Introduction


 A tunnel is an engineering structure,
artificial gallery, passage or roadway
beneath the ground, under the bed of a
stream or thru a hill or mountain.
 Such underground passages constructed
without removing overlying soil may be
used for the transportation of passengers,
freight, water, sewage or gas.

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History History


The first tunnel was built by Egyptians and

 Greek tunnel was built 2600 years ago
Babylonians, about 4000 years ago 1.8x1.8m @ 1.5 km; for water on Samos
It was 3.6m wide, 4.5m high and 910m long

island
 First submarine tunnel was built under Eupharates river,
lined with brick masonry, 5x4m @ 1km long  Hungarian tunnel @ 5.6 km long was made
 Romans devised improvements in at Selmecbanya in 1400
tunneling by using fire for breaking rock,  French used gunpowder for tunneling in
working at several points by shafts and 1679-81; Harecastl tunnel (1766-77), Rove
tunnel (1927). Mont Cenis tunnel between
using vinegar for cooling of rock instead of Italy and France established use of
water. machines, drills and explosives
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 History Tunnel or Open cut?
 First was the
American Tunnel Auburn tunnel in 
Pennsylvania (1821). Portage tunnel (1833) and Hoosac Advantages of tunnels
tunnel (1857-75) are two other examples  For carrying public utilities like water gas oil
 British Tunnels: Use of Shield and iron lining were sewage tunnel is cheaper than bridge or cut
introduced for tunnels under river Thames  Length of route is reduced; may save cost
 Belgian tunnel has a worlds widest tunnel n Antwerp,  Security in warfare and bombing
(52wx11hx554long)  Surface remain undisturbed can be used for other
 Canadian Tunnel-Connaught tunnel for railway useful purpose
(7.2x8.7x8km) and Otira tunnel in New Zealand (8.4
km long)
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Tunnel or Open cut? Tunnel or Open cut?

 
Advantages of open cut
 Cost of construction less wrt tunnels
 Less time required for construction
Disadvantages of open cut
 Huge amount and cost of earthwork
 Maintenance cost more
 Dangerous during wartime, rains, snowfall
 Generally costs are calculated for both the methods
and the less cost alternative is selected
 In general when the depth of cut is more than 20 m
it is mostly economical to go for tunneling option,
provided all other factors like type of rock,
equipment and local conditions are favorable

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 Classification Classification
Based on Purpose  
Based on position or alignment
 Traffic Tunnels: railway, highway, pedestrian, subway,  Saddle and Base T: to minimize the length of tunnel
navigation
in valleys the track is laid to natural slope till it is
 Conveyance Tunnels: water supply, hydropower, sewer,
conduits for public utilities
within permissible limits and rest is tunneled
Based on Material thru which it passes  Spiral T: in narrow valleys additional length for
 Hard rock T minimum permissible radius is obtained by
 Loose sand T forming a loop inside the mountain
 Quick sand T  Off-spur T: to short cut minor obstacles, very short
 Open cut T in length
 Submarine T
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 Slope T: for economy and to ensure safe operation in
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railway and highway in steep mountains.

Shape and Size Polycentric Shape


 Shape is governed by the pressures exerted by the
 Normally used for
railway tunnels
soil thru which tunnel is passing and internal
pressure if any and the material used for lining of  Best suited for majority of
tunnel conditions

 In general following shapes are used  Centers and radii are

 Polycentric  Circular fixed by the engineer as
 Horse shoe  Egg per the requirement
 Elliptical  Rectangular or box
 Segmental
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 Circular Shape Horse-shoe shape
 Best for both external and  Compromise between arch
internal pressures and circular
 Max c/s for min perimeter  Floor is flat sides and top
 Suitable for carrying fluid resist pressure well
matters  Best for traffic tunnel
 Requires lot of filling for  Suitable for soft rock
railway or highway
 Difficult to concrete for
lining
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Egg shape Elliptical shape

 Suitable for carrying fluids  Suitable in soft material
like water or sewage  With major axis vertical
 Can resist both internal gives more stability
and ext pr  Difficult to concrete
 Smaller c/s at bottom
maintain required
cleaning velocity

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 Rectangular shape Segmental shape
 Very small in depth  Roof circular sides vertical,
 Steel girders required to flat floor
resist the BM and stresses in  Commonly used in
roof subways or navigation
 Very difficult to concrete tunnels
 Suitable for pedestrian Geology of material, method
tunnels of construction and the lining
greatly influence the shape of
 Normally not used for other
the tunnel besides the purpose
purposes
for which tunnel is built
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Size of tunnel
 Depends on the purpose
for which tunnel is Typical 2-Lane
designed, railway, Highway
highway, sewage etc
 Depends on the volume of
Tunnel
traffic or fluid to be carried
and clearances required if
any, thickness of lining
 Drainage requirement
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