Moscow largest highway tunnel construction project

Construction of Lefortovo Tunnel - the biggest urban underground structure in Moscow - was successfully completed in February 2003. The tunnel, being the final section of the Third Transportation Ring Road in Moscow, will be opened for traffic by the end of 2003. Total tunnel length makes 3.3 km, its main section (2222 m) will stretch under 'Lefortovo- Nemetskaya Sloboda' nature reserve, where historical monuments - buildings of the XVIII century, fountains and ponds are situated in a vast park area. The tunnel will have three traffic lanes in each direction to provide the design capacity of 3800 vehicles per hour in each direction. Construction was carried out in congested urban environment under challenging geological conditions, which required the use of 14.2 m diameter bentonite slurry pressure balance Herrenknecht Mixshield (TBM). In the course of the excavation, several innovative tunneling technologies were practiced: providing for the tunnel face stability by applying compressed air upon the bentonite suspension, air pressure being adjusted depending on hydrostatic conditions; transportation of excavated soil through special pipelines and subsequent separation of muck from the bentonite slurry; continuous grouting of annulus beyond the tunnel lining with mortar of a special mix; fully automatic and semi-automatic TBM driving. At the deep section, tunnel lining was made of high-precision reinforced concrete precast lining segments with the two rows of elastomer sealing gaskets. At shallow sections constructed by the cut-and-cover method, lining was made of cast-in-situ concrete frame structures with waterproofing membrane. Continuous structural and environmental monitoring performed during the construction allowed timely measures to be taken to provide for the work safety and to effectively protect existing buildings, structures and utilities by applying various soil stabilisation methods, including compensation grouting. The adopted innovative technologies along with the adequate construction management allowed the tunnel drive to be successfully completed within 1 year with practically no settlements of existing buildings, structures and utilities (from 6 to 12 mm surface settlements were reported which is far inferior of the accepted standards). Adequate design of various tunnel elements such as the in-situ cast reinforced concrete carriageway slab, facilities for allocation of power substations and pump chambers, escape corridors under the carriageway slab for evacuation of people in case of emergency and fire, automatic fire alarm systems, fire fighting means and smoke extraction systems, etc., will all together contribute to the safe tunnel operation. (A). "Reprinted with permission from Elsevier". For the covering abstract see ITRD E124500.

• Availability:
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• Authors:
  • SHVARTSMAN, V L
  • MURAVIN, I
  • VLASOV, S N
  • HERRENKNECHT, M
  • VALETTE, J -
• Publication Date: 2004-7

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: p401
• Serial:
  • TUNNELLING AND UNDERGROUND SPACE TECHNOLOGY. UNDERGROUND SPACE FOR SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT. PROCEEDINGS OF THE 30TH ITA-AITES WORLD TUNNEL CONGRESS SINGAPORE, 22 - 27 MAY 2004
  • Volume: 19
  • Issue Number: 4-5
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0886-7798

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Conferences; Depth; Excavation; Stability (Mechanics); Tunnels
• Geographic Terms: Russia (Federation)
• ITRD Terms: 8525: Conference; 6499: Depth; 5155: Excavation (process); 8156: Russia; 5930: Stability; 3374: Tunnel
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Construction; I54: Construction of Tunnels;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01011578
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• Files: ITRD
• Created Date: Dec 19 2005 3:18PM