The Future of Civil and Mining Tunnelling and Underground Space in Australia

A.S. Day1, A.C. Robertson2

1 2

Thiess Pty Ltd, Brisbane, Australia Tennent, Isokangas Pty Ltd, Consulting Mining Engineers, Brisbane, Australia

ABSTRACT Australian tunnelling has come of age since the early 1990s. Civil tunnelling projects involving in excess of 5 km each are not uncommon today in Australia. This paper looks at current projects in Australia, the local geology of our eastern capital cities and the method of tunnelling excavation. The key parameters determining the future of tunnelling and underground space in Australia are discussed. 1. INTRODUCTION

Underground construction in Australia has surged over the past decade, in particular projects involving inner city road and rail infrastructure. By 2004, tunnel construction in the nations capital cities will be proceeding at unprecedented rates. Civil tunnelling and tunnelling associated with metalliferous mining in Australia accounts for an annual tunnelling advance of approximately 625 km for a population of approximately 20 million people. Approximately 4% of this (25 km/a) is civil tunnelling in our capital cities. Because of the large annual tunnelling advance, by world standards, Australia has considerable expertise in tunnelling in a large variety of ground conditions. This paper examines the current status of tunnelling and underground space in Australia and predicts future technology and urban design developments which will bring about increased use of tunnelling and underground space in our cities. Major tunnel projects over the last decade such as the Melbourne City Link in Victoria, the Crafers Highway Tunnel in South Australia, the Graham Farmer Freeway Tunnel in Western Australia and the South East Transit Busways tunnels in Brisbane are examples of the steady increase in tunnelling activity across Australia. However it is in Sydney, Australias largest city with a population around 4 million, that the majority of very large tunnel projects have been undertaken since the Sydney Harbour tunnel was opened back in 1992. Furthermore, recent advances in tunnelling equipment, in particular the development of large roadheaders which can easily cut the 30-50 MPa Hawkesbury sandstone as well as the trend toward unlined tunnels, permanently supported only by rockbolts and shotcrete, has resulted in cost improvements and greater certainty of delivery for these projects. Offsetting that has been ever increasing air quality requirements for road tunnels, both within the tunnels and also in the surrounding local environments. A number of these projects are related to the Sydney Orbital Road network being managed by the NSW Road and Traffic Authority (RTA). When complete the motorway will form a ring-road around the city as well as connecting the metropolitan region to the state road network (refer Figure 1).

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2.

THE GEOLOGY OF OUR EASTERN CAPITAL CITIES

2.1 Sydney Sydneys Hawkesbury sandstone is a very uniform and homogeneous rock. It is an ideal tunnelling medium which is one reason why tunnels continue to be built at an increasing rate in the city. Greg McNally (2000) in his paper entitled Sandstone and the Sydney Environment says that Sydney is often referred to as The Sandstone City as it is a city that has been founded and excavated in sandstone, partly built with sandstone materials and set in a sandstone-dominated landscape. The sandstone is an ideal material for excavation as it stable enough to stand in near-vertical excavations yet mostly weak enough to be excavated without blasting. Crushed sandstone was the dominant source of aggregate for Sydney concrete prior to the 1940s.The most prominent formation is the Hawkesbury Sandstone, a Triassic sandstone which is of moderate strength with a dry uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) generally in the range 20-40 MPa. The strength decreases with water content, the wet UCS being 30 - 60% of the dry values. The Hawkesbury Sandstone is homogeneous and durable but it does contain clays and is also highly abrasive. In addition, there are the dykes which are generally weak in strength due to weathering and trend generally WNW-ESE. Other Sydney rock types include the Ashfield and Bringelly shales. According to McNally (2000), the Sydney sandstone is singularly well suited to underground excavations for the following reasons: It is weak enough to be easily excavated by modern machinery yet strong enough to require minimal artificial support (rockbolts, shotcrete, arches). It is horizontal and thickly bedded (creating a strong roof beam), relatively undeformed (few faults) and relatively predictable in its geology and geomechanical properties. Sandstone joints are generally wider spaced than bedding planes and are sub vertical. These joints (generally trending NNE-SSW and ESE-WNW) tend to occur in orthogonal sets, one of which is usually more persistent than the other.

2.2 Brisbane The city of Brisbane is located on a variety of rock types and is well described by Willmot and Stevens (1992). The rock types include the Neranleigh Fernvale beds, the Brisbane Tuff (prominent at Kangaroo Point on the Brisbane River), the Woogaroo Subgroup, the Enoggera Granite and other intrusions. The Bunya Phyllites underlie the western suburbs of Brisbane, parts of New Farm and Hamilton and form a belt through Annerley and Carina to the Gold Coast. They are hard, chiefly metasedimentary rocks, now folded and steeply inclined and consist of argillites, greywackes, quartzites and greenstones. The Bunya Phyllites are common in the City centre and are well-foliated with banded layers of mica and quartz. Some of the rocks in the Brisbane landscape make excellent aggregates, fill material and even dimension stone. Unlike Sydney, prediction of rock types for a tunnel route is more difficult due to the variability of the geology and weathering. Generally speaking, the high areas are the more resilient rocks and these provide the best opportunities for underground space development. 2.3 Melbourne Ground conditions for tunnelling are generally fairly poor. Most of the recent rail and road tunnels have been excavated in the Silurian Melbourne Mudstone. This geological unit is folded and sheared, with bedding being typically steep. It is also quite deeply weathered, closely jointed and frequently intruded by dykes creating greater geotechnical challenges than the Hawkesbury sandstone. The paleovalley system in the Silurian rocks contains gravel aquifers overlain by one of the most compressible geological units in Australia, the Coode Island Silt. This is actually a normally

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consolidated clay deposit. The complex Melbourne geology generally makes tunnelling a much more difficult process than in Sydney. 3. 3.1 RECENTLY COMPLETED TUNNELS The Eastern Distributor, Sydney, NSW

The A$700 M toll road tunnel constructed by Leighton Contractors through the inner city opened in December 1999. A combination of driven and cut and cover tunnels, the completed 4 km link now allows a very quick trip across town to the airport. The driven tunnel features a unique "double-deck" design within a single large excavation with a precast concrete deck separating the upper northbound tunnel from the southbound tunnel running below.

Figure 1 Sydneys Regional Orbital Strategy

3.2 M5 East Freeway, Sydney, NSW After the Eastern Distributor, the M5 East Freeway was the next section of Sydney's orbital road network. The 10 km long A$794M freeway in south west Sydney was constructed by Baulderstone Hornibrook for the RTA and opened December 2001. The project included a 4 km section of twin two lane driven tunnels which, it is now claimed, are Australias longest road tunnels. There was considerable public debate regarding location of the vent stack and surrounding air quality standards. Since opening there have also been some on-going issues with visible haze within the long tunnels.

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3.3 Northside Storage Tunnel, Sydney, NSW The Northside Storage Tunnel is a remarkable engineering project undertaken to prevent untreated sewage from overflowing into Sydney Harbour during heavy rains. It involved the construction of a 15.8 km tunnel system of 500 ML capacity some 40-100 m below sea level to store the overflow during peaks for later release as treated sewage. The project was carried out as a relationship contracting alliance between Sydney Water Corporation, Transfield, Montgomery Watson and Connell Wagner. Commencing in 1998, the project aimed to be complete for the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and had a final cost of around A$450M. Four hard rock tunnel boring machines (TBMs) with diameters from 3.8 m up to 6.5 m were used for the tunnels on the northside of Sydney Harbour. 3.4 Airport Link, Sydney, NSW Opened shortly before the Sydney Olympics in 2000, the Airport Link provided a new 10 km underground railway link between the airport and the city. Constructed under a build, own, operate & transfer (BOOT) contract by a Transfield Bouygues JV, the A$650M tunnel included a 6 km section through mixed sandy soil which was excavated using a 10.7 m diameter Herrenknecht soft ground Mixshield tunnelling machine. 3.5 Melbourne City Link, Victoria In 1996 the Victorian government awarded a build, own, operate and transfer BOOT contract to Transurban CityLink Ltd for the Melbourne City Link Project. The A$2 billion project completed a missing link between two existing major freeways in the Melbourne road network. Design and construction was undertaken by a Transfield-Obayashi JV and included two major tunnels, the 1.6 km Domain tunnel and the longer 3.4 km Burnley tunnel. The tunnels passed beneath the Yarra River through a range of geology including Silurian Mudstone as well as some saturated gravels. The three lane tunnels constructed mostly by roadheaders opened in 2000 after problems were encountered in the Burnley tunnel which resulted in the floor lifting due to water pressures. 3.6 Other Tunnels All the above mentioned projects are in the major project category however many other smaller but equally challenging underground projects have been carried out recently including the S1 Main Sewer Tunnel in Brisbane, the TransGrid Cable Tunnels in Sydney and the Perth Main Sewer Replacement in WA. All of these tunnels were constructed using TBMs or roadheaders. 4. CURRENT TUNNELS

4.1 Parramatta Rail Link, Sydney, NSW The inner cities in Sydney and Melbourne are both serviced by underground rail networks however, over recent years; the level of investment in rail tunnels in Australia has by no means matched that for road tunnels. One exception was the recent decision by the New South Wales government to construct a new rail link between Chatswood and Parramatta in the northern suburbs of Sydney, known as the Parramatta Rail Link which is shown in Figure 2.

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Figure 2 Route of new Parramatta Rail Link In July 2002, the NSW state government awarded its largest ever contract to the Thiess Hochtief JV for the construction of the 12 km Epping to Chatswood tunnel section of the Parramatta Rail Link. The A$862M design and construct contract with the Department of Transport is now well advanced. Thiess Hochtief JV have engaged Alstom as major Mechanical and Electrical subcontractor and Parsons Brinckerhoff as leaders of the design team. The fixed price design and construct project involves 12 km of twin tunnels linking two existing surface lines between Epping and Chatswood as well as four new underground stations. Also included is the permanent way (track slab) which involves a mix of systems from standard fixings through to ballast mat and floating slab. Two 7.3 m diameter Robbins TBMs are being used for the tunnel drives. The first TBM commenced in September 2003 and the portal is shown in Figure 3. The 200 m long by 20 m wide station caverns are being excavated using 300 kW roadheaders.

Figure 3 Naming Ceremony for Parramatta Rail Link TBM (Note the unsupported vertical sandstone face) 4.2 Cross City Tunnel, Sydney, NSW The Cross City Tunnel is the most recent privately financed toll road tunnel contract awarded by the RTA in Sydney. The A$680M project involves construction of twin two-lane road tunnels to improve east/west travel across the Sydney central business district, running approximately 2 km under the city between Darling Harbour and Kings Cross. A long section of the tunnel is shown in Figure 4.

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Figure 4 Long Section of the Cross City Tunnel In February 2002, the NSW state government announced that the Cross City Motorway (CCM) consortium had been selected to finance, construct and operate the tunnel. CCM is led by the joint sponsors Deutsche Bank, Baulderstone Hornibrook and its parent Bilfinger Berger. Other consortium members taking equity in the tunnel are Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings (CKI) and DB Capital Partners. The construction is being undertaken by a Bilfinger Berger Baulderstone Hornibrook JV with tunnel design lead by CW-DC (a subsidiary of Connell Wagner). Work on site commenced in February 2003 with the first roadheader commencing in May 2003. The roadheader profile is shown in Figure 5. Excavation work is now well underway, with all six 300 kW roadheaders plus a smaller machine for the cross passages expected to be commissioned before the end of 2003. Although the twin east west tunnels are 2.1 km long, the overall complexity means that the road headers will actually have to cut their way through 8.5 km of tunnelling before the job is complete. This includes an additional ventilation tunnel to transport exhaust air from near the eastern portal back to the single stack at the western end.

Figure 5 - Roadheader excavating the Cross City Tunnel It is claimed that the tunnel will remove 90,000 vehicles a day from the city streets and cut the travel time across the city from 20 minutes to 2 minutes. It will be Sydneys first fully electronically tolled motorway with a toll of A$2.50 each way.

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5.

FUTURE TUNNELS

5.1 Lane Cove Tunnel, Sydney, NSW The Lane Cove Tunnel (LCT) section is the final missing link in Sydneys Orbital Road loop. Late in 2003 the NSW government announced that the LCT Consortium consisting of Thiess, John Holland and ABN-AMRO had been awarded single preferred status for the finance, design, construction, operation and maintenance of the tunnel for the 33 year concession period. The A$1.1 billion construction contract includes twin 3.4 km long two-lane tunnels linking the M2 Motorway and the Gore Hill Freeway on Sydneys northside. Major ventilation structures are connected by separate ventilation tunnels at each end. Excavation of the unlined tunnels will again be undertaken by a large fleet of roadheaders through sandstone and shale. The issue of spoil disposal is becoming a major challenge with so many tunnels running concurrently in the city and the government setting strict guidelines for sustainable re-use of the spoil (broken rock). Utilising fully electronic tolling, the tunnel will eliminate a major bottleneck for traffic immediately north of the city and is expected to be operational in early 2007. 5.2 Mitcham to Frankston Freeway, Melbourne, Victoria The Victorian Department of Infrastructure called tenders in late 2003 for a new 40 km freeway between Mitcham and Frankston in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne. The A$1.8 billion privately financed toll road will include a 1.5 km section of twin tunnels with an expected value in excess of A$400 million. The driven tunnel solution is required primarily for environmental reasons, to protect the Mullum Mullum Creek and the high quality Chaim Court and Hillcrest bushlands. The prevailing geology is Melbourne (Silurian) mudstone which is a combination of siltstone and fine grained sandstone. Typically the rock has a compressive strength of around 40-60 MPa however harder bands of up to 150 MPa will test even the most powerful roadheaders, should this equipment be employed. A contract award is anticipated in the second half of 2004 with completion of the entire freeway anticipated in 2008. 5.3 South West Metropolitan Rail Tunnel, Perth, Western Australia The city of Perth located in Western Australia is founded mainly on sand with a high water table and layers of peat, making tunnelling conditions fairly challenging. Nevertheless a new tunnel is planned to commence in early 2004 as part of the state governments new A$1.4B South West Metropolitan Rail project which will link Perth to Mandurah, some 72 km to the south. In September 2003, tenders closed for an underground section of the line where it enters the centre of Perth. This component includes cut and cover approach ramps as well as a 450 m long section of twin 6 m diameter running tunnels beneath William Street, linking two new underground stations. A soft ground tunnelling machine is expected to be mobilised for the segmentally lined tunnel which is due for completion in mid 2006. 5.4 North-South Bypass Tunnel, Brisbane, Queensland The city of Brisbane in Queensland is situated on the Brisbane River with a number of bridges linking the road network across the river. As a solution to worsening traffic congestion in the city, it was recognised that extra river crossings were required.

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With little remaining space along the river banks and community resistance toward more bridges, it was only a matter of time before a tunnel under the river was proposed. In 2002, a plan for a new North-South Bypass Tunnel was put forward by the Brisbane City Council with an estimated cost around A$900M. The proposed 4.7 km bypass tunnel will cross deep beneath the Brisbane River near the Story Bridge, connecting main roads to the north and south of the river, allowing traffic to avoid the CBD. In September 2003, the state government approved the tolling concept allowing the council to move to the feasibility phase of the project which will include preliminary engineering, impact assessment and preparation of the business case. It is anticipated that the twin tunnels will be excavated using two 12 m diameter hard rock TBMs. Most of the tunnel length will be in Brisbane Tuff and Neranleigh Fernvale metasediments however the close proximity of softer, wetter material near the river will probably necessitate a segmentally lined closed shield arrangement. Construction will take around four years and is expected to commence in 2006. 6. THE FUTURE The development of the infrastructure of our major capital cities will require increased tunnelling in the future. In these cities, as surface ring road systems are reaching their peak capacity, they are being paralleled by underground tunnel systems. In Brisbane, an underground rail system is being proposed to reach suburbs currently not serviced by rail and to service the inner CBD area better. Underground space commercial development is the next area of development that needs assessing by the urban planners and this has application in all of the capital cities in Australia. Sydney and Brisbane are ideally suited to this type of development because of their good ground conditions and it is necessary that planning allows for future underground space developments. Australia should sustain an annual tunnel advance, for civil purposes, of approximately 20 km/a from 2006 onwards. 7. CONCLUSION Australia is a world leader in underground tunnelling technology and application of tunnelling techniques. City planners have identified the benefits of tunnels in the design of infrastructure for our expanding cities. These benefits include improved amenity for urban dwellers, improved commuter travel times and reduced impact on the city landscape. The quality of air emitted from exhaust stacks on long tunnels remains the greatest community concern in regards to tunnel projects and this needs to be addressed in tunnel design. Underground space commercial development is an untapped use of tunnels in Australia which will advance over the next decade. More information on tunnels in Australia can be found at the AUCTA website www.aucta.com.au REFERENCES McNally, G., 2000, Sandstone and the Sydney Environment. Noack, C., 2003.Tunnelling and Underground Construction in Brisbane (unpublished as at October 2003). Willmot, W., and Stevens, N., 1992. Rocks and Landscapes of Brisbane and Ipswich. Geological Society of Australia, Queensland Division.

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