31.5 12.0 30.0 0.30
 12.95 2.20 29.8 12.0 22.5 0.35
1 12.45 8.52 18.9 9.0 18.0 0.35
2 12.85 3.28 28.3 12.0 60.0 0.35
2 13.55 6.19 30.1 15.0 60.0 0.30
3-1 14.25 8.49 29.8 21.0 80.0 0.30
3-2 14.25 11.71 29.8 21.0 80.0 0.30
2-1 14.15 7.69 34.0 25.0 80.0 0.30
2-2 14.15 6.65 34.0 25.0 80.0 0.30
Station excavation Concrete components 25.00 — — — 30 000 0.15
Steel components 78.50 — — — 200 000 0.31

3.1 Process of Station Excavating and Tunnel vation is also divided into the northern and southern
Construction sections to reduce the impact on the pagoda.

During excavating of metro line stations, soil settle-
ment results from not only soil mass excavation unload-
ing but also consolidation settlement due to excessive
dewatering[20] . For the first issue, many measures are
taken to reduce the influence induced by soil mass ex-
cavation on the pagoda in the support system design of
Metro Line 11. A blocking wall is set at the border of
the west end well and the standard section. The excava-
tion and structure construction in the standard section
are completed first, and then the soil mass in the west
end well begins to be excavated after the structure in
standard section reaches the design strength. Thus a
massive excavation is excavated twice by an acceptable
volume, reducing the unloading magnitude. The semi-
top-down method is adopted in the station construc-
tion of Metro Line 11; the B1 and B2 slabs act as the
supports for fourth and sixth excavating layers, respec-
tively. On the one hand, the considerable stiffness can
be made full use of. On the other hand, the soil addi-
tional deformation induced by support removal during
underground structure construction can be avoided. In
the support system design of Metro Line 12, the exca-

In respect of underground water, the feeble confined
water in the layers 2 and 2 is extremely rich and
with a strong hydraulic connection in the site. However,
dewatering of the feeble confined water usually leads to
a large soil settlement according to the construction ex-
perience of excavation engineering in Shanghai. There-
fore, ground water treatment is another crucial factor
in this project. The retaining wall in the west end well
of Metro Line 11 is deepened to 60 m and in standard
section 44 m to block the feeble confined water in the

layers 2 and 2, cut off the hydraulic connection ef-
fectively inside and outside the excavation, and reduce
the consolidation settlement around the pagoda. Mean-
while, a couple of recharge wells is drilled outside the
western end well of Metro Line 11 station and the south-
ern end well of Metro Line 12 station. Groundwater
recharge can be carried out immediately once excessive
settlement occurs due to dewatering in the excavation
or shield machine departure/reception.
In shield tunnel construction, ground settlement can
occur and develop rapidly as a result of pressure im-
balance on the cutting surface, extrusion and friction
500
of shield machine, overbreaking, oversized space in
the end of shield machine, grouting shortage or de-
lay, tunnel segment deformation and soil consolidation,
threatening to the safety of adjacent buildings. In
the early stage of shield tunneling, a simulation sec-
tion is set far away from the pagoda, in which the
working parameters of shield machine are adjusted to
make the shield machine work in optimum condition
and reduce the negative effect on the pagoda. A 1.5 m
thick layer-built grouting reinforcement shell is com-
pleted through pre-installed grouting pipes mounted on
Pe
d
es
R1020
R1050
R1080
R100
R70
R40
Longhua Station of Metro Line 11
Note: R40 means shield segment No.40, and so on.
Fig. 13 Position of the concrete mixing pile wall
Table 8 illustrates the maximum foundation settle-
ment of Longhua Pagoda after each major construction
step in numerical calculation. It can be found that the
maximum of settlement reaches 3.15 mm after the ex-
cavation of Metro Line 11 station. Tunneling of Metro
Line 11 only has a weak impact on the foundation set-
tlement and the maximum is 3.27 mm when the tunnels
of Metro Line 11 are completed, with an increment of
0.12 mm. The foundation settlement gets a maximum
of 7.02 mm after the excavation of Metro Line 12 sta-
tion, and it eventually reaches 9.2 mm when the tunnels
Table 8 Maximum foundation settlement
Longhua Pagoda
Stage Event
Maximum
settlement/mm
1 Excavation of Metro Line 11 station 3.15
2 Tunneling of Metro Line 11 3.27
3 Excavation of Metro Line 12 station 7.02
4 Tunneling of Metro Line 12 9.20
J. Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ. (Sci.), 2018, 23(4): 490-504
the tunnel segments after the tunnel segments are in-
stalled close to the pagoda. Besides, two rows of con-
crete mixing piles are built between the pagoda and
Metro Line 12, the piles have a diameter of 800 mm,
a length of 24 m and a wall width of 30 m, as seen in
Fig. 13. The reason for mixing pile wall construction
is that the distance between the pagoda and Metro
Line 12 is only 25 m. Therefore, tunneling still has
the potential to cause negative impact on the pagoda
if only strengthening measures mentioned above are
adopted.
N
tr
ia
n
st
re
Longhua Pagoda
et
∅800 mixing pile×2,
width 30 m, depth 24 m
18 m Longhua Station
of Metro Line 12
1.6 m
Longhua Road
of Metro Line 12 are finished, less than the protection
criterion determined above. The validity of the mixing
pile wall is also analyzed in numerical simulation. The
foundation settlement gets an increment of 3.6 mm dur-
ing the tunnel construction of Metro Line 12, and the
maximum reaches 11.3 mm after the whole construction
is finished without the mixing pile wall, exceeding the
protection criterion.
3.2 Process of Shield Machine Depar-
ture/Reception
Shield machine departure/reception is a very critical
and risky process in the construction of metro lines. If
of mishandled, landslide, retaining wall damage and seal-
ing device damage in the end well and pressure insta-
bility on the cutting face can occur, leading to massive
soil erosion and serious settlement in adjacent soil[21] .
These engineering accidents bring about serious threats
to the safety of nearby historical buildings. Besides,
dewatering in the end well during the process of shield
machine departure/reception applied with traditional
construction methods also causes large soil consolida-
tion settlement. Corresponding measures are adopted
J. Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ. (Sci.), 2018, 23(4): 490-504
in this process to ensure the safety of Longhua Pagoda
in view of above problems.
The length of the soil reinforcement in the end well is
increased to 8 m in parallel with the station to ensure
the shield machine entering and departing smoothly
and to avoid landslide or other damage. Moreover,
freezing method and steel jacket method (a brand new
method) are adopted in the process of shield machine
departure/reception. Figures 14 and 15 illustrate the
steel jacket method and its equipment pictures. The
main component of the steel jacket has a length of
Tunnel segment Tunnel boring machine Diaphragm wall Station structure
Steel jacket
Fig. 14 Profile of construction process using steel jacket
Fig. 15 Pictures of construction process using steel jacket
(1) Complete the soil reinforcement outside of the end
well, and plant the pipe system for freezing work un-
derground. Then chisel away the retaining wall which
is cut by the shield machine and fill the hole with plain
concrete.
(2) Fix in the counter force frame and install the steel
jacket on the frame. Then start the freezing work.
(3) Fill the jacket with slurry when the temperature
and strength of the soil reach the pre-determined value.
Then seal up the jacket and increase the pressure inside
the jacket until the pressure reaches the pre-determined
value.
(4) Push the shield machine forward. When the cut-
terhead reaches the retaining wall, the plain concrete
begins to be cut off, and the shield machine gets into
the jacket slowly and smoothly. Grout continuously at
the end of the shield machine until it all enters the end
501
9.600 m, consisting of three steel rings that have a
length of 3.200 m, an internal diameter of 6.500 m and
an outer diameter of 6.840 m. Every loop is composed
of two semicylinders coiled with steel slab and longitu-
dinal and circumferential stiffeners which are welded on
the outer surface of semicylinders to improve the stiff-
ness. There are several filling ports and slurry outlet on
the steel jacket and the jacket is mounted on the counter
force frame which is fixed in the underground structure
of the station. The construction steps for an example
of the shield reception are illustrated as follows.
Steel counter force frame
well and tunnel segments are installed completely.
(5) Relieve the pressure in the jacket and empty
it. Remove the upper semicylinders and hang out the
shield machine from the jacket. Here, the reception of
the shield machine is fully completed.
Soil stability in the end well is effectively guaranteed
by lengthened soil reinforcement, freezing method and
steel jacket method adopted in the process of shield
machine departure/reception. Soil erosion is success-
fully avoided and dewatering amount is availably de-
creased during construction, which reduces the impact
effectively on Longhua Pagoda.
4 Field Monitoring Analyses
Real-time monitoring has proven to be a valid means
for security guaranteeing of the tunnel construction,
and special attention should be given to the deforma-
tion and displacement of surrounding soil and building
foundations[22-23] . During the construction process, a
series of monitoring is carried out on the foundation
deformation and inclination of the pagoda, as shown in
Figs. 16 and 17. The control points and method applied
in the monitoring are the same as these in the health
investigation.
Figure 16 illustrates the settlement of the pagoda
base during the construction process. It can be found
502 J. Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ. (Sci.), 2018, 23(4): 490-504

−2.5

Settlement/mm
P1
P2
−5.0 P3
P4
Station excavation of Line No.11 P5
R1050 P6
−7.5 Tunneling of Line No.11 P7
R1020 R1080 P8
−10.0 Station excavation of Line No.12
Tunneling of Line No.12
R40 R100
−12.5 R70
2011-05-15 2012-01-15 2012-09-15 2013-05-15 2014-01-15 2014-09-15
Date
Fig. 16 Settlement monitoring of the Longhua Pagoda base

1.0 Inclination monitoring

0.5
Inclination rate/‰

−0.5
Station excavation of Line No.11
−1.0 R1050
Tunneling of Line No.11
R1020 R1080
−1.5 Station excavation of Line No.12
Tunneling of Line No.12
R40 L100
−2.0 R70
2011-05-15 2012-01-15 2012-09-15 2013-05-15 2014-01-15 2014-09-15
Date
(a) On x axis
1.0
Inclination monitoring
0.5
Inclination rate/‰

−0.5

Station excavation of Line No.11

−1.0 R1050
Tunneling of Line No.11
R1020 R1080
−1.5 Station excavation of Line No.12
Tunneling of Line No.12
R40 R100
−2.0 R70
2011-05-15 2012-01-15 2012-09-15 2013-05-15 2014-01-15 2014-09-15
Date
(b) On y axis
Fig. 17 Inclination rate monitoring results
J. Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ. (Sci.), 2018, 23(4): 490-504
that a significant settlement as large as 2.5 mm occurs
in the process of Metro Line 11 station excavation, and
it is most likely caused by dewatering and soil mass ex-
cavation of the station. As the construction continues,
the settlement increases gradually and gets an incre-
ment of 2.3 mm, reaching 4.8 mm when the shield ma-
chine reaches Loop No.1020 of Metro Line 11, which has
a longitudinal distance of 30 m to the pagoda, as seen in
Fig. 16. Then, the settlement shows a fluctuation when
the shield machine passes through Loop No.1050 and
arrives at Loop No.1080, which has a longitudinal dis-
tance of 0 and 30 m to the pagoda respectively, as seen
in Fig. 16. In this process, the settlement is affected by
a variety of factors such as stratum losses induced by
shield tunneling, excessive grouting at the end of the
shield machine and groundwater recharge. The settle-
ment of the pagoda base has been almost eliminated
before excavation of Metro Line 12 station by adjust-
ing the quantity of grouting and groundwater recharge.
The settlement of the pagoda base has a rapid growth,
reaching 4.2 mm when the Metro Line 12 station is com-
pleted. The reasons behind this are the weak blocking
function due to a small retaining wall depth and the
large unloading due to a rough partition of Metro Line
12 station excavation. The settlement also shows a fluc-
tuation before the shield machine reaches Loop No.40,
which has a distance of 50 m to the pagoda, as seen in
Fig. 16. And then a sharp increase of 4.2 mm follows
when the shield machine passes through Loop No.70
and reaches Loop No.100, which has a longitudinal dis-
tance of 0 and 50 m respectively, as seen in Fig. 16. This
is because the distance between the pagoda and Metro
Line 12 is so small that the effect of stratum losses
cannot be eliminated by grouting and mixing piles re-
inforcement. The final maximum settlement is limited
to 1.1 mm with all the measures adopted above, less
than the protection criterion.
Figure 17 illustrates the inclination monitoring re-
sults of Longhua Pagoda. It can be found that in the
early stage of construction, namely station excavation
of Metro Line 11, the pagoda gets an inclination rate
of 0.7‰ on x axis and −0.7‰ on y axis, contrary to
the existing inclination direction which avoids further
deterioration of structure health. The inclination rate
reaches 1.2‰ from 0.5‰ on x axis and 1.0‰ from
0.25‰ on y axis in the end of tunneling of Metro Line
11 and shows a fluctuation during the construction of
tunnel and station of Metro Line 12. The final value is
limited to 0.25‰ on x axis and 0.5‰ on y axis. The
already existing and construction-induced total inclina-
tion rate is 22.1‰, less than the protection criterion.
5 Conclusion
With the rapid development of metro line systems,
the conservation of historical buildings has become an
503
important concern since these buildings usually possess
a low deformation resistance against tunneling and ex-
cavating induced damages. A holistic approach with
detailed procedures and new techniques, which consist
of health investigation, protection criterion determin-
ing, numerical simulation analyses, corresponding pro-
tection measures and field monitoring analyses, is de-
veloped in this research for the protection of historical
buildings in metro lines construction. A case regarding
the conservation of a seven-storey brick-wood building,
Longhua Pagoda, is presented. There are constructions
of Shanghai Metro Lines 11 and 12 adjacent to it. Re-
sults demonstrate the application potential of the pro-
posed approach, as well as its feasibility. Some conclu-
sions are drawn as follows.
(1) The results of heath investigation on historical
buildings can reflect the foundation settlement, struc-
tural deformation and potential structural damage,
which provides a basis as to how much additional load
or deformation it is able to bear. Reasonable deforma-
tion warning value and protection criterion can be de-
termined validly and conveniently based on the health
investigation results combined with related standards,
which can provide references for protection measure de-
termining.
(2) Settlement results from not only soil mass ex-
cavation unloading but also consolidation settlement
due to excessive dewatering during the excavation of
metro line stations. And the impact induced by metro
line construction on historical buildings can be reduced
by building blocking wall to divide the excavation into
small partitions, using top-down method or semi-top-
down method to make full use of the slab strength
and adjusting the depth of the retaining wall to block
groundwater.
(3) Aimed at reducing the stratum losses caused by
tunneling, a simulation section can be set to make the
shield machine work in optimum state, and layer-built
grouting reinforcement through pre-installed grouting
pipes mounted on the tunnel segments can also be com-
pleted to strengthen the soil around the tunnel. Isola-
tion wall such as mixing pile wall is another effective
method to protect historical buildings close to the con-
struction.
(4) Shield machine departure/reception is a very crit-
ical and risky process in the construction of metro lines.
Adopting freezing method and steel jacket method can
decrease the amount of dewatering and maintain a sta-
ble working face, ensuring the safety of historical build-
ings.
There are also some limitations for the developed
holistic approach. There is a lack of evaluation sys-
tem to estimate the health status of historical buildings
based on the data obtained in the health investigation.
Besides, Metro Line 12, opened to traffic in 2014, is
only on service for 2 years and its long-term impact
504
on Longhua Pagoda needs to be analyzed in the subse-
quent research.
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