CE 439
Railway and Metro Tunnels
CE 439 subjects
History of railway and metro tunnels
Preliminary studies and design Considerations
Ground treatment
Loads on tunnels
Cut and cover / slurry wall method
Drill and blast method
Shields and tunnel boring machines
Observational method and NATM
Immersed tunnels
Metro systems
Tunnel safety
Final mark
Home assignment: 30%
Term test: 30%
Final examination: 40%
Characteristics
Tunnel = a subsurface passageway for passengers or
goods through obstacles.
Purpose of the tunnel may be rail, road or pedestrian
traffic, or to convey water, electric power, gas,
sewage etc. Traffic tunnels are approximately
horizontal, but possibliy built with a gradient for
drainage.
Metro: An underground urban transportation system,
self-contained, fully independent from road and other
rail traffic.
Light rail networks: (Stadtbahn, Metrotram) An urban
network with some underground sections and mostly
or fully independent from road traffic
Rough classification of methods
Deep excavation: An excavation process without
removing the overlying rock or soil
• Steps: excavating-remove muck-supporting-liningventilation-draining
• Drill & Blast, shield, TBM, hammer, roadheader, NATM....
Cut and cover: trenching to excavate and construct a
tunnel, and then backfilling earth over it.
Immersed tunnel: lowering prefabricated tunnel
elements into a dredged channel and joining them up
under water
• Concrete
• Steel
Terminology
Excavation in
multiple drifts
Transportation tunnel cross-sections
Top heading
Core (strozze)
Springline
Bench
Bottom
Invert
Circular
Wall
Crown
Horseshoe
Vertical walls arch roof
Terminology
Crown: The uppermost part of the tunnel
Drift : A horizontal excavation
Heading : The excavated face of the tunnel
Invert : The bottom (floor) of the tunnel
Wall : The side of the tunnel
Portal : The tunnel entrance
Springline : The line at which the tunnel wall breaks from
sloping outward to sloping inward toward the crown
Station : The distance measured from the portal (chainage)
Railroad passenger traffic
2000
Km travelled per passenger
in the year 2000
1600
41 trips/year
1200
29 trips/year
800
400
0
Switzerland
France
Denmark
Holland
Germany
EU
England
Sweden
Finland
Norway
Source: Danish State Railroads (DSB)
The oldest tunnel, for the expressed purpose of communication was
constructed 4000 years ago in ancient Babylon to underpass the bed
of river Euphrates and to establish an underground connection
between the royal palace and Temple of Jove.
The length of the tunnel was 1 km and it was built with the
considerable cross-section dimensions of 3.6 m by 4.5 m. The tunnel,
which was built in an open cut, would be a considerable project even
according to modern standards. This shows us that, this tunnel was
not the first of its kind built by the Babylonians and that they must
have acquired skill and practice with several tunnels built earlier.
To appreciate the grandeur of the undertaking it should be
remembered that the next subaqueous tunnel was opened about 4000
years later, in 1843, under the River Thames in London.
History and Development of Railway
Tunnels
The first railway tunnel for horse drawn operation was
constructed in France 1826 on the Roanne-Andre Cieux line.
After James Watts invention of the steam engine a steam
traction railway tunnel; Liverpool-Manchester line in England
was constructed between 1826 and 1829.
Hand operated steel rods were abandoned and hydraulic rock
drills were introduced in 1857, during the construction of the
Mont Cenis Railway tunnel between France and Italy.
Invention of dynamite by Alfred Nobel in 1866 resulted in the
new technique; the Drill and Shot method, and it was possible
to excavate the hardest rock. Thus Mont Cenis, a 12,8 km
tunnel, opened to traffic in 1871.
The great Alpine tunnels between Italy-Germany, Italy-France,
Italy-Switzerland, and Germany-Austria were completed in 25
years until 1913.
Modern railway construction started with the Liverpool and
Manchester Railways opened in 1830, and involved tunnelling
from the very beginning.
In UK, over fifty railway tunnels exceeding one mile (1,61 km) in
length were completed between 1830 and 1890.
The Mersey Railway Tunnel (1879-86) and the Severn Tunnel
(1873-86); two sub-aqueous railway tunnels, were built in that
period beneath tidal rivers.
Colonel Beaument’s Tunnelling machine, also used at this time in
Channel Tunnel experiments, was used for much of the heading
excavation, cutting a circular bore of 2.2 m diameter, and it was
also used for ventilation headings on the Liverpool shore.
In 1956, James Robbins showed the successful application of TBM
in Toronto Subway. TBM application was forgotten for a long
period since 19th century.
At the beginning of 20th century there was a big gap between the
tunnel construction and highway construction costs. In the second
half of the 20th century, with the progress in development of both
explosives and equipment, underground construction became
feasible.
In 1970, first Tunnelling conference held at Washington D.C
among OECD countries.
Major Alpine Railway Tunnels
The Mont Cenis was the first
Alpine tunnel, 1340 m above
sea level, and 13.7 km in
length.
During the same period the
Hoosac tunnel, “The Great
Bore”, connecting Boston to
the Hudson valley was being
built in America (18551876). It was 7.44 km in
length.
The St. Gotthard was the
second, 1164m above sea
level, and 14.9 km in length.
The Arlberg tunnel, 10.5 km
long, links Austrian railways
to Switzerland.
The Simplon tunnel, 19.8 km
in length, the longest of its
kind.
Construction progress for tunnels construction
Time
Progress
Method
AD 41
7.5 cm/week
Hand tools (some metal tools)
16th century
0.60 m/week
Hand tools (better metal tools)
19th century
2.1 m/week
Hand tools (use of explosives started)
19th century
6.3 m/week
Use of mechanical drills started
1900-1950
30 m/week
Hydraulic drills introduced
After 1950
60 m/week
Jumbo drills used
After 1955
300 m/week
TBMs introduced
After 1980
Increases…
TBM
Longest tunnels in operation (2001)
Tunnel
Country
Length
Completed
Seikan
(RR)
Japan
55 km (23.3 km under water)
1988
Channel
(RR)
England-France
50 km (32 km under water)
1993
Daishimizu
(RR)
Japan
22.2 km
1982
Simplon (I&II) (RR)
Italy-Switzerland
19.8 km
1906/1922
Shin-Kanmon (RR)
Japan
18.6 km
1975
Gotthard Rail
(RR)
Switzerland
15 km
1881
Lotschberg
(RR)
Switzerland
14.6 km
1914
Laerdal Road
Norway
24.5 km
2000
Gotthard Road
Switzerland
16.3 km
1980
Tunnels under construction
Tunnel
Country
Length
Expected
Gotthard Base
Switzerland
57 km
2010
Lotschberg Base
Switzerland
36 km
2010
Alpetunnel
France-Italy
52 km
2015
Bolu Road
Gümüşova-Gerede, Türkiye
3.32km
2003
Classification of tunnels by position or
alignment
Saddle and base tunnels
Profile of Lærdal – the world’s longest road tunnel on
E16 between Oslo and Bergen in Norway
Looping Tunnels
İstanbul
Traffic conditions in this densely populated city are getting worse while construction
of a modern mass transit system is only progressing slowly.
Ankara
Extension
Odtü
Ümitköy
Extension
CE 439
Course website:
http://www.ce.metu.edu.tr/~CE439