TUNNELS

The preliminary design for the I-90 crossing considered

TUNNEL JACKING conventional cut and cover methods. However, we concluded
Tunnel jacking is a method for constructing monolithic, that multiple staged cut and cover excavation was not viable
rectangular concrete box sections under surface areas because of the depth of the excavations required (up to 18 m)
and taking tracks out of service for weeks or months at a
with critical uses such as railways, major roadways, and
time would cause unacceptable disruption to the train
airport runways. The method is generally applied in
schedules.
cases where the underground crossing is relatively short,
is located in soft ground, and if the overlying critical Conventional multiple drift tunnelling methods were also
surface use did not exist, construction would be by looked at, but these would have been difficult to implement
given the large width of the underground openings that were
conventional cut-and cover methods.
needed, the shallow depth of cover (2 to 6 m) dictated by the
Tunnel jacking evolved from pipe jacking, whereby a jacking roadway profile, and the soft ground conditions below the
system is used to push prefabricated concrete structures into water table.
an underground opening incrementally. Technological
Given the major disadvantages and risks posed by using
development of the method since the 1960s has involved a
conventional cut and cover or tunnelling methods, tunnel
scaling up of pipe jacking techniques to enable the placement
jacking was selected as the best technical approach for the
of progressively larger concrete sections, reaching
underground crossing. The use of tunnel jacking on the CA/T
dimensions required to carry multi-lane highways.
Project represented the first major application of the method
WSP IN ACTION in the United States.
WSP was involved in a major tunnel jacking project in
Boston, Massachusetts, as part of the Central Artery / Tunnel
(CA/T) Project that replaced an aging, and significantly
under-capacity, elevated arterial highway with a modern
underground expressway to improve traffic flow though the
core of the Boston metropolitan area.
The project included an extension of the Massachusetts
Turnpike (Interstate I-90) under the complex network of
tracks leading into the South Station Railway Terminal, one
of two major rail stations in Boston, with hundreds of train
movements daily for local commuter and intercity rail
service.

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WSP was responsible for managing the design development
and construction of the tunnel jacking work. Three concrete
tunnel box sections were jacked successfully under the track
network, with typical cross sections of 11.6 x 24 m and
lengths of 51 to 115 m. The weak saturated soils with many
obstructions related to historic abandoned waterfront
structures were stabilized over the full height and width of
each tunnel by using ground freezing, which represented a
major effort in itself.
TUNNELS
More than 1,700 vertical freeze pipes were used with a brine
refrigeration system installed within and around the track
network to freeze a total ground mass volume of
approximately 107,000 cubic meters.
WSP closely managed the installation and operation of the
ground freezing system and the subsequent tunnel jacking
with the operating railroads, which involved the use of an
extensive monitoring system to track movements of the rail
infrastructure. This effort, unprecedented in the United
States, enabled the work to be successfully completed
without delaying train service.
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