Underground Singapore 2016

Tunnelling in Bukit Timah Granite formation - Challenges

in tunnelling from Newton to Stevens station
A. Jadhav
Land Transport Authority of Singapore

ABSTRACT: Down Town Line (DTL) is the fifth line in the Singapore’s Mass Rapid Transit (MRT)
system and when complete will be the longest running 42km connecting 34 stations. DTL2 is the sec-
ond of 3 phases and runs 16.6km with 12 stations running from the North West to the center of the is-
land through complex geology connecting the residential corridor of Bukit Timah with the CBD re-
gion and the existing rail network. Contract C920 is located in the Southern half of the alignment and
represents one of the most complex alignments with geological conditions varying from massive rock
of the Bukit Timah Granite to soft clay and sands of the Kallang formation. Within C920 the ground
conditions encountered during tunnelling from Newton to Stevens station were amongst the most vari-
able. Most of the Bukit Panjang bound (BP bound) tunnelling by tunnel boring machine1 (TBM1),
which is the lower tunnel amongst two stacked tunnels, was carried in Bukit Timah Granite formation.
Geology of this tunnel drive posed formidable challenges such as tunnelling in full face granite rock
and mixed face conditions. Frequent cutter head interventions were necessary to overcome some of the
adverse ground conditions. This paper describes problems encountered by TBM1 and adopted solu-
tions to overcome them.

1 INTRODUCTION

Alignment of C920 tunnels from Newton to Stevens Station passes through Bukit Timah Granite for-
mation of Singapore. The two stacked tunnels are aligned such that they pass under busy Bukit Timah
road. These Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) tunnels are 1.44km in length having internal diameter of 5.8m.
The upper tunnel is located at 15m to 25m below ground. The lower tunnel is located at 35m to 40m
below ground. Total rings to be built for lower tunnel (BP bound) were 1020. (Length of each ring was
1.4m)

2 GROUND CONDITIONS

The ground conditions encountered for the lower tunnel (Newton to Stevens – Bukit Panjang Bound
Tunnel), which was mined by TBM1, were highly variable. Longitudinal soil profile for entire tunnel
drive is shown in figures 1 and 2 on the next page. Referring to the soil profile, approximately 12% of
alignment of TBM1 was indicated to be in mixed face conditions. Approximately 15% of tunnel drive
was in full face Granite rock. According to Geotechnical Interpretative Baseline Report (GIBR), un-
confined compressive strength (UCS) of grade GII granite rock could be up to 250MPa. GIBR shows
abrasiveness of granite of 4 to 5 on CERCHAR index scale. This type of Granite is described as strong
to very strong and extremely abrasive in nature.
Figure 1: Soil profile of TBM1 tunnel drive – Ring 1 to Ring 500 (from Newton to Stevens station)

Figure 2: Soil profile of TBM1 tunnel drive – Ring 500 to Ring 1020 (from Newton to Stevens station)

3 TUNNEL BORING MACHINE (TBM)

An Earth Pressure Balance (EPB) machine was utilized for this drive. Features of this machine are dis-
cussed below. Further details are given in Table 1.

For the mixed ground the machine design cannot be optimized and compromises must often be made
to allow an acceptable performance. Therefore, tunnelling with TBM1 presented major problems and
numerous improvements to TBM1 were made to overcome the issues of tunnelling in Bukit Timah
Granite.

Salient features of TBM1 are discussed below.

3.1 Cutter Head

Cutter head was equipped with 17” back loading type disc cutters. Total 47 disc cutters were fitted on
cutter head. These disc cutters were further divided into four categories namely Inner Cutters (I),
Gauge Cutters (G), Pre Gauge Cutters (PG) and Center Cutters (C). Two copy cutters were installed
for overcutting on curved alignment. Also, cutter head was equipped with cutter bits and scrappers.
Cutter head of TBM1 is shown in figure 3.
3.2 Cutter head drive motors

Reduction geared, VFD electric motors were installed for rotating cutter head with pinion gears and
main gear.

3.3 Screw Conveyor

0.86m Diameter screw conveyor had shaft less ribbon type blades in front portion and remaining screw
conveyor was of shaft type. According to machine supplier, this type of screw conveyor was capable
of transporting boulders up to 580mm in size. Shafts of the screw conveyor were retractable so that
jammed boulders could be removed through inspection hatches.

3.4 Rear Grippers

The machine was equipped with two rear stabilizers.

3.5 Back Fill Grouting

Four simultaneous backfill grouting ports were installed at tail section of machine.

Table 1: Specifications of Tunnel Boring Machine

Specifications of Tunnel Boring Machine1 (TBM1)

Outer Diameter 6.630m

Length of Shield 10.020m
Back loading type 17” Disc Cutters (2 Gauge Cutters, 37
Inner Cutters, 8 Centre Cutters : Total 47 Disc Cutters),
Cutter Head Tools
12 Scrapers, 72 Cutter Bits.
KERF Spacing of Disc Cutters : 100mm.
26 Thrust Jacks with maximum stroke of 2050mm. Total
Thrust Jacks
maximum thrust of 39000kN
Cutter Head Motors 10 motors of 120kW each (Total power of 1200kW)
3.3m Diameter (Four Lip) Outer Seal,
Main Bearing Seals 2.2m Diameter Inner Seal
(Outer and Inner Seals are of Urethane, four lip type)
0.86m Diameter, Total length of 14.350m
(3.2m length was of Ribbon type and remaining length of
11.15m was shaft type)
Screw Conveyor
280m³/Hr discharge capacity, Two inspection hatches and
one side gate at ribbon type screw blades to remove
jammed boulders / rock pieces
Torque Max Torque: 6890kNm, Min Torque: 2920kNm
Cutter Head Speed Minimum : 0.4 RPM, Maximum: 4 RPM
Articulation Jacks 16 pcs
Tail Seal Brushes 3 Rows of Tail Seal Brushes
Figure 3: Cutter head of TBM1

4 SCREW CONVEYOR ISSUES

4.1 Design of Screw Conveyor

Figure 4 below shows a section of screw conveyor in TBM1.The first section of screw conveyor was
designed as a ribbon type. This section was shaft less and this particular feature was incorporated in
screw conveyor design to facilitate smooth passage of boulders of size up to 580mm. Length of this
section was 1.75m. The internal diameter of screw conveyor was 860mm with blade diameter of
845mm.

Figure 4: Cross sectional view of Screw Conveyor of TBM1

Photograph of front end of shaft less ribbon type screw conveyor is shown in figure 5 below.

Figure 5: Shaft less ribbon type screw

Large rock pieces as shown in figure 6 and 7 could not pass. This resulted in jamming screw conveyor.
Medium sized rock pieces became stuck requiring manual extraction.

Figure 6: Photograph of stuck Granite (approximately 600mm x 800mm) in Screw Conveyor

Inspection hatches were opened to clear blockages by jammed blocky Granite fragments. This process
was time consuming and caused major downtime in TBM1 operations.

Figure 7: Photograph of stuck Granite (approximately 200mm wide) in Screw Conveyor (200mm width)
4.2 Modification of Screw Conveyor

During the tunnel drive blades of screw conveyor sheared off numerous times. Impact from the
jammed rock pieces and high torque of screw conveyor were contributing factors. To overcome this is-
sue, thickness of screw conveyor blades was increased from 25mm to 40mm. This modification took
two weeks to complete.

In another incident a connection between shaft and the drive drum sheared off. The main cause of this
was a fatigue created by repeated loads from screw conveyor rotation. The damage is shown in figure
8 below. Assessment of damage is shown in figure 9.

Figure 8: Photograph of damaged Screw Conveyor

Figure 9: Assessment of damaged Screw Conveyor

On many occasions, screw conveyor discharge gate couldn’t be closed because of rock fragments were
stuck in the discharge gate. Impact of rock fragments caused damage to the parts of gate which re-
quired extensive welding. To overcome the issue of the screw conveyor gate not able to be close dur-
ing mining, a second discharge gate was installed on the screw conveyor.

5 USE OF CLAY SHOCK

TBM1 encountered difficulty in forming a plug in screw conveyor in full face rock and in mixed faces.
The screw conveyor could not retain pressure in the chamber due to high groundwater pressure.
Ground water was discharged from screw conveyor gate leaving behind large amount of compacted
granite chips in the screw conveyor barrel causing screw conveyor to jam. To form a plug in screw
conveyor Clay Shock was injected in excavation chamber. Clay Shock paste in the excavation cham-
ber assisted greatly in smooth transportation of Granite rock fragments through screw conveyor. How-
ever, introduction of clay shock came much later in tunnel drive.
5.1 Method of preparation of Clay Shock slurry

Clay Shock is special natural clay available in powder form. Clay Shock slurry was prepared by add-
ing water with mixing ratio of 1:2 (Clay shock 1 part and water 2 parts). This slurry was then trans-
ported and stored in the tank on TBM’s back up gantry. This slurry was pumped into excavation
chamber with Sodium Silicate added at the point of discharge with mixing ratio of 20:1(Clay Shock 20
parts and Sodium Silicate 1 part). For ground conditions of Bukit Timah Granite of grade GII – GIII
volume of Clay Shock slurry pumped into excavation chamber was about 10 to 12 cubic meters per
ring.

6 DAMAGE OF MAIN BEARING SEALS

When TBM1 was mining for Ring 946 on 28 June 2013, a mixture of grease and soil overflowed from
grease overflow port located in main bearing chamber. After opening of inspection port of the main
bearing chamber, it was found that main bearing chamber was contaminated from excavated soil. It
was concluded that damaged outer main bearing seals caused leak of mined soil in the main bearing
chamber.
Contamination of main bearing chamber is shown in figure 10 below.

Figure 10: Contamination of Main Bearing Chamber (TBM1)

6.1 Main Bearing grease lubrication system of TBM1

TBM1 was fitted with total of 164 grease lubrication outlets for main bearing seals. Pump pressure for
these grease supply lines was set at 14Mpa. There were various alarms related to lubrication system
such as feed delay, low grease level in tanks, pump overload.

6.2 Main Bearing seals cooling system of TBM1

Water jackets around seal housing received supply of cooling water. This helped in lowering seal tem-
perature. There were various alarms related to cooling water supply such as abnormal flow, abnormal
temperature of incoming water and seals.

6.3 Root causes of damage of main bearing seals

TBM1 parameters for rings mined earlier were thoroughly checked. Sufficient cooling water with right
temperature was supplied to seals. Therefore, temperature of seals did not exceed 50 Degree Celsius.
Upon further investigation, it was established that root causes of damage of outer main bearing seals
were insufficient supply of grease to the seals and insufficient pressure of grease in seal cavities. Wear
and tear of seals further accelerated once grinded Granite rock fragments found its entry into seal cavi-
ties.
6.4 Remedial measures
Machine supplier proposed installation of additional outer main bearing seal. A set of J -type seals
were ordered from SKF Austria. Proposal is shown figure 11 below.

Figure 11: Additional Outer Seal for TBM1

6.5 Method of installation

It took two months to assemble and install additional outer main bearing seals. First step began with
complete cleaning of main bearing and drive motor gear chamber. Contaminated bearing chamber is
shown in figure 10 in section 7. All cooling water supply lines were checked and cleaned thoroughly.

Installation method for additional seals was worked out. Seal housings and sealing plates were pro-
cured. Part of the seal housing plate with one of the grease injection hole is shown in figure 12 below.

Figure 12: Part photograph of seal assembly

Installation of the additional outer seals was done in compressed air in excavation chamber. The addi-
tional seal was encased in steel housing plate which was welded to bulkhead wall. Seals were held to-
gether with seal holder plate. One hundred twenty numbers of M12x150mm bolts were used to hold
three additional seals together. Labyrinth plate and seal ring was installed on rotating part of cutter
head column plate.
Figure 13: Seal assembly

The arrangement of seal assembly is shown in figure 13 above. As can be seen from figure 13, eight
grease injection ports were established along periphery of additional seal. Each port consisted of three
6mm diameter copper injection pipes. EP-2 grease was injected through these pipes with 21Mpa pres-
sure. Piping box for grease lines, with pressure gauges and sampling valves, was fitted on outer side of
bulkhead wall. The grease piping box is shown in figure 14 below.

Figure 14: Piping box for grease lines on bulkhead wall

Figure 15, below, shows photograph of seal assembly when fully completed on 15 August 2013.

Figure 15: Photograph of completed assembly of additional seal

6.6 Additional Grease Pump
TBM1 had two grease pumps supplying grease to outer seals, inner seals and main bearing. A 3rd
pump was installed to supply EP-2 grease solely to additional outer seals. The additional grease supply
pipes were fitted with pressure gauges and grease sampling valves. These valves were used to collect
grease samples during excavation of subsequent rings in order to verify that there was no contamina-
tion of grease in main bearing chamber.

6.7 Resumption of mining

Upon resumption of mining, a procedure was established to check and verify grease consumption for
additional main bearing seals. In the same procedure, monitoring of seal cavity pressure was also in-
cluded. It was ensured that pressure in seal cavities always remained more than face pressure.
Figures 16 and 17 below illustrate monitoring of grease pressure and temperature in seals.

Figure 16: Grease pressure in Main Bearing seals

Figure 17: Temperature in Main Bearing seals

Before mining for new ring, all grease pumps were checked to verify that they were in good working
condition. It was ensured that grease pumps supplying grease to main bearing were activated in AUTO
mode. Grease consumption was recorded for each ring. Figure 16 shows grease pressure in main bear-
ing seals when mining resumed from ring number 946. Temperature of main bearing seals from ring
number 946 onwards is shown in figure 17.

It was decided that in subsequent cutter head interventions (CHIs), condition of installed additional
seals would be checked by machine supplier. In subsequent CHIs seals were inspected and found to be
in good condition. Figure 18 shows photograph of condition of seal examined during one of the CHI.
Figure 18: Photograph of condition of seal

7 CUTTER HEAD INTERVENTIONS (CHIS)

60 cutter head interventions were undertaken on this tunnel drive. Total duration of these interventions
amounted to 245 days (8 months). Total time spent for all CHIs on this tunnel drive amount to 39% of
total mining duration.

On an average 10 number of disc cutters were changed for each intervention. Gauge cutters were
changed more frequently. Total discs changed, for TBM1 tunnel drive, amounted to 568.

7.1 Wear and tear of Disc Cutters

There were many cases of lost rings of disc cutters or disc cutters completely broken. In some of the
interventions disc cutters were completely worn out. Some of the disc cutters showed wear of 25mm.
Some of the severe wear and tear on disc cutters is shown in figures 19 and 20 below.

Figure 19: Severe wear of discs (Disc I27- CHI at R814)

Figure 20: Severe wear of discs (Disc I32- CHI at R816)

Majority of interventions were undertaken from Ring number 800 to Ring number 1014. Tunnel drive
ended at Ring number 1020. In this stretch, predominant wear was observed on cutters located on out-
er periphery of cutter head.

7.2 Other issues

Cracks on cutter head arm were found out in some interventions. Welding at these locations was done
in order to continue mining. Other cases of lost or broken mixing arms, cracked cutter housings were
also reported during cutter head interventions.

Figure 21: Welding of cracks on cutter head arm (CHI at R900)

7.3 Arrangement of disc cutters on Cutter head of TBM1

Cutter head of TBM1 is shown in figure 22 with arrangement of 17”Disc Cutters. Also, discs referred
in figure 23 are shown in the cutter head drawing. All the discs cutters were sourced from single sup-
plier.

Figure 22: Arrangement of 17” Disc Cutters on cutter head of TBM1

7.4 Wear measurement of Disc Cutters

Figure 23: Wear measurement of Disc Cutters located on periphery of cutter head (TBM1)

As can be seen from figure above, most of the disc wear took place in between Ring 800 and Ring
1014. Abrasion tests conducted on Granite samples at ring number 930 indicated CERCHAR indexes
of 4.70. This type of Granite is considered as extremely abrasive.

Almost 40% percent of total CHIs were carried out in this stretch. Disc wear was predominant on
gauge cutters and on cutters located on outer periphery of cutter head. Other discs on cutter head
showed varying degree of wear but not as frequently as discs shown in figure 23. From ring number
965 onwards gauge cutter1 (G1) and gauge cutter2 (G2) showed constant wear of 5mm to 10mm and
these cutters were changed in almost all interventions thereafter. In between ring 800 and ring 1014,
total 379 disc cutters were replaced.

7.5 Other changes

At Ring number 886 extensive cutter head intervention was carried out. To see through mining for re-
maining rings in Granite, new housing was installed for two gauge cutters. Grade of bolts were
changed from grade 10.9 to grade 12.9 for scrapers and cutter bits.

7.6 Relation between grinding distance and wear of gauge cutters

Figure 24 shows relation between grinding distance and wear, in full face Granite, for gauge cutters
G1 and G2. Most of the measured data on wear fell in between 60km and 80km mark. On an average
grinding distance of 60km, in full face Granite of grade II, resulted in average wear of 8mm on gauge
cutters.

Figure 24: Relation between grinding distance and wear of Gauge cutters in Grade II Granite (TBM1)
7.7 Relation between grinding distance and wear of peripheral cutters
Figure 25 shows relation between grinding distance and wear, in full face Granite, for cutters located
on periphery of cutter head. Most of the measured wear data fell in between 150km and 200km mark.
On an average, grinding distance of 150km in full face Granite of grade II resulted in average wear of
18mm on cutters numbered 29 to 35.

Figure 25: Relation between grinding distance and wear of Gauge cutters in Grade II Granite (TBM1)

8 TOTAL DURATION OF TUNNELLING (TBM1 TUNNEL DRIVE)

TBM1 was launched from Newton station on 14 January 2012. Main drive commenced on 8 March
2012. Total duration of main drive was 625 days. Screw conveyor issues caused delays of about 65
days. Time spent on the repair of main bearing seal was two months. Total time spent on CHIs was
about 245 days.

TBM1 completed mining on 26 November 2013.

9 CONCLUSIONS

Regular maintenance is important to reduce major breakdowns in tunnelling operations. Grease lubri-
cation in TBM need to be monitored. Often, major issues such as installation of additional or replace-
ment seal is time consuming process which results into major downtime in TBM drives.

Regular cutter head interventions are required during mining in full face rock to assess disc wear, re-
placement or strengthening of parts and assemblies.

REFERENCES

Morimoto M. & Kato I., 1998, bore through 2335meter railway shield tunnel without a change of cutter bit – Re-
cording advance of 321 meter per month, Tunnels and Metropolises, Balkema, Rotterdam