SUBWAY TUNNELS IN AREAS OF MINING SUBSIDENCE IN THE RUHR DISTRICT, GERMANY

Because the city of Gelsenkirchen is undergoing subsidence movements due to coal mining, special problems arise in the design and erection of the tunnel for the underground system of the municipal railway. The principal results of the design rules derived from extensive preliminary studies are discussed. The subsidence movements are causing compression and straining of the ground in which the tunnel is embedded. These actions of the soil have to be translated into idealized design displacements for engineering purposes. If the tunnel structure follows these deformations without restraints, no stresses (or, at least, only minor stresses) will occur. The conditions to which the tunnel structure should comply are cited. The design principles proposed are those of a tunnel lining that is almost completely flexible in the direction of the tunnel axis and stiff transversely to the axis. The theory of plasticity is applied to calculate the strains and stresses due to subsidence movements. Thus, the material chosen for the tunnel lining should provide sufficient capacity to yield without coming close to rupture. General rules for the design principle are given for tunnels constructed either by cut-and-cover or by covered driving.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Tunnelling, Proceedings of an Intl Symp, London, England, March 1-5, 1976. Also available from the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy.
• Corporate Authors:

  Institution of Mining & Metallurgy

  44 Portland Place
  London W1N 4BR,   England 
• Authors:
  • DUDDECK, H
  • Hollmann, F
  • Kotulla, B
  • Meissner, H
  • Westhaus, K H
  • Zerna, W
  • AHRENS, H
• Conference:
  • Tunnelling, Proceedings of an Intl Symp, London, England, March 1-5, 1976. Also available from the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy.
• Publication Date: 1976

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 381-390

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Construction; Cut and cover tunneling; Flexibility; Geological events; Geological surveying; Ground settlement; Linings; Settlement (Structures); Soil mechanics; Soils; Structural design; Studies; Subsidence (Geology); Subways; Tunnel lining; Tunneling; Tunneling machines
• Old TRIS Terms: Flexible linings; Geological conditions; Subway construction; Tunnels and tunneling
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Construction; Geotechnology; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00167549
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Engineering Index
• Report/Paper Numbers: Proceeding
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Dec 27 1981 12:00AM