CHALLENGES IN CONSTRUCTION OF URBAN ROAD TUNNELS, THE CASE HISTORY OF TOHID EXPRESSWAY TUNNELS IN CENTRAL TEHRAN

Jamal Rostami Penn State University, University Park, PA Mohsen Kashi SRS Engineering, Tehran, Iran

OUTLINE
Introduction Tunnel Alignment and Profile Site Development Portals and Construction Shafts Tunneling Operation Crossing an active Subway Station Conclusions

South Portal

BACKGROUND

Tehran & Suburbs is the home for over 10 million people City is spread over an area of around 50 km in the E-W and 30 km in N-S direction Tehran has experienced a rapid growth in past 3 decades, The original fabric is old and does not have sufficient ratio of traffic space to residential space to accommodate the flow Streets are congested, slow traffic 2 subway lines are operational, 5 under construction A network of highways has been constructed around the town A series of road tunnels are planned to connect the highways First highway tunnel (Resalat) was completed in 2004 (6 lanes) 2nd one is Towheed, Inaugurated in Feb 2010, 3rd is under construction for 9 km + a 2000 car capacity underground parking

Project Map

Traffic Congestion
Fuel Cost The Least Neighborhood Interference Travel Time

Tunnel

ALIGNMENT & PORTALS

VERTICAL ALIGNMENT

Project North End Point

North Portal

Toeheed Shaft

Azadi Shaft

Jomhoury Shaft

South Portal

Project South End Point

557-m
557-m 677-m

2136-m
496-m
Metro Line No. 4 Metro Line No.2

310-m
406-m

Work Sites 1
2
3 4

Site Name
The North Portal

Toeheed Shaft
Azadi Shaft Jomhouri Shaft The South Portal

Longitudinal Profile
North Ramp Slope 6% Tunnel Overall Slope 4% South Ramp Slope 4.29%

TUNNEL PROFILE

GENERAL INFORMATION
Overall Project length: The Tunnel Length: 3003-m 2136-m

Tunnel Cross Section Area:

305-m2

Approach Half-Tunnels North South 577-m 310-m

Tunnel Height : 8.5-m Tunnel Width: 13.5-m Each

Bill of Quantities
Project Budget ~$400M
Activity
Open Excavation Tunnel Excavation Pile Construction Formwork Steel Reinforcement Concrete Placement Shotcrete Application Wire Mesh Precast Concrete Elements

Unit
m3 m3 m m2 Ton m3 m2 m2 m2

Quantity
750000 660000 26000 56000 25000 200000 450000 250000 50000

INTERFACES WITH OTHER UNDERGROUND STRUCTURES

Subway Line No. 2 (Existing). The longitudinal profile of the tunnel is designed to go under the Subway Station Line No. 2 located around station 2+392 of this tunnel. Subway Line No. 4 (under construction). The Toeheed tunnel passes beneath the Subway Line No. 4 currently under construction. Subway Line No. 7 (future construction). The tunnel will essentially run parallel to the No. 7 Subway Line and provisions shall be made in the design and construction of this subway line to assure constructability and other operational issues involved. Urban Utilities. Several underground utilities including water, gas, electric and telephone lines did interfere with the tunnel and other auxiliary structures such as the shafts, galleries, and the access ramps.

GROUND CONDITION
Mainly course grained soils, gravel/sand Primarily dry except for certain sections Intersecting old water works (qanats)

Borehole BH-1 BH-2 BH-3 BH-7 BH-8 BH-9 Test Pits TP-1 TP-2 TP-3 TP-4 0+270 0+400 0+520 1+200 0-5 0-10 4-13 15-22 GW/SW/GP GP/GP-GM/GW/GP GW-GM/GM/GP/GM GW/GC/GW Table 1. Borehole/Test Pit Soil Classifications Station Depths at Tunnel USCS Soil Symbols (km) Section(m) 0+360 5-15 SC/GC-GM/GC 0+850 9-18 SC-SM/GC-GM 1+070 12-21 GM/GC-GM/SC-SM 1+810 20-30 SC 1+920 21-30 GC-GM/GM/SC-SM 2+150 22-31 SC-SM

UNIQUE PORTAL ENTRY DESIGN Embedded U-Turn Lane

HALF ARCH U-TURN LANE

Provides additional traffic lane for U-turn Allows for easier transition to daylight

MOBILIZATION, SITE PREPARATION

Power House, bar Bending & Batching Plant

Power House

Equipment

10,000 Ton Cement Silos

Staging Area, Equipment Shops

NORTH RAMP SITE PREPARATION

Relocating 600-mm Water main Pipe Traffic Diversion Barriers Road Widening Supporting 1000-mm Water main Pipe Relocating the military base walls

Traffic Diversion & Preparatory Work

REDIRECTING TRAFFIC

CONTINUED HEAVY TRAFFIC

TOEHEED SHAFT SITE

Toeheed Shaft

Chain Bucket Vertical Conveyor

Lowering the Road Header Inside the shaft

Towheed Shaft Side Gallery

Middle Gallery Inside Towheed Shaft

AZADI SHAFT SITE

METRO Station

AZADI SHAFT

Azadi Shaft Site

AZADI SHAFT
677-M TO TOEHEED SHAFT 496-M TO JOMHOORI SHAFT

METRO LINE

AZADI SHAFT

Galleries Excavated in the Access Tunnel from Azadi Shaft

JOMHOORI SHAFT SITE

METRO LINE

JOMHOORI

SHAFT

Jomhoori Shaft Site

JOMHOORI SHAFT 496-M TO AZADI SHAFT 406-M TO THE SOUTHERN PORTAL

Middle Galleries inside the Jomhoori Shaft

 Installing the Pre-cast Lining and Concreting

SITE PREPARATION FOR SOUTHERN RAMP / PORTAL

South Portal Face km 2.600

28(m)

U Turn

South Ramp

28(m)

South Ramp Portal Access

A view of South Ramp at Night

TUNNEL EXCAVATION METHOD

Sequential Excavation Method (SEM)

Excavation of the upper part of the middle gallery

Excavation of the Bench, or lower part of the middle gallery

1 2

Excavation of the side galleries

1 3 2 3

Construction of cast in placement of concrete piles Installation of a portion of final lining in the side galleries

1 3 2 4 3

Excavation of the crown region of the tunnels

5 3

1 2 4

5 3

Removing the temporary supports, benching, and completion of crown lining

1 6 2 4

5 3

5 6 3

Excavation of the lower portion of the tunnels

5 3 7 6

1 2 4

5 6 7 3

Completing excavation of the lower parts of the tunnels

5 3 7 6 8

1 2 4 8

5 6 7 3

Installation of Permanent Concrete Forms and concreting

1 6 7 8 2 4 8

5 3 9

5 6 7 3 9

Drainage Ditch and Base Slab Construction

5 3 9 7 6 8

1 2 4 8

5 6 7 3 9

10

10

Completed Tunnel Profile

Using Conveyor Belt for Soil Removal

Excavation using Roadheader

Excavation using Roadheader

Shotcrete Application

Reinforcing Cages For the Piles

Installation of Precast Elements

 Permanent Linings

CHALLANGES

CHALLENGES
Crossing the active subway line, under the station Small footprint for work Redirecting of traffic Restriction in access, muck haulage Fast -Track project, accelerated schedule Maintaining existing utilities, (i.e. a1.8 m water main) Dealing with historical waterworks (qanats)

Causing water leakage into the tunnel Subsidence - sinkhole

CROSSING OF THE ACTIVE SUBWAY STATION

PROFILE

CROSSING OF SUBWAY STATION

Intersecting Station in North

Middle

South

ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS FOR STATION CROSSING

Installation of Invert beam in the middle gallery

Heavy grouting of the lining under the station

MODELING AND ANALYSIS

Numerical Modeling of Sequential Excavation under the station

GROUND REACTION MODELING

RESULTS

Max measured settlement at the station was:

COMPLETION OF THE WORK

CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS

FINISHING TOUCHES

VENTILATION AND CONTROL STRUCTURE

UTILITIES & FIT OUTS

Ventilation Fire protection Lighting Communication Traffic Control CCTV Art Works!

UTILITIES & FIT OUTS

70 jet fans, each powered at 30 KW. North fan combined ventilation equipment: 3 axial fans, powered at 600 KW. Niyayesh fan combined ventilation equipment: 2 axial fans (to let in fresh air into Tunnel) powered at 410 KW. 4 axial fans (to let out exhaust air from Tunnel) powered at 500 KW. South portal fan combined ventilation equipment: 3 axial fans powered at 990 KW. Air purification system at the air entering Niyayesh fans. Lghts in the Tunnel: 1,064 lights powered at 550 KW. Length of cables for the utilities: 220 km. Special and standby power generators Air pollution monitoring sensors Smart firefighting system. Traffic alarms. Intercom telephones. Closed-Circuit TV. Vehicles counter. Road closure system. Traffic signs. Thermal sensors.

FINISHED TUNNEL

FINISHED TUNNEL

INAUGURATION CEREMONEY, FEB 2010

Opening of the project by Citizens / Veterans

Thank You

Questions ?????