Future starts in the Past

Innovations for Large Infrastructure

Tunnelling Projects

Dr. Gustav Bracher

Sika Services AG (Switzerland)
Breakthrough at Gotthard Rail Tunnel

Length:
15 km
Construction
Time:
1880 9 years
Gotthard railway tunnel (CH)
Breakthrough at Gotthard Base Tunnel
130 Years of Tunnelling Experience
Length:
2x57 km
Construction
Time:
21 years

2010
Gotthard Basetunnel (CH)
Gotthard rail tunnel (CH)

Louis Favre
1826-1879
Tunnelling

Tunnel construction is based on experience

Tunnelling is a conservative industry
Every tunnelling project is a prototype
Continuous progress for mechanisation processes to create
repetitive working cycles (TBM, pre-cast concrete tunnel
segments)
Increasing volume of paperwork (specifications,
prequalifications, design, contracts and warranties)
Key issue: Increasing durability (water impermeability)
demands versus lower costs
Changes in Tunnelling Technology
Changes in Tunnelling Technology
Durability Design:
From the tunnel to the microscope
 Innovation
Improvement
Difficulties to promote new ideas
(processes) in contrast to improvements
Innovation: The process of translating
an idea or invention into a good service
that creates acceptance and value or for
which customer will pay.
New process (Innovation) Improvement
Innovation
Process
Problems
Ideas
Testing
Research projects
Promotion (Owner, designer, contractor)
First project
Experience
Specifications
Acceptance
Multiplication
Competition
State-of-the-Art
 Innovation
Barriers
Missing references
Technical and financial limitations
Missing risk analysis
Owner (client), designer, contractor, supplier
Conflict of specifications
Conflict of interests
Monopoly market situation
Infrastucture projects between two different countries
Optimization between Durability design and total costs of
the project
Shotcrete
Process

Innovation
 Shotcrete
Process

Innovation

Dry process Wet process

Shotcrete
Process
Shotcrete
Process

Rock support L1 Rock support L2

Hard rock TBM Invert pumped concrete lining

Sprayed Concrete
on Membranes
 From Alkaline
to Alkali-free
Accelerator
Innovation
Most advanced Innovation process in accelerator technology
Case history:
Shinkansen High Speed Rail (Maglev) from Tokyo to Nagoya (290km, speed 500km/h)
Japan Rail specfications: 10min: 3MPa, 3h: 4MPa, 1d: 15MPa, 28d: 36MPa
European specifications: 6min: 0.2MPa, 1h: 0.5MPa, 3h: 1MPa, 1d: 15MPa, 28d: 35MPa
Shotcrete testing in Japan
Overhead spraying
Output capacity: 12m3/h,
2 minutes in an area of 2m2,
0.4m3, 20cm, weight of 900kg
J3
J2
J1
Production of pre-
cast concrete tunnel
segments

Marmaray Project (TR)

Damages

Injections during
construction

Marmaray Project (TR)

Damages
From conventional to fibre-
reinforced pre-cast
concrete segments

Innovation

Missing design criteria (specifications)

Different qualities of fibres
Internal competition (high tensile strength steel
fibres, macro-fibres
 Metro Beijing (CN)

Tunnel Frjus (FR)

Huge market worldwide

Channel Tunnel Rail Link
(UK)
40km of TBM tunnelling
Success story for FRPCS

Concrete mix design: 310kg PC, 110kg PFA, 0.5% Superplasticiser, w/b = 0.33
30kg steel fibres 80/60 (1100MPa tensile strength)
Fibre Specifications
Metro Copenhagen (DK)
Circle Line
33km TBM tunnels with 4 TBMs and 17
underground stations
FRC 40/50 - 5.0c
Residual flexural strength at CMOD = 0.5 mm fR1k 5 N/mm2
Residual flexural strength at CMOD = 2.5 mm fR3k 5 N/mm2
Reference value for the rigid-plastic model fFtuk 1.67 N/mm2
Partial factor for concrete gc 1.4
Strain material behaviour class c (rigid-plastic)
Design value of the tensile rigid-plastic strength f fFTud 1.19 N/mm2
Concrete characteristic compressive strength fck 40 N/mm2
Steel Fibers
Performance Class (L/D)>80
Tensile strength >1500MPa (nominal)
Youngs Modulus = 210.000MPa
Metro Copenhagen (DK)
Circle Line with 33km of
TBM tunnels

Anode for Cathodic

Protection
 Macro Fibre
Innovation Process ? Reinforcement
Macro Fibre
Reinforcement
Key Parameters
Type of segments: single- or double
shell, invert
Inner and outer diameter of the tunnel
Number of segments
Dimensions of segments
Not defined Fibres type: Length, aspect ratio,
tensile strength)
area
Time of de-moulding (vacuum?)
Way of stockage (horizontal, vertical)
Durability

Hybride Hybride
Steel Fibre Conventional Cage
Reinforcement Reinforcement
Micro-crack free concrete
for the production of pre-
cast concrete tunnel
segments

Concrete in aggressive
environment

Adler tunnel (CH)

Initiation: Swiss Federal Railway Administration

Conventional production process of segments for aggressive
environment, using a Coal Tar Epoxy coating
Basic idea: Coating of pre-cast
concrete segments after
demoulding
To get micro-crack free concrete
Curing and protective coating in
one single product
References:
Adler tunnel,1997 (CH)
Metro Singapore (SG)
Metro Caracas (VE)
Channel Tunnel Rail Link
(UK)
Belchen tunnel, 2015 (CH)

Innovation
Research project at
Taywood Engineering,
London (UK)

Detailed
investigation:
coated
versus
uncoated
segments
Microscopic
Analysis

Coated sample:
Suction effect to close pores at
the surface

Uncoated sample:
Pores promote micro-cracking
 Microscopic
Analysis
(Carbonation)

Uncoated sample Coated sample

 Curing
Protection
ECC repair mortar
Gasket glue

With one aquous Epoxy product

 New Idea
Goal: Increasing the durability of concrete segments in a very aggressive environment
(exposure XA3, cracks 0.15 mm, service life > 120 years, w/b 0.35)
Possible solutions for additional external protection:
Increase of concrete cover (Sacrificial layer)
Replacement of reinforcement by fibers plus sacrificial layer
External coatings
Membrane protection
 De tneles y
bicentenarios
19 y 20 de mayo 2010

Costruendo Futuro en Suiza

Innovacines
 Gotthard
Safety concept in the Gotthard Base Tunnel
Basetunnel
2 x 57km Railway tunnels
 Pre-qualification for
concrete works with
aggregates from the
project (access tunnels)

Cement and admixture supplier = 1 Team

Special demands:
Pumpability over long distances
Workability versus early strength development
Alkali Aggregate-Reaction, Sulfate resistance

Result:
Participation of 11 teams
59 concrete mixes, 34 approved mixes
65 sprayed concrete mixes, 27 approved mixes
Innovation Testing period up to 3 years
Only approved mixes could be used in the tunnel
 Excavation support
(sprayed concrete)

Waterproofing
membrane

Inner lining
pumped
concrete

Main Design
100 Years Durability Drainage gravel
Arch
drainage
Discharge water Ground water collecting pipe
collecting pipe
Invert of csat-in-place concrete
 Waterproofing Sytem AlpTransit
Prequalification:
1998 - 2001: Accelerated durability tests under different
climatic conditions at the Technical University of Materials
Science (EMPA)
2001-2002: Practical application in a testing gallery

2014: Report of 10 years testing

From
100 years to 200 years
Durability Design life

Results

Brenner Basetunnel (AT/IT)

64 km railway tunnel
Waterproofing and inner lining concrete: The Worm
Waterproofing using the Velcro system

Innovation
Mechanical
membrane
installation
in the
Gotthard
Basetunnel
Mechanical membrane
installation in the
Gotthard Basetunnel
Motivation 100% water impermeable
Motivation 100% water impermeability

All details are important

Finished tunnel section
Connecting Continental
Europe and Scandinavia

The project goal is to link Continental Europe and

Scandinavia with a fixed, close and direct connection
cutting down on both road and rail travel time
In 2008 a treaty was signed between Denmark and
Germany for the establishment of a fixed link across
the Femern Belt then ratified by both countries in
2009
The link will be owned by Denmark and financed by
Danish state-guaranteed loans raised by Femern A/S
in the international financial market. These loans will
be repaid by the users of the fixed link.
The project cost is estimated at 5.5 billion EUR and
planned recouped over 39 years based on the
preferred solution of an immersed tunnel rather than
a bridge
The project has been postponed for several times,
now assuming the end of works will be in 2026.
Sika has been working for this project for more than
10 years
Building the worlds longest
immersed tunnel

Total length: 17.6 km (will be 3 times longer

than todays longest, the Transbay Tube in
San Fransisco with 5.7 km)

The tunnel consists of a four-lane motorway

and a twin-track railway which run in separate
tubes (H=9m, W=42m)

Main scope of work

- Dredging the tunnel trench in seabed and
excavating 15.5 million cubic metres
- Construction of a tunnel element plant
in Rdbyhavn
- Production and immersion of elements, each
217 m long and weighing 70000tons
- Construction of portals
- Construction of railway and technical
installations
Materials & Execution
requirements
(Summary)
Specifications based on previous projects (Great Belt, Oeresund,
Marmaray) with DK concrete design

Concrete Constituents (for all suppliers):

Specific management plan
All suppliers fulfilling EN ISO 9001
All products CE marked
Traceability
100% traceability required downstream from concrete batches to
trucks and to inspection sections for construction
Upstream less traceability than 100% will be accepted, with the goal
of achieving >90%
All data to be implemented into one computer data base
Direct access for Main Contractor, Supervisor and Client
 Binder systems:
Pre-investmentfrom the Client

www.concreteexpertcentre.dk

The contract involved the design, production and testing of a range of concrete
types of interest to Femern including some concrete blocks with instrumentation
for monitoring of the initiation and progress of corrosion, establishing an
exposure site in Rdbyhavn harbour for long-term testing of concrete,
monitoring of the concrete at the exposure site.
An extensive testing program of the selected fifteen concrete types including
three SCCs was initiated comprising documentation of:
Workability, density, and air content
Initial setting time and bleeding
Strength development (compressive and split tensile)
Frost resistance and air void structure
Chloride ingress resistance
Microstructure (petrographic analysis).
Binder system
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
X A
X A
1 CEM I 42.5 SR LA
X A
2 CEM IIIB
X A 3 CEM I 52.5 R
X X A 4 FA (Fly Ash)
5 MS (Micro Silica Slurry
X X A
6 GGBS (Ground Granulated Blast
X X Furnace Slag)
X X A 7 W/C
8 Air
X X A
9 SCC
X X A X 10 Super Absorbant
X A
X None of the tested concrete mix designs met
X A X the project specifications from the client
X X A
X X X
 Conclusions
Innovation Process
Timber support
Dry Process
Alkaline
Manual installation
Conventional reinforcement
Conventional production
Conventional production
Innovation
shotcrete
wet process
Alkali-free accelerator
mechanical installation of membranes
Fibre reinforcement
Coating of segments
Protection with membranes
Is not a High Speed
Process
Gotthard Basetunnel
The longest railway tunnel
in the world
Opening 31 May 2016

Innovation

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