Volkmann G.M. & Schubert W. 2008. Tender Document Specifications for Pipe Umbrella installation methods. In Proc.

of the 34th ITA-AITES World Tunneling Congress, Agra, India, 22-24 September 2008, pp. 285-293

TENDER DOCUMENT SPECIFICATIONS FOR PIPE UMBRELLA INSTALLATION METHODS

Volkmann, Gnther M.
ALWAG Tunnelausbau Gesellschaft m.b.H., Pasching/Linz, Austria guenther.volkmann@alwag.com

Schubert, Wulf
Graz University of Technology, Institute for Rock Mechanics and Tunneling, Graz, Austria schubert@tugraz.at
Abstract: Pipe Umbrella support systems are effectively used as pre-support systems in tunneling to increase stability in the working area and decrease deformations induced by the construction. Its main application area is in weak ground tunneling. Either a Pre-Drilling or a Cased-Drilling method can install this system. Due to their characteristics, both installation methods influence stability demands and deformations in a different way. The negative influences can be minimized by choosing the adequate installation method or pipe type. This article discusses differences inherent in installation methods of apparently equal Pipe Umbrella systems. 1. INTRODUCTION

Many subsurface infrastructures are constructed in urban areas. In these regions, ground conditions are often weak. For this reason, conventional tunneling needs additional measures to ensure stable conditions in the working area during construction. Often used measures are face bolts, spiles, pipe umbrellas, pipe roofs and jet-grouted columns. The application of these systems increases the stability and decreases the construction-induced deformations. A Pipe Umbrella support consists of pipes, which are installed from the actual face to the front. Typically, the pipes are 12.0 m or 15.0 m long and arranged at the outer shape of the tunnel. The outer diameter of the pipes ranges from 70 mm to 200 mm. This support system is primarily working ahead of the primary lining so its influence on stability conditions and deformations is difficult to observe. The application of a horizontal inclinometer chain allows measuring deformations of installed pipes so that the results of the state-of-the-art geodetic surveys can be complemented with the in-situ data measured ahead of the face. The data can be used to control and optimize the ongoing construction process and to detect any new phenomena. Two construction-relevant issues that were detected with this measurement technique are discussed in the following. These are the influences of the installation method on stability conditions and deformations as well as the used pipe type. 2. INCLINOMETER MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

Geodetic observations at the tunnel level only survey deformations in the already supported section. Because Pipe Umbrella systems influence the ground support interaction mainly ahead of this section, horizontal inclinometers were utilized to monitor the settlements of the Pipe Umbrella roof pipes. The used instrumentation consists of 10 horizontal inclinometer links. Each of these links is 2 m long and

Volkmann G.M. & Schubert W. 2008. Tender Document Specifications for Pipe Umbrella installation methods. In Proc. of the 34th ITA-AITES World Tunneling Congress, Agra, India, 22-24 September 2008, pp. 285-293

Figure 1: The measured time - settlement line shows the influence of each construction step on the settlements in the crown (1). connected to the next one. Like this, a continuous horizontal inclinometer chain monitors the changes in inclination in an up to 20 m long section ahead of the face. The instrumentation is connected to a data acquisition system, which stores the measured data in pre-defined time intervals. The data acquisition system can either be situated in the tunnel or outside in an office. Evaluations presented in this publication are based on data stored in minute intervals so that the development of deformations can be observed in detail. This instrumentation records the full path of settlements (including pre-settlements) and it is possible to analyze, control and optimize the tunnel construction process depending on project requirements with adequate evaluations (1). The quality of the evaluated data is shown exemplarily in figure 1. It shows the development of settlements near the face due to one excavation round. This round consists of 5 excavation steps and the installation of different support components for the primary lining. The increase of settlements can be seen during excavation phases as well as the characteristic timedependent stabilization process afterwards. The installation of the steel arch and the primary shotcrete layer did not interrupt this stabilization process after excavating phase 3 but the outstanding point in this diagram is the significant settlement increase during the installation of radial bolts and micropiles. The installation of these two support systems caused 3 - 4 mm of additional settlement. Compared to this value the 16 mm for the entire excavation round looks comparatively small. Weak ground is therefore sensitive on the dynamic loading of drilling and the stress transfer induced by drilling boreholes.

3.

INSTALLATION METHODS

Two methods are available for installing Pipe Umbrellas. These are called the Pre-Drilling method and the Cased-Drilling method (2). Their characteristics are explained in the following paragraphs. 3.1 Pre-Drilling Method

The Pre-Drilling Method is characterized by a two-step installation procedure for each pipe. At first, a hole is drilled and then in a second step the pipe is pushed into the pre-drilled hole. Sub-contractors with specialized drilling machines and extra crews are usually required to install pipes with a Pre-Drilling method. These specialized machines have one long boom and the hole is drilled in one piece after rigging the boom (figure 2). The cooling of the drill bit and the flushing can be performed with water or air. The flushing medium is moved to the front inside the drill rod and removes the cuttings in the annulus between the drill rod and the borehole walls. After finishing the drilling process, the drill bit is repeatedly moved forward and backwards to clean and reshape the drill hole, if necessary. After replacing the drill rod, a one-piece pipe is placed into the borehole. Usually, a few boreholes are prepared before the pipes are placed into the holes. That way less time is consumed for replacing the drill rod.

Volkmann G.M. & Schubert W. 2008. Tender Document Specifications for Pipe Umbrella installation methods. In Proc. of the 34th ITA-AITES World Tunneling Congress, Agra, India, 22-24 September 2008, pp. 285-293

Figure 2: Installation of Pipe Umbrella support by different machines. The Pre-drilling method uses a special machine (left side) while conventional drill jumbos install the pipes by using the Cased-Drilling method (right side)

3.2

Cased-Drilling Method

The Cased-Drilling Method is characterized by using only one-step for the installation. By using this method, the pipe follows directly behind the drill bit during drilling and stays in place after completing the drilling process. The crews can install this system by using conventional drill jumbos. Drill jumbos in Sequential Excavation Tunneling (SEM) have usually 2 booms that can be used parallel during installation (figure 2). This fact decreases the time necessary for the installation. John & Mattle (3) mention that one Pipe Umbrella installation (600 m of pipes) can be finished in a 24-hours shift. This time includes the grouting process. A Pipe Umbrella support is longer than a boom so the drilling process is interrupted typically every 3 meters. The drilling process starts again after connecting an extension pipe and drill rod. Mostly water is applied as flushing and cooling media, respectively. The water moves through the drill rod to the front and removes drill cuttings from the borehole inside the casing pipe. When the drilling process for the last pipe piece is finished, the installation is completed by removing the drill-rod pieces. 3.3 Grouting Process

The grouting process for the Pipe Umbrella support starts after installing the pipes. The grout is used to fill the pipe, the annular gap between the pipe and the surrounding ground, and open pores (soil) or joints (rock) surrounding the bore hole. In general, the grout consists of a water-cement suspension with a water-cement ratio ranging from 0.45 to 0.80. This suspension is usually pumped into the pipes at a low pressure level (< 10 bar). For quality-control reasons the grout volume as well as the grout pressure is generally monitored during the entire grouting process. The grout causes different effects: The grout inside the pipes increases the flexural strength and ensures that the shape of the cross section stays un-deformed when the pipes are loaded during construction. The grout in a remaining annular gap between pipe and ground increases the load transmission between ground and support during construction. Whenever grout can penetrate the surrounding ground, its strength and stiffness properties are positively influenced as soon as the grout hardens.

Volkmann G.M. & Schubert W. 2008. Tender Document Specifications for Pipe Umbrella installation methods. In Proc. of the 34th ITA-AITES World Tunneling Congress, Agra, India, 22-24 September 2008, pp. 285-293

3.4

On-site Measurements

Boreholes for Pipe Umbrellas start at the face and are orientated to the front. When this construction step causes deformations, the commonly performed 3-dimensional geodetic survey in tunnels does not monitor most of these deformations, which occur mainly around the boreholes ahead of the face. An additional measurement system, the above-explained inclinometer measurement system, allows recording deformations ahead of the face during pipe installation as well. The deformations are measured about 1.0 to 1.5 m above the boreholes with this instrumentation. Measurements were performed during pipe installations of both described installation methods. The Cased-Drilling method was monitored at the Birgl Tunnel (Austria) while the Pre-Drilling method was observed at the Trojane Tunnel (Slovenia). A comparison of the measured results is feasible because the tunnel size as well as the ground quality is similar. Results of these campaigns are shown in Figure 3. The displayed settlement values are settlements that were recorded for installing and grouting of one Pipe Umbrella support. Each line represents the result after one support installation. In the diagrams, the tunnel construction proceeds from the left to the right side. The measurements are shown relative to the face position so a positive chainage means ahead of the face while minus values are situated in the already excavated and supported tunnel section. The left diagram shows settlements monitored at the Birgl Tunnel, where the Cased-Drilling method was used for installing the pipes. The maximum value, measured during installation, is less than 10 mm and its position is near but ahead of the face. The characteristics of these lines are similar to those measured for an excavation step and in fact, the evaluation of the associated time settlement lines shows a small, still ongoing, and abating time-dependent settlement increase, which was mainly caused by the last excavation step. The right diagram presents a completely different picture. These are settlements recorded at the Trojane Tunnel during pipe installation with the Pre-Drilling method. The monitoring clearly shows that the settlements occur primarily ahead of the face. The amounts vary with distance to the face and do not show any logical distribution. These additional deformations are definitely caused by the drilling process because the increase in settlements happened only in periods of drilling. The associated time settlement lines can prove this. Four out of six monitored installations increased the settlements relatively small (< 15 mm) but the settlements measured for two installations increased the settlements ahead of the face up to nearly 40 mm in the monitored section. The monitoring of the following excavation rounds explained the cause for this increase. Wherever the settlements during drilling increased, the ground conditions got softer. 3.5 Numerical Simulation

A preceding study, which used simple analytical formulations, indicated that the stress redistribution caused by single boreholes (150 to 200 mm in diameter) nearly causes an overloading of the ground. The analytical formulation could not consider an interaction of adjacent holes so additional numerical simulations were performed with UDEC. The 2-dimensional calculation was performed using a 40 m wide and 40 m high model. The symmetric conditions were used so only half of the tunnel was calculated. The cover above the crown pipe was

Figure 3: The inclinometer measurements resulted in differing settlement amounts during installing Pipe Umbrellas. The measured settlement values for the Cased-Drilling method (left side) are in average clearly smaller than the settlement values for a Pre-Drilling method (right side).

Volkmann G.M. & Schubert W. 2008. Tender Document Specifications for Pipe Umbrella installation methods. In Proc. of the 34th ITA-AITES World Tunneling Congress, Agra, India, 22-24 September 2008, pp. 285-293

Figure 4. Resulting deformations induced by different installation methods calculated by UDEC. The un-deformed mesh on the left side deforms less with Cased-Drilling methods (centre) than with PreDrilling methods (right). Each plot is 30 cm x 30 cm and the displayed deformations are scaled to absolute values (4). set to 15 m and all together, a number of 15 boreholes (half side) was considered. The maximum length of the generated mesh was defined to be smaller than 5 mm near the boreholes and in the areas that developed plastic zones during calculating stability. The results of two exemplary calculations are shown in figure 4. The left picture in this figure presents a 300 mm x 300 mm sized detail of the model. It shows an un-deformed borehole, a pipe, and the annular gap between pipe and ground. Starting with the un-deformed mesh, two calculations were carried out until stability. The first one illustrates a Cased-Drilling method with a pipe in the borehole (centre) and the second one the Pre-Drilling method without the pipe (right). The stability calculation for the Cased-Drilling case resulted in deformations, which closed the annulus between pipe and ground nearly over the entire perimeter. However, as soon as the ground touches the pipe, the pipe supports the ground so no further deformations occur. In the second case the borehole walls can deform unhampered and the borehole closes due to the induced stress transfer. In fact, the calculated settlements had the same magnitude as the measured settlements at the Trojane Tunnel for the same construction process. The remaining hole is definitely smaller than a pipe so the hole must be reshaped before the pipe can be installed. Again, this process induces stress redistribution and deformations respectively. This amount of deformation is expected to be smaller than the initial one but should not be neglected. Summarizing, this simple 2-dimensional simulation proves that the deformations induced by removing ground from boreholes can cause considerable settlement amounts in weak ground. 3.6 Consequences / Influence on Stability Conditions

The stability of the unsupported span is an important issue for using a Pipe Umbrella method as an additional pre-support system. For this reason, a proper installation of all pipes is necessary because the Pipe Umbrella protects the workers during a later construction stage from falling ground (like an umbrella that protects people from getting wet in the rain). The characteristics of a Cased-Drilling method cause a shear force between the pipe and the ground during installation so the machine that is chosen for installation must have enough power to overcome the created retaining force. State-of-the-art drill rigs do usually have enough power so this should only be a problem in special cases. The closure of the borehole when using a Pre-Drilling method can create a serious problem when it is not detected or detected too late. Once the borehole is smaller than the pipe, the strongest machine cannot push a pipe into the borehole because the pipe fails first by buckling (Figure 5). Additionally, time-consuming measures must be applied in the section where the pipe could not be installed to ensure the safety of the workers. Two new pipes need to be installed adjacent to the failed one or additional spiles can be installed later during construction. The ground that is additionally supported by a Pipe Umbrella is normally sensitive on water. The flushing removes the drill cuttings between drill rods and ground when using a Pre-Drilling method so the ground properties can be influenced negatively by water flushing over the entire length of the borehole. This negative influence may cause instabilities at the face region during subsequent

Volkmann G.M. & Schubert W. 2008. Tender Document Specifications for Pipe Umbrella installation methods. In Proc. of the 34th ITA-AITES World Tunneling Congress, Agra, India, 22-24 September 2008, pp. 285-293

Figure 5: One Pipe Umbrella pipe that could not be installed properly with a Pre-Drilling method. construction steps. For this reason, an air flushing should be preferred as soon as the ground is sensitive on water influence. When using a Cased-Drilling method, the negative influence of water on the ground properties is limited to a short section in the area of the drill bit, because, as mentioned above, the flushing is performed inside the casing pipe. 3.7 Influence on Subsidence

Pipe Umbrella systems are not only installed for stability reasons but also to decrease the settlements induced by the construction. The decrease in settlements cannot be numbered clearly but when the installation of a support system increases the settlements up to 40 mm the advantage of decreasing settlements abates or disappears. On-site measurements as well as numerical simulations show that this effect does not appear when a pipe supports the borehole immediately behind the drill bit. Hence, a Cased-Drilling system should be preferred where subsidence is of relevance. Particularly, when a stability and deformation check raises suspicion for conditions similar to the above described. The way of transporting drill cuttings may also increase subsidence when using a Pre-Drilling method because of the erosion effects in a borehole. This erosion may increase the borehole in diameter. Consequently, the deformations due to the boreholes increase as well. 4. PIPE UMBRELLA PIPES

Pipes used for a Pipe Umbrella support system do not only have a certain outer diameter and wall thickness but also the pipes do have some additional features, which may influence the strength and stiffness parameters of the installed support. For this reason, bending tests were performed with grouted and un-grouted steel pipe samples. Figure 6 shows an outline of the dimensions of the testing apparatus. The relative displacement of three measurement points measures the samples deflection. This value was used as a feedback command controlling the test procedure. Back calculations from the on-site data showed that the pipes are generally loaded in the elastic range. However, higher loads leading to a failure of the pipes cannot be excluded. Thus, the tests focus was set to the elastic range. Nevertheless, the samples were loaded until failure or a significant drop in resistance occurred. 4.1 The Influence of Grout

A first test series had the goal to investigate the influence of grout on the pipes flexural strength. The water-cement ratio was decided to be 0.45 for all tests. 5 different sample types were tested: empty pipes, pipes 100% filled with grout (7 days and 28 days hardened), pipes filled 75% with grout, and pipes filled 75% with grout and the remaining volume filled with sand. The last sample type replicates

Volkmann G.M. & Schubert W. 2008. Tender Document Specifications for Pipe Umbrella installation methods. In Proc. of the 34th ITA-AITES World Tunneling Congress, Agra, India, 22-24 September 2008, pp. 285-293

Figure 6. Bending test arrangement the case when drill cuttings are not totally flushed out of the pipe during installation. Therefore, the bottom of the horizontal pipe is filled with drill cuttings while the remaining area is filled with grout. The last but one sample type represents a non-perfect grouting. Results of this test series showed that the flexural strength of all sample types did not vary much. The only mentionable difference was observed at empty pipes. The shape of the cross section slowly changed at higher loading levels. This ovalization could only be seen at greater outer diameters (114.3 mm & 139.7 mm) and resulted in a 15% decrease of flexural strength. For this reason, the Pipe Umbrella pipes should be fully grouted before the excavation starts. This ensures that the cross section of pipes stays un-deformed and buckling effects cannot decrease the theoretical strength. 4.2 The Influence of Injection Holes

The pipes for the Pipe Umbrella support are usually provided with injection holes for grouting. This enables the grout to fill the annular gap between pipe and ground. Grout can also infiltrate open joints or pores in the ground around the borehole. The injection holes reduce the moment of inertia so this

Figure 7. Bending test results of a grouted regular pipe and samples with injection holes

Volkmann G.M. & Schubert W. 2008. Tender Document Specifications for Pipe Umbrella installation methods. In Proc. of the 34th ITA-AITES World Tunneling Congress, Agra, India, 22-24 September 2008, pp. 285-293

Figure 8. Bending test results of a grouted regular pipe and different connection types feature may reduce the strength and stiffness properties of grouted pipes. For this reason, fully grouted pipes (7 days hardened) with injection holes in the middle of the sample were tested in a second test series. The test results of this series are shown in figure 7. The solid line presents the test result of a regular, grouted pipe (114.3 mm x 6.3 mm) while the dashed and chain dotted line show the test results of samples with injection holes. As can be seen in the pictures of figure 8 the injection holes were tested at neutral axis as well as outer fiber position, but no significant difference could be monitored. Therefore, the injection holes do not influence the flexural strength at construction relevant loadings. 4.3 The Influence of Connections

Typically, Pre-Drilling methods install a one-piece pipe so this case is only important for Cased-Drilling methods. At this method, 3 m long pipe pieces are connected to one another by thread connections during installation. The moment of inertia is reduced in the threaded section as well, so the third test series bended grouted samples with different connection types in the middle. This test series clearly identified the usually used thread connection as the weakest link in a Pipe Umbrella support. The picture on the right side in figure 9 shows the thread connection after failure. The flexural strength as well as the load of failure is lower than those of regular pipes so the strength and stiffness used for the design must be limited to the values of the thread connection for safety reasons. This fact reduces the performance of Pipe Umbrella pipes, which leads to the development of a new pipe connection type, the so-called Threaded Nipple Coupling. As can be seen in figure 8 the sample with this connection type resolves the problem by showing a comparable flexural strength as regular pipes. Additionally, the load of failure was always higher for the Threaded Nipple Couplings than for regular pipes during testing. Therefore, the Threaded Nipple Couplings compensate the weakness of pipe connections and increase the effectiveness of piecewise installed Pipe Umbrella pipes to the level of regular pipes.

Volkmann G.M. & Schubert W. 2008. Tender Document Specifications for Pipe Umbrella installation methods. In Proc. of the 34th ITA-AITES World Tunneling Congress, Agra, India, 22-24 September 2008, pp. 285-293

5.

CONCLUSION

Pipe Umbrella systems are effectively used to increase the stability in the working area and to reduce the construction induced settlements in weak ground conditions. A longitudinal transfer of loads achieves these effects. Each pipe transfers the loads from the supported areas to the less critical areas, which are used as abutments. At weak ground conditions, even boreholes for bolts or pipes may be unstable and drilling those increases the overall induced deformations related to construction. Due to this fact, the definition of the installation method may get an important point. Particularly in urban areas, subsidence often rules the design. A Cased-Drilling method should therefore be preferred at weak ground conditions because it is less susceptible to create additional deformations during installation. Cased-Drilling methods are installed by using conventional drill rigs so each Pipe Umbrella pipe is installed piecewise. When the pipe is loaded during construction, the usually used thread connections are a weak link in the system. This leads to an un-effective utilization of the regular pipe sections. This can be countered by changing to Threaded Nipple Couplings, which have the same flexural strength as regular pipes. The proper choice of installation method and pipe type must agree with the project requirements. A Cased-Drilling method with Threaded Nipple Couplings is recommended if the project requirements include settlement limitations in strain-sensitive ground. This choice combines the advantages of different methods during installation and construction. References (1) Volkmann, G.M., & W. Schubert. 2005. The Use of Horizontal Inclinometers for the Optimization of the Rock Mass Support Interaction. In Proc. of the 31st ITA-AITES World Tunneling Congress, Underground Space Use: Analysis of the Past and Lessons for the Future, 7-12 May 2005, Istanbul, Turkey; page 967-972; eds. Y. Erdem & T. Solak; A.A. Balkema Publishers, London, ISBN 04 1537 452 9 Volkmann, G. 2004. A Contribution to the Effect and Behavior of Pipe Roof Supports. In Proc. of rd EUROCK 2004 & 53 Geomechanics Colloquium. Ed. Schubert, 2004 VGE, ISBN 3-7739-5995-8 John, M. & B. Mattle 2002. Design of Tube Umbrellas. Tunel, 11. Ronk, . 3/2002. Magazine of the Czech Tunnelling Committee and Slovak Tunnelling Association. Volkmann, G.M., & W. Schubert. 2006. Optimization of Excavation and Support in Pipe Roof Supported Tunnel Sections. In Proceedings of the 32nd ITA-AITES World Tunneling Congress, Safety in the Underground Space, eds. In-Mo Lee, Chungsik Yoo & Kwang-Ho You, April 2227 2006, Seoul, Republic of Korea, ISSN 0886-7798, Elsevier Ltd.

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Volkmann G.M. & Schubert W. 2008. Tender Document Specifications for Pipe Umbrella installation methods. In Proc. of the 34th ITA-AITES World Tunneling Congress, Agra, India, 22-24 September 2008, pp. 285-293

BIOGRAPHICAL DATA

In 2001, Mr. Volkmann graduated in Civil Engineering at Graz University of Technology. As Researcher and Lecturer at the Institute for Rock Mechanics and Tunneling, he started his PhD on Pipe Umbrella Support Systems. Since 2005, he also works for ALWAG Company, a subsidiary of DYWIDAG-Systems International. At ALWAG, he is also responsible for research and development for the AT - Umbrella Systems. The still ongoing research resulted in more than 10 international publications until now.

CERTIFICATE The author certifies that the paper titled Tender Document Specifications for Pipe Umbrella Installation Methods and submitted for consideration for WTC 2008 on July 11, 2008, to be held in from 22-24 September 2008 at Agra in original and has not been published or presented at any other forum. ....................... Signature Place: Graz, Austria Dated: July 11, 2008