SOIL MECHANICS ASPECTS OF SOFT GROUND TUNNELLING

The basic principles of soil mechanics applicable to the behaviour of slopes, foundations and retaining walls apply equally to the stability of tunnels in soft ground and to the settlements caused by tunnelling. Tunnel engineers, however, have a separate terminology to describe certain aspects of tunnelling and they employ terms such as squeeze, stand-up time and ground loss. In addition, tunnel engineers often attribute to creep those time-dependent phenomena which foundation engineers rightly associate with primary consolidation. Recently a number of calculations have been developed, mostly as a result of research carried out at Cambridge University, which deal with the stability of tunnels and tunnel headings and with settlements caused by tunnelling. These calculations always consider quite separately drained cases and undrained cases in accordance with the basic principles of soil mechanics but it is not always obvious which calculation is applicable for a particular practical tunnelling problem. This paper considers the stresses and pore pressures in soft ground due to tunnelling and it discusses the calculations appropriate for estimating the stability of the tunnel and its heading and the settlements caused by tunnelling. (Author/TRRL)

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  • Corporate Authors:

    Foundation Publications Limited

    7 Ongar Road
    Brentwood CM15 9AU, Essex,   England 
  • Authors:
    • ATKINSON, J H
    • Mair, R J
  • Publication Date: 1981-7

Media Info

  • Features: Figures; References;
  • Pagination: p. 20
  • Serial:
    • GROUND ENGINEERING
    • Volume: 14
    • Issue Number: 5
    • Publisher: EMAP CONSTRUCT LIMITED
    • ISSN: 0017-4653

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00342934
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
  • Files: ITRD, TRIS
  • Created Date: Jan 29 1982 12:00AM