Innovative shield tunnel constructions at the Betuweroute in the Netherlands

J. Jonker Management group Betuweroute / Holland Railconsult D. Handke Engineering consultants office Maidl

ABSTRACT: The Betuweroute is a new double -track railway, which has been projected in the Netherlands for freight transport and is being built as an East West connection. When completed, it will connect Rotterdam harbours with the German/Dutch border near Emmerich. Three tunnels with two tubes each, with a diameter of about 10 m, will have to be completed by shield tunnelling in a period when this shield tunnelling technique was just being developed in the Netherlands. The three shield tunnels in the Betuweroute are: the Botlek railway tunnel, the Sophia railway tunnel and the tunnel Pannerdensch Canal. The developments that have been carried out are a vivid document of the general trend to optimise the construction technology, the safety standards and the safety of the machine.
Amsterdam metro tunnel 6,64 m 2 x 4.000 m

1. INTRODUCTION It should be noted t hat the first bored tunnel project in the Netherlands started in 1995 and was finished in 1998. The Netherlands was the country of immersed tunnels as the Dutch soft soil was thought unfit for the boring technique. The problems with the available space fo r infrastructure as well as environment problems forced us to study the possibilities of the boring technique. A few study -trips to Japan had an accelerating effect on the thought process and on the political conviction that boring a tunnel in Dutch soil might after all be a possibility. The government assigned two pilot projects, the Botlek railway tunnel in the Betuweroute being one of them. 2. PROJECTS IN THE NETHERLANDS Now, not even ten years later, there are ten

HSL - Zuid High Speed Railway tunnel 15,0 m 1 x 6.570 m

The Hague road tunnel 9.0 m

Betuweline railway tunnel 10,0 m 3 shieldtunnels Total 2 x 8.660 m

Westerschelde highway tunnel 11,33 m 2 x 6.500 m

Heijnenoord road tunnel 8,3 m 2 x 950 m

Fig. 1: Overview on the bored tunne l projects in the Netherlands bored tunnel projects in the Netherlands, of which three have been realised, four are under construction and three are in the planning phase. The total inve stment is more than 2,7 billion. There has been extensive research into bored tunnelling, which is coordinated by the Dutch Centre of Building Underground. The research was focused both on the boring techniques and the design of the lining. There was ev en a full scale, special test

facility set up at the Delft Technical University, where diameters from six up to eleven meters could be put to the test. With the test result it was possible to validate the computer model. So a large 3 -D FEM program was buil t for the prediction of the most critical phase of the lining, the lining under construction. At each project ever higher demands were required of the boring technique, which were also caused by the specific circumstances of a given project. It is especial ly the Betuweroute project that has brought the tunnel -boring machine (TBM) to a higher functional level. The Botlek railway tunnel was bored with an earth pressure balance (EPB) machine at a depth of thirty meters through sixty percent sand. At the Sophia railway tunnel a slurry machine has been deployed. This slurry machine enables us to use the method of continuous boring. But also the other projects in the Netherlands are rather spectacular. The Westerschelde road tunnel reaches a depth of 60 meters an d is 6 kilometres long. The diameter is two times twelve meters. The Groene Hart railway tunnel (Green Heart, meaning that part in the densely populated western part of Holland where building is prohibited to keep the area green) is a tunnel in the high -speed rail link Amsterdam Brussels Paris. It will have the largest diameter in the world that is about 15,0 meters, and will be 7 kilometres long. The tunnel boring machine for building the Amsterdam metro north south line, the so called vario shiel d was especially designed for boring through the city, between the wooden pile foundations. The length of the TBM is very short. A last development is the Dutch industrial tunnel -boring machine (ITM): a machine for the use of extruded concrete instead of t he prefab lining. This lining may be used for a tunnel in The Hague as well.

3.DESCRIPTION OF THE BETUWE ROUTE PROJECT 3.1 The project Betuweroute The Betuweroute is a double track dedicated freight railway linking the port of Rotterdam directly to the European hinterland. The investment amount to approximately 5 billion Euro and has to be finished in 2006.

Bremen

Hamburg

Rotterdam
Colo gne Nrnberg Munich Basel V erona Genua Vienna

Milan

Brindisi

Fig. 2: European railway lines The total distance of the Betuweroute amounts to 160 kilometres. The goods transport volume is estimated to be 40 mi llion tons per year. After completion of the entire the Rotterdam harbour has direct connections with the European hinterland. In the Betuweroute there are six tunnels planned, of which three tunnels are to be bored. These are driven with shield machines w ith a diameter of approx. 10 meters. Two of the bored tunnels are in Rotterdam: the Botlektunnel and the Sophiatunnel. The third bored tunnel is near Arnhem, close to the German border. Altogether 2 x 7.7 kilometres of tunnels are bored, a total of 15.4 ki lometres. The clearance of the tunnels is constructed in such a way that if necessary, the goods can be transported with lorries on the freight wagons in the so -called piggyback -mode, or double stack: two containers on top of each other.

For safety reaso ns all tunnels have two separate tubes. There are cross -passages at distances of 600 meters. To cope with one of the accident scenarios a LPG fire / boiling liquid expanding vapour explosion (BLEVE) a sprinkler installation is used where water is mixed w ith AFFF (aqueous film forming foam) in the tunnels of this project. 3.2 The tunnels of the Betuweroute The Botlektunnel is the first bored railway tunnel in the Netherlands. The tunnel is built in the Rotterdam harbour area. And has a length of 3 km. Th e bored part is 1840 m. The project is characterised by the enormous lack of space for the contractor and the presence of many cables and pipes in the subsoil, the lifeline of the large, internationally well -known petrochemical industrial enterprises. The permissible subsidence amounts to a maximum of 25 mm for both tubes. With a length of approx. 8 kilometres the Sophia tunnel is the longest tunnel in the Betuweroute project; the bored part is 4200 meters. The tunnel crosses 4 polders, 2 rivers, 2 main d ikes and a motorway. By crossing the main dikes it was necessary to build two vertical gates that can be lowered to restore the water barrier in case of a catastrophe in the tunnel with serious damage to the lining. Otherwise the polders would flood throug h the tunnel, a typical Dutch problem. The Pannerdensch Canal tunnel is 2700 metres long; the bored part has a length of 1600 metres. The tunnel is situated in a mainly rural area of great natural interest. On the east bank of the canal a deep former sandpit will be crossed which will be refilled and compacted. Only when that has been

done it will be possible to bore through. This tunnel also has two vertical gates in the shaft as a water barrier in case of a catastrophe in the tunnel. Nowadays it seems s elf -evident that Dutch tunnels are constructed using the shield driving method, but in every case the first thing that is required is an intensive checking of the typical Dutch conditions, especially in the western part of the Netherlands. When it first s eemed feasible to bore tunnels through Dutch soil, there were no reference projects in underground conditions comparable to the conditions present in the Netherlands, so many questions had to be answered: Is exact shield driving possible in the soft, highl y sensitive settlement soils of the Holocene layers? Can the requirements for a long -term tightness of the segment tunnel, particularly in the soft clay layers be fulfilled? How is a working face stability guaranteed considering the high water pressure, p articularly at an entering of the working chamber? This is a necessary condition for the inspection of the machine or for the removal of obstacles in the ground. These were only some of the many questions, which confronted the designers in the Netherlands . By the example of the 3 shield tunnels of the Betuweroute the construction technological approach and the experiences won thereby will be described. With each new tunnel project the technical innovations intensified. 3.3 The Botlek railway tunnel The underground conditions decisive for this

tunnel are characterised, in particular in the starting and receiving area, by extremely soft, small load carrying, but typical Dutch Holocene soils, consisting of clay and peat layers. This puts high demands on the driving and the stability of the tunnel. At 120 m of the tunnel the soil was artificially improved first. This was done through the grid shaped production of columns with a diameter of 800 mm according to the Deep Soil Mixing method. For this the ground was mixed to a homogenous material by adding a cement suspension. The mixed in place method guaranteed a strength of ground that made shield driving possible. The obtained elastic module guaranteed a sufficient bedding for the tunnel and thus the demanded long -t e r m t i g h t n e s s o f t h e building. The optimal production parameters: - rate of cement in the respective layers, as well as - pulling speed of the earth auger were specified first in the test phases at the construction site. The heterogeneous geologic al situation, consisting of mixed layers of silt and clays at shallow depths and water bearing coarse grained sand below the Oude Maas River, complicated a straightforward choice of shield concept.
1835m Europoort Rotterdam

operating costs. The soft clay Holocene layers are suitable for an EPB shield tunn elling. With an increasing percentage of sand, the increased water permeability and internal friction causes serious problems. To solve these problems, intensive ground conditioning with high -density slurries or foam as required. 3.4 Demands on the TBM Technical innovations were necessary to create a new generation of tunnel boring machines that could cope with the difficult geological conditions. The main features of the 9,75 m diameter EPB -machine produced by Herrenknecht are described in fig. 4.

T B M made by: Type: Outer diameter: Length: Conicity: Jacks: -maximum thrust: -main thrust cyl.: -stroke of cyl.: Cutterhead: -drive -numb er of motors -output power: -number of hydr. Pumps for cutterhead: -cutterhead rpm -max. rotation speed -drive thrust -number of cutter teeth -cutter moment -copy cutters

Herrenknecht Earth pressure balance 9.755 m 9.2 m 25 mm

68,965 kN 28 cyl. 7 groups 2m

hydraulic drive 17 1632 kW available/ 2400 kW installed 6x max. 3.07/min 60 mm/min 50,000kN 206 7-16 MNm 0-30 mm 8

415.725

West Cables and pipes + 10.0 + 4.70 + 0.0 Start shaft - 10.0 Holocene sand. + 1.13 HW Soft clay Oude Maas + 4.00 Cables and pipes

413.890

415.5

415.0

414.5

East

Exit shaft

Grouting Upfilling - 20.0 (ballast)

-nr. of injection points

Pleistocene sand.

- 30.0 Cross - passages

7.0

Fig. 3: Betuweroute longitudinal section Botlektunnel The Pleistocene sands are perfect for slurry shield tunnelling. However the separation of the Holocene silt and clay layers requires cost -intensive equipment and causes high

Screw conveyor -length -inner diameter -operating rpm -stroke -moment

16 m 1.0 m max. 22.4/min 630 mm max. 285.2 kNm

Fig. 4 machine data

The transport of excavated ground from the worki n g c h a m b e r i s c o n t r o l l e d b y a combination of a screw conveyor, two bulk pumps (if necessary), and a conveyor from the pressurised chamber to the rear of the shield. In cohesive soils, the screw conveyor alone can control the pressure difference of some 3 bars. From the end of the screw conveyor, a belt conveyor transports the earth paste into a slurryfier box. Non -cohesive grounds cannot be conditioned without the risk of liquefaction. The screw conveyor is therefore mounted with two bulk pumps that transp ort the liquefied of foamed sandy material to the slurryfier box. The slurry system was chosen as a typical Dutch transport system with extensive experience from the dredging technology. The expected advantage of this system over a classical slurry shield is in the event of emergency, using bentonite into the working bore chamber. The cost of separation, as well as environmental problems, will therefore be reduced. The cutting wheel was designed mostly closed according to the earth pressure principle.

did not arise. The tools, predominantly spade type cutting teeth, were centrally located on both sides of the material inlet channels a n d o n t h e narrowly trained arms. The tool holders were sunk for wear reasons. A circulating rim increased the stability of the cutting head and was armoured against wear accordingly. The even coating of the face with foam was obtained through an integrat ed foam supply at the front side of the cutting head. The necessary conditioning was a result of the controlled addition of foam, depending on the geology. At entering conditions bentonite was supplied by way of theses lances, with which the building -up of a filter cake was supported. In this way, so far extremely critical operating conditions for EPB -driving could be substantially defused. During the inspection work under compressed air the face was sealed with bentonite. For the pre -checking of the gr ound the Botlek machine got an integrated pre checking system with transmitter and receiver in addition to conventional drilling channels. For the first time such a system was used at the Elbetunnel in Hamburg, Germany where it was used with substantially intensified achievement.
Boreholes Transmitter Receiver 1 Receiver 2 Control cabine

PC

Fig. 5 EPB shield Botlek railway tunnel Thereby it offered the highest measure of face stability, which in the long run was favourable at the entering of the working chamber. The centre area was held open for reasons of gluing and wear, and was additional ly equipped with a central comb. The material inlet channels reached into the centre. Wear problems within the centre area
Cutter wheel Transmission cable Data analysis system

Fault zone

Fig. 6 Principle SSP at the cutting head The local experiences documented however, that for the serviceability under construction site conditions, in particular with foam conditioning, there is still development to be

carried out . This applies likewise to the interpretation of the large amount of data. Despite everything this line should be further pursued, in order to transform this blindly acting shield, at least slightly into a seeking out mole. Four injection pipes in th e shield tail made the grouting of the annular gap at the first tube possible. The grouting procedure was implemented by means of hoses squeezing pumps from a mortar tank on trailer 1 with a conventional grouting mortar. For the second driving the groutin g plant was completely converted and the grouting procedure with a two -component mortar, the so -called E -TAC was implemented. Due to the fast response time into the existing pipes in the shield tail a small hose was installed. Over this the hardener was added, which let the E-TAC mortar react to a kind of gel in a few seconds. The grouting of the annular gap was implemented according to plan only over two pipes within the crown area. However a complete filling of the annular gap could nevertheless be real ised by these two channels which showed up in the course of the production of the three cross connections. The good ability of pumping of the E -TAC components was positive and the reduced operating interruptions for cleaning of the mortar tanks as well. B esides the surface setting above the second tube could be reduced in relation to the first driving. Although the shield machine was not designed for the employment of a two component mortar, the use of E -TAC with consideration of the obtained results and experiences is to be evaluated as positive altogether. The segments were installed in the area of

the shield tail. The selected ring division gives 7+1 = 8 segments: five standard segments, two counter segments and one closing segment (the keystone). The segments have an average width of 1, 5 m and a maximum length of approximately 4,2 m. At EPDM caoutchouc sealing, surrounding each segment with cross -section 15 mm thick and 33 mm wide, forms the final seal.

Fig. 7 Live picture segment design In orde r to fulfil the requirements to the long -term tightness, coupled rings. Coupling is achieved by means of two concrete dowels per segment which are modelled as two intermediate springs. Equal load distribution in a dowel is achieved by 3 mm caubit strips. Between the dowels 2 mm thick wooden triplex plates transfer jacking forces. The driving works of the Botlektunnel were in the time schedule. As maximum performances 28,5 m per working day were obtained. The middle driving achievement corresponded to the prognosis with a scant 10 m per working day. The building activities will be finished in 2001. 3.5 The Sophia railway tunnel The ground in which the Sophia railway tunnel has to be built is essentially characterised by very soft, fine -grained Holocene la yers with extreme small specific

weight (10.5 to 12.0 kN/m)

of rings. To reach this, various adjustments were necessary at the equi pment of the driving machine. The middle section and the shield tail were extended compared to the conventional shield machines to get space for two segment rings within the shield tail area.

Fig. 8 Longitudinal section Sophiatunnel The consequences resulting from it omit themselves most applicable from the Dutch description of theses layers as thick water and affect the uplif t security and the guarantee of face stability at the driving. The shield tunnels nearly all lie in Pleistocene sand layers. With a driving length of 2 times 4.200 m the Sophiatunnel is the longest of the three shield tunnels of the Betuweroute. For const ructions a shield machine was suggested and assigned according to the principle of the slurry shield. The cutting head is constructed as a six armed rim -cutting wheel. This way sufficient free spaces are available for a possible entering of the face. Hydr aulic breasting plates guarantee a nearly complete face lock up an entering of the cutting head becomes necessary. The cutting head is then withdrawn lengthwise and is driven electrically. The over cut is made possible by longitudinal displacing and tilti ng the cutting head. Cutting arms and dismantling area are provided with appropriate protection in exposed places so they are technically favourable in relation to wear effects. Before the rake a stone crusher is installed. Continuous driving and the div iding of the working chamber for entering the face can describe the innovations connected with the machine. The principle of the continuous driving is based on the driving and building

Fig. 9 Intersection machine Sophiatunnel Due to the shield length resulting from these measures the shield skin was equipped with a shield articulation. In order to guarantee the safety against overturning of the segment first installed, a second erector became necessary. This so -called supporting erector supports the number one segment and secures the face stability up to the installation of segment number three. The main erector, which is also used for the building of rings in the discontinuous mode, meanwhile installs the remaining segments. High requirements a re set on the building of rings at the continuous driving, because disturbances or inaccuracies at the installation of rings immediately cause a stop of driving. Special attention is needed for the construction of the driving jacks in connection with a co ntinuous driving. The Sophia -machine is equipped with a driving force of 56.000 kN, divided on 28 single jacks. Compared with the systems used so far the jacks are provided with an extended stroke, since due to the geometrical boundary conditions the strok e length must correspond with the continuous driving of

the double segment length. In the apron Herrenknecht did various tests to accomplish the steering technical tuning. To this also belong the regulation of the jack speed and stroke ways in dependency of the segments and shield position. Therefore all jacks are equipped with a separate distance and pressure measuring system.
Ring N (to) Jack position Ring N

Segmental Lining completed

Installation lining segment Ring N

At the beginning the consortium, in co operation with machine manufacturer Herrenknecht intensified the efforts to solve the initial problems wit the innovative technolog y . A n d w i t h s u c c e s s : t h e operability of the system has been proven by now. During the first year, complete rings could be provided in only 3 hours and 20 minutes at a test of the continuous driving. For the driving and the building of one ring o n l y 5 0 m i n u tes were thus needed. Compared to the classical driving, with which the middle cycle time amounted to approximately 1:45 hours. After conversion to the continuous driving, the maximum performances reached so far in the classical, discontinuous mode that t he driving could still further be exceeded by 30m/day. Prognoses prove a maximum daily performance of up to 39 m at an optimal conversion of the continuous driving. This corresponds to an increase of more that 24% per day. The second tube will be bored in 2002. A further innovation of the Sophia -machine represents the solution announced by the ARGE, partner of Hochtief for the face entering of the lower shield range in places, in high measures near the surface can be excluded and so the blow -out section c annot be fulfilled. The patent plans to part and seal the working chamber by means of horizontally arranged sheet metals. By a temporary backfilling of the upper half of the working chamber with artificial soil the load can be increased, and an entering o f the working chamber under compressed air, particularly under the Sophia conditions, is possible.

Driving direction

Driving direction

Installation lining segment Ring N+1

Ring N+1(to+ 1 )

Jack position Ring N+1

Fig. 10 Principle continuous propulsion Fig. 10 shows the jack positioning for the last ring built and presents the positioning for the number one segment of the new ring in dotted lines. For the building of rings only those jacks are automatically used which are necessary for the installation of the segment. After the installation of these segments the jacks are started -up agai n. After reaching the ring construction pressure the jacks change themselves over automatically again into the tunnel driving mode. During the conversion into practise however various problems show up during the difficult jack steering. Therefore the dist ance driven so far was realised mainly in the classical, discontinuous driving mode.

SOUTH SIDE
Variable 6000 Height sand Stones grading Soil filling 1:7 5 -150 mm, 0 4745 + 14.000 Variable 6000

NORTH SIDE

Minimum crown width 4745 Filling up and compaction

o sand per layer f

ground load at the dike crown is necessary to guarantee a face stability, which is remove d after driving the second tube. As well as the Sophiatunnel the Tunnel Pannerdensch Canal is driven by a hydro shield with a diameter of 9,80 m. But because of the low driving distance of 2 x 1.620m a more standard shield of 9,60 m length can be used. Th is means that a TBM working after the principle of the continuous driving is not necessary. There are further differences within the TBM technology according to the construction of the cutting head. At the Sophiatunnel the cutting head is constructed as an open, six-armed spoke - cutting wheel. 5 earth pressure plates are planned constructively for the mechanical face support. In contrast to this a mostly closed 8 armed cutting head is used at the Tunnel Pannerdensch Canal.

thick 400 Magnetite layer

Waterline Variable
1:2,5
2500 BS Placing geocontainers 2500 1:2,5

NAP

Area compacted from waterlevel Compacted central area

Area compacted from waterlevel Bottom pit after dregging

Fig. 11 Basic plan Kandia dam 3.6 Tunnel Pannerdensch Canal The Pannerdensch Canal Tunnel is the third and chronologically and geographically last shie ld -tunnel of the Betuweroute. Statements on the construction experiences are not possible right now, as the driving will only be started in November 2001. A special feature with the Pannerdensch Canal tunnel is the boring through an old sand pit (200 x 20 0 x 20 [m]), which will be filled before the driving starts. The sand filling, the sand -composition as well as the design of the dike -shaped filling have been dimensioned and constructed following the demands on the shield drive, the tunnel bearing as well as the exploitation of the railway (train vibration). The shield drive as well as the tunnel stability demands a sufficient density of the sand filling. The sand is consolidated using flow vibration. In the framework of a parameter study all eventualitie s dealing with construction parameters of the sand filling as well as the tunnel stability have b e e n c h e c k e d u s i n g a f i n i t e -element calculation. It was also a target of this study to avoid a construction of a new segment type. A 1.15 m thick magnetic layer is installed for assuring a permanent hydrostatic uplift security because the maximum height of the dike crown is limited . This magnetic layer has a very high specific weight of > 30 kN/m . During the shield drive an additional load in the form of a about 3 m high sand embankment as a

Fig. 12 Live picture drilling head The tool equipment spade type cutting teeth, centre comb and cutting head reamer can basically be compared and described as being equal. An innovative remark that can be made is that all in all 6 cutting head tools are equipped with a wear measuring unit, so that the hazardous and time intensive working face inspection for the checking of the tools can be minimised.

With the installation of a separate washing (jetting) method the Franco -Dutch building combination will avoid the risk of gluing of the cutting head during the driving through the clay areas.

show that these thoughts are no longer valid. Within the projects of the Botlek - and the Sophiatunnel extraordinary results could be reached which set new dimensions for the futu re. But still these projects had to deal with technical backstrokes. For the future it is necessary to evaluate the experiences and to standardise the innovations of the last years. At the time of development of the shield tunnelling in the Netherlands th e safety measures to be taken in the TBM were a point of discussion. In each new project agreement was reached with the fire brigade responsible for safety, but more standardisation is recommended.

4. SUMMARY Only a few years ago shield tunnelling in Dutch soil was thought impossible, both from a technical and economical viewpoint. The latest developments in shield tunnelling as well as innovative method adaptation on the local demands at the Dutch projects now