Australian tunnel collapse raises new NATM doubts

The collapse of a section of Australian motorway tunnel during November 2005 cast further doubts on the use of the New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM). The collapse occurred at the intersection of a ventilation adit and a running tunnel during construction of the Lane Cove tunnel 75 km north of Sydney. Work involved excavating up to 2.5m of tunnel at a time using road headers to form a 7m high, 8.1m wide bore. Contractors installed a row of rockbolts pre-tensioned to 50kN and applied a 75mm layer of C28/35 shotcrete. The collapse caused the partial collapse of a three-storey block of flats. Ground conditions included a highly fractured low-strength weathered sandstone, high strength shale and laminated layers. The hole was stabilised by pumping in concrete. The intersection was originally located under a park, but redesign of the ventilation scheme led to the junction to be relocated under the flats. Lane Cove council claimed that design and build contractor Thiess John Holland Joint Venture had not consulted residents adequately over the redesign.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/03077683
• Authors:
  • KITCHING, R
• Publication Date: 2005-11-10

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: p5
• Serial:
  • NEW CIVIL ENGINEER
  • Publisher: EMAP CONSTRUCT LIMITED
  • ISSN: 0307-7683

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Concrete; Failure; Freeways; Loss and damage; Sandstones; Shale; Structures; Tunneling; Tunnels; Ventilation systems
• Identifier Terms: Austrian tunneling method
• Geographic Terms: Australia
• ITRD Terms: 8006: Australia; 3386: Austrian tunnelling method; 3352: Building (structure); 4755: Concrete; 1614: Damage; 5520: Failure; 2752: Motorway; 4104: Sandstone; 4168: Shale; 3374: Tunnel; 3392: Ventilation
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Construction; Design; Highways; I25: Design of Tunnels; I54: Construction of Tunnels;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01027061
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• Files: ITRD
• Created Date: Jul 5 2006 12:20PM