Expanding Underground.

Knowledge and Passion to Make a Positive Impact

on the World – Anagnostou, Benardos & Marinos (Eds)
© 2023 The Author(s), ISBN 978-1-003-34803-0
Open Access: www.taylorfrancis.com, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license

Practical countermeasures for road tunnels against collapse of

lining caused by earthquake

A. Kusaka
Public Works Research Institute, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

N. Isago & K. Kawata

Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan

ABSTRACT: Rock tunnels are generally considered to be strong structures against earth­
quakes compared to surface structures. In recent years in Japan, however, several severe dam­
ages such as the collapse of lining have occurred due to direct earthquakes. For road tunnel
owners and users, such damage is unacceptable and countermeasures are required. On the other
hand, due to budgetary constraints, it is impossible to take large-scale measures for all tunnels.
The authors therefore have reviewed the severe tunnel damage by earthquake, conducted
dynamic measurement in actual tunnels, and examined effective countermeasures against large
earthquake through laboratory test and numerical analysis. As a result, ground conditions that
are prone to be affected by the earthquake are proposed. It is also proposed that reinforcing bar
in permanent lining concrete is effective to avoid collapse of a large mass of lining concrete.

1 INTRODUCTION

Rock tunnels are generally considered to be strong structures against earthquakes compared to
other surface structures. In Japan, permanent lining is generally made of plain concrete in normal
ground conditions, though the lining in portal areas and other very poor ground conditions is
reinforced with steel bars mainly to cope with uncertain external forces but also in anticipation of
earthquakes. However, even rock tunnels in normal ground conditions are not completely
immune to earthquake damage. In recent years, several severe damages such as the collapse of
plain concrete lining have occurred due to direct earthquakes. For road tunnel owners and users,
such damage is unacceptable and countermeasures are required. On the other hand, due to
budgetary constraints, it is impossible to take large-scale measures for all tunnels. The authors
therefore reviewed the earthquake damage in Japan and some other countries so far and examined
the conditions of tunnels that are susceptible to earthquakes. In addition, dynamic measurements
were conducted in actual tunnels to understand the mode and magnitude of the acting load during
some earthquakes. Furthermore, the effects of countermeasures such as additional lining and add­
itional rockbolts were verified by model experiments and numerical analysis.

2 ROAD TUNNEL STRUCTURE IN JAPAN

2.1 Number of road tunnels

In Japan, full-fledged road tunnels have been constructed since 1950s. Currently, total
number of road tunnels are 10,846 and total length of them is 4,742 km as of April 2020
(Figure 1). Most of them have been constructed by mountain tunneling method. Other

DOI: 10.1201/9781003348030-14

108
tunneling methods, including shield method, cut-and-cover method, immersing method, have
also is used in urban area or harbor area, but the number is very limited for road tunnels.

Figure 1. Numbers and total length of road tunnels in Japan.

2.2 Standard tunnel structure

The technical standard for road tunnel in Japan was established in 1962, and has been revised
several times since then. Most of the road tunnels in Japan have been constructed with con­
ventional tunneling method.
Before 1980s, the steel-arch-support and lagging method was commonly used. An example
of tunnel shape at that time is illustrated in Figure 2(a). Although arched steel supports and
wooden laggings are installed right after the excavation, permanent support effect is not
expected. Permanent lining made of plain concrete was used expecting to secure the long-term
load bearing function, and usually designed with a thickness of 45 cm for fair ground or
60 cm for poor ground. Inverted arch concrete is installed if the ground condition is not good.
Void behind the lining is likely to occur during construction as well as insufficient thickness of
lining around crown, and sometimes adversely affect load-bearing capacity.
Since 1980s, sprayed concrete and rockbolts have been widely used for conventional tunnel­
ing followed by permanent lining. This method has become the standard construction method
for road tunnel (Japan Road Association, 2003) and is often called as the New Austrian Tun­
neling Method (NATM) in Japan, as illustrated in Figure 2(b). Hereafter in this paper, this
method is referred to as NATM. The specifications of the support are determined according
to ground condition. A plane concrete lining with designed thickness of 30 cm is usually
installed regardless of ground conditions, excepting very poor ones like portal area and loca­
tions where the permanent lining is designed to resist external forces
In such places as tunnel portal and extremely poor ground condition, some reinforcement
like additional single steel bar for permanent lining have been taken to lower the risk of uncer­
tainty like earthquake, regardless of the construction method. But in general, no special seis­
mic measures have been applied until recently.

Figure 2. Examples of typical tunnel shape in Japan.

109
3 SEISMIC DAMAGE OF ROAD TUNNELS

3.1 Frequency of earthquakes

The seismic intensity scale, defined by Japan Meteorological Agency (1996), is widely used in
Japan to know shaking strength and measured all over the country. For example, in the inten­
sity 6 lower, it is difficult to remain standing for human. In the intensity 6 upper and 7, it is
impossible to remain standing or move without crawling and people may be thrown through
the air.
The scale can be quantitatively calculated from measured time history of acceleration as
instrumental seismic intensity. It is determined mainly by duration time of the motion which
exceeds a particular magnitude of acceleration. Detailed method of calculation is described in
the JMA ministerial notification (JMA, 1996).
Table 1 indicates the frequency of earthquake in Japan in recent five years. Terrible motions
like six-plus or seven occur once every one or two years recently.

Table 1. Frequency of earthquake Japan.

JMA seismic intensity

Year 1 2 3 4 5- 5+ 6- 6+ 7 Total

2017 1324 519 142 32 4 4 0 0 0 2025

2018 1379 544 178 67 7 2 1 0 1 2179
2019 1015 391 118 31 6 0 2 1 0 1564
2020 1138 412 119 38 6 1 0 0 0 1714
2021 1584 605 181 44 4 5 0 1 0 2424
2022* 948 368 107 29 5 5 1 1 0 1464

* As of September 17 Data by the courtesy of Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA)

3.2 Examples of severe tunnel damage

Previous studies have shown that tunnels can be damaged by earthquakes if extremely bad
conditions overlap, such as occurrence of strong earthquakes in the immediate vicinity of
a tunnel and existence of very poor ground condition in the tunnel (eg. Asakura et al., 2001;
Wang et al., 2001). This is supported by some actual cases including 1995 Great Hanshin-
Awaji Earthquake (JSCE, 1999), 1999 Taiwan Chi-Chi Earthquake (Hashash et al., 2001),
2004 Chuetsu Earthquake (Shimizu et al., 2005; Mashimo, 2005), and 2016 Kumamoto Earth­
quake (Isago et al., 2018). Figure 3 shows the cases of particularly serious damages such as
collapse of lining.
Summarizing the severe tunnel damages suffered from these earthquakes, tunnel
damage mode can be roughly categorized into eight types as shown in Figure 4 (PWRI,
2007). Types I, II, and III are shoulder failure, crown failure, and sidewall failure associ­
ated with shear deformation, horizontal compressive deformation, and vertical compres­
sive deformation of the ground, respectively. Type IV are heaving by load from below.
Type V illustrates lining failure induced by existing defects. In type VI, the failure of the
lining occurs along a weak layer of the ground, a fault, etc. Types VII and VIII indicate
that the tunnel fails circumferentially as the ground expands and contracts along the dir­
ection of the tunnel axis. Although some of the mechanisms that generate these ground
deformation modes have not been fully clarified, the lining cannot follow the deform­
ation of the ground in any cases. In the cases where the lining collapsed, it is considered
that axial compression failure, bending compression failure, or shear failure of the lining
concrete is possible main cause of the collapse.

110
Figure 3. Examples of serious damages of road tunnels.

Figure 4. Key types of tunnel damage by earthquake.

4 DYNAMIC MEASUREMENT AT ACTUAL TUNNELS

4.1 Outline of the measurement

Although the results from above case study is highly suggestive, there is insufficient data to
make a quantitative evaluation. Therefore, the authors have conducted dynamic measure­
ments in actual tunnels (Kusaka et.al,2012; Kusaka et.al., 2018).
Table 2 shows the outline of the tunnels. Both are two-lane road tunnels constructed by
NATM, located in earthquake prone area in Japan, and were chosen for the measurement.
There was no extremely poor ground through the tunnels.
Figure 5 outlines the measuring items. Strain meters were installed at crown, both shoulders
and both sidewalls in the lining or on the lining. An acceleration meter was attached at side­
wall in both tunnels as well as at the end of boring holes drilled from the tunnel in Tunnel
A. Motion of ground surface was obtained by the K-net system, which is operated by
National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED), Japan.

4.2 Instrumental seismic intensity and lining strain

Figure 6 shows the relationship between the seismic intensity inside the tunnel and that on the
ground surface, suggesting that tunnels suffer from less shaking than ground surface

111
Table 2. Outline of dynamic measurement at existing tunnels.
Item Tunnel A Tunnel B

Tunnel name Shin-takaharama Tunnel Saint Juan Tunnel

Place Hiroo, Hokkaido pref., Japan Ishinomaki, Miyagi pref., Japan
Administrator Hokkaido RDB, MLIT Ishinomaki City
Size Two lane road (SL width = 9.5m) Two lane road (SL width = 9.6m)
Length 2,438 m 689 m
Completion year 2016 1996
Construction method NATM NATM
Main bedrock Granodiorite/diorite Sand rock/shale
Overburden at measurement 200 m 40 m
Ground class CII (fair) with slight fracture zone DI (relatively poor)
Measuring items Acceleration at Acceleration at
- tunnel - tunnel
- surrounding ground - ground surface (K-NET)
- ground surface (K-NET) Strain of the lining surface
Strain of the tunnel lining
Measuring period Since 2016 Since 2011

Figure 5. Outline of measurement items.

structures. Although not indicated in the figure, the measurement results of the accelerometer
at the end of the borehole revealed that the tunnel moves together with the surrounding
ground without amplification during earthquakes (Kusaka et al., 2018).
Figure 7 indicates the peak lining strain during some large earthquakes, taking the instru­
mental seismic intensity in the tunnel on the horizontal axis. Lining strains were almost in the
range of error under instrumental seismic intensity of 4. Also, they are in the elastic range
even against the large earthquake such as instrumental seismic intensity of 5- at tunnel, while
it was 6+ on the ground surface. According to a simple numerical analysis to reproduce the
20x10-6 strain of the lining, the load acting on the lining is only about 20kPa.
The results were mainly concluded as:
– Seismic motion at tunnel is smaller than that on ground surface.
– Seismic motion of ground around tunnel is almost the same with tunnel.
– Strain of tunnel lining is in the elastic range even during large earthquake recording the
seismic intensity of six-plus on the ground.
Considering these findings, no additional countermeasure is needed for road tunnels in
ordinal ground conditions. However, the measurements have been conducted only for normal
ground condition. Further examination against tunnels in extremely poor ground conditions
is needed.

112
Figure 6. Relationship of seismic intensity between inside the tunnel and on the ground surface.

Figure 7. Peak lining strain during earthquakes.

5 DIFFICULTIES OF SEISMIC DESIGN TO MOUNTAIN TUNNELS

The mechanism of seismic damage in mountain tunnels have not yet been fully understood.
Based on the damage caused by earthquakes in the past, it is assumed that in areas where rela­
tively large damage occurred, large deformation occurred in the ground due to the earth­
quake, and the lining was unable to follow the deformation, resulting in compressive failure
or other deformation of the lining. According to the results of a numerical analysis to repro­
duce such damage, it is assumed that a load exceedingly at least 3D (D is the diameter of the
tunnel) overburden load was applied as the external force during the earthquake (Kusaka
et al., 2015).
If the lining design is based on structural calculations to secure a specified safety factor
against such loads, it is necessary to use high-strength concrete or increase the thickness of the
lining.
On the other hand, even if these measures are taken, it does not mean that the lining can
follow the deformation of the ground during an earthquake. In addition, even if reinforcing
bars or fiber sheets are attached to the lining as reinforcement measures, these are expected to
act as tensile members, and it is difficult to expect them to suppress the compressive failure of
the lining itself (Kusaka et al., 2014). Furthermore, even if fiber-reinforced concrete is used
for the lining, it can be expected to be effective in preventing small-scale concrete pieces from
falling, but if the lining fails and large deformation occurs, the adhesion between the fibers
and concrete will be broken and the reinforcement effect will be lost. Therefore, it is difficult
to expect that the concrete lining will be able to follow the deformation and prevent the col­
lapse of large concrete masses.
In other words, it is difficult to prevent the destruction of the lining itself against significant
deformation from the ground during an earthquake. Therefore, it is important to ensure the
mechanical stability of tunnels by means of supports and inverts, and at the same time to pre­
vent the fall of large concrete masses even if the tunnel lining should fail.

113
6 PRACTICAL COUNTERMEASURES

6.1 Ground conditions prone to earthquake damage

An overview of earthquake damage to road tunnels in the past shows that severe damage,
such as collapse of the tunnel lining, occurred only in a relatively small area near the active
fault that was active to case earthquake. On the other hand, the extent of the damage is
strongly related to the geological conditions, and it is considered that special geological condi­
tions were inherent in the areas where the damage was extensive. The authors have proposed
that special conditions of tunnels that are susceptible to earthquake damage (PWRI, 2017).
The conditions include areas where:
1) Construction was suspended for a long period of time due to a sudden large amount of
water inflow, or equivalent.
2) Construction was suspended for a long period of time due to significant collapse of the face
3) Large-scale auxiliary methods were used during construction due to instability of the
ground
4) Two or more ranks of support patterns were changed due to a sudden change in the geo­
logical conditions (except for the connection with the support pattern for portal area).
5) The stiffness of the geology changes significantly longitudinally or transversely.
6) Extreme uneven pressure is subjected.
7) Overburden is extremely small.
8) The ground class, which is commonly used for road tunnels in Japan (Japan Road Associ­
ation, 2003), is evaluated as DII (very poor) or worse, including faults, fracture zones, etc.
In terms of active faults, it is difficult to identify the location, timing of activity, and
scale of the fault in the current technical situation. In addition, while active faults have
a planar extent, tunnels are constructed in a linear shape. This circumstances remarks
that it is difficult to completely avoid active faults in Japan, where there are many active
faults, even if the planar or longitudinal alignment of tunnels could be slightly modified.
Therefore, in order to reduce earthquake damage to mountain tunnels, it is one of the
realistic solutions to try to understand the location of active faults at the planning and
investigation stage, and to secure a separation between the tunnel and the fault to the
extent possible. In addition, in areas where the ground conditions are poor due to past
fault activity, design and construction should be carried out to ensure adequate support
structures as described below.

6.2 For newly-constructed tunnels

Seismic design is used at special locations where it is known that the extremely soft ground
will deform during an earthquake, causing the stresses in the lining to exceed the allowable
values. This often results in the use of double-reinforced concrete lining structures. This point
has been technically solved in certain level.
On the other hand, tunnels constructed in bedrock, into which almost all road tunnels in
Japan are categorized, have not yet been solved in terms of “seismic design”. It is difficult to
prevent the failure of the lining itself against significant deformation from the ground that
occurs during an earthquake. This is for the reasons described in the chapter 5. Number of
tunnels must also be considered, since many tunnel exist and will continue to grow in Japan as
described with Figure 1, and we do not have enough knowledge to set priority. Therefore, the
principle of countermeasures against earthquake for tunnels is to ensure the mechanical stabil­
ity of the tunnel by means of supports and inverts. At the same time, even if the lining con­
crete should fail, the fall of large concrete blocks must be prevented, and one possible measure
is to reinforce the lining with steel bars. Details of these ideas can be found in the reference
(PWRI, 2017).
In other words, the practical concept of the support structure of the tunnel in the section
with the above-mentioned special conditions is as follows.

114
1) Install inverted arch concrete to make the tunnel a ring structure and to secure more mech­
anically stability (Figure 8(a)).
2) Apply sufficient support structure with sprayed concrete, steel arch supports, and rock
bolts (Figure 8(b)).
3) Take measures such as reinforcing the lining with a single bar to prevent a large blocks of
lining concrete from collapsing, even if the lining is failed by a large earthquake
(Figure 8(c)).

Figure 8. Practical countermeasures for newly-constructed road tunnels.

6.3 For existing tunnels

In existing tunnels, most earthquake damage, to a greater or lesser extent, occurred in areas
where defects had already been reported. The damage tends to be greater when there is a void
behind the lining according to some numerical analyses (eg. Asakura et al., 2001). Therefore,
for existing tunnels, it is effective also from the standpoint of seismic countermeasures to give
priority to areas where defects have already occurred. In practice, the following items should
be implemented when a tunnel is identified as having special conditions (PWRI, 2017).
1) If a void behind lining exists, backfill grouting should be priority implemented (Figure 9).
2) When defects or deformation are found, measures should be are implemented with priority,
taking into account the cause of the defects or deformation and their progress.

Figure 9. An example of practical countermeasures for existing road tunnels.

7 CONCLUSIONS

This paper proposes a possible concept for seismic countermeasures for mountain road tun­
nels based on the results of analysis of earthquake damage, dynamic measurements, and
numerical analysis.
To consider seismic countermeasures for road tunnels, it is more practical to prevent the
fall of large concrete blocks even if lining should be failed, for example by reinforcing the
lining with a single bar of steel, rather than preventing the fracture of the lining itself during

115
an earthquake in a newly constructed tunnel. For existing tunnels, it is important to minimize
the influence of earthquakes by improving maintenance and management. This approach has
been applied in many road tunnels in Japan since the Kumamoto earthquake in 2016.
There have been fewer cases of earthquake damage in mountain tunnels than in other sur­
face structures. The mechanisms of damage are not yet fully understood, and the seismic
design system has not yet been fully established. Further study is required to establish the
rational countermeasures to prevent the damage of tunnels during earthquake.

REFERENCES

Asakura T., Matsuoka S., Yashiro K., Shiba Y., and Oya T. 2001. Damage to mountain tunnels by
earthquake and its mechanism, Proceedings of the International Symposium on Modern Tunneling Sci­
ence and Technology, Vol.1, pp.351–356.
Hashash, Y.M.A., Hook, J.J., Schmidt, B., and Yao, J.I.C. 2001. Seismic design and analysis of under­
ground structures, Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology, Vol.16, pp.247–293.
Isago, N., Kusaka, A., and Koide, T. 2018. Deformation and reinforcement mechanism for mountain
tunnel in severe earthquake, ITA-AITES World Tunnel Congress 2018 Proceedings, No.1023, pp.2–15.
Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), 1996. JMA ministerial notification of No. 4 in 1996.
Japan Road Association. 2003. Technical standard for road tunnels (structures) and its commentary.
Tokyo: Maruzen. (in Japanese)
Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE), 1999. Report on the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake disaster, Emer­
gency restoration, repair, and reinforcement of civil structures, Chap.2, pp.589–591. (in Japanese)
Kusaka, A., Isago, N., Mashimo, H., and Kadoyu, K. 2012. Dynamic Measurement of an Actual
Moun-tain Tunnel during a Large Earthquake, Proceedings of ITA-AITES World Tunnel Congress
2012, pp.1–6.
Kusaka, A., Kawata, K., Isago, N., and Mashimo, H., 2014, Static Loading Tests and Numerical Ana­
lysis of the Effects of Risk Mitigation Measures for Rock Tunnels against Earthquakes, The 8th Asian
Rock Mechanics Symposium, No.OS3-1, pp.1–8.
Kusaka, A., Kawata, K., Isago, N., and Mashimo, H., 2015, An Evaluation on Load-Bearing Capacity
of Rock Tunnel Lining against Earthquake-attributed Loading, Proceedings of ITA-AITES World
Tunnel Congress 2015, No.1.84, pp.1–10.
Kusaka A., Isago, N., Kitagawa, Y., Hara, S., and Kawata, K.: Mechanical Behavior of Mountain Tun­
nuel during Earthquake Based on Dynamic Measurement in an Actual Tunnel, Proceedings of ITA-
AITES World Tunnel Congress 2018, No.O-1094, pp.1–12, 2018.
Kusaka, A., Hara, S., and Isago, N., 2019, Loading magnitude for rock tunnel during earthquake esti­
mated by dynamic measurement at an actual tunnel, Proceedings of ITA-AITES World Tunnel Con­
gress 2019, pp.934–940.
Mashimo, H. 2005. Damage of road tunnels caused by 2004 Mid Niigata Prefecture Earthquake. Journal
of JTA-Tunnel and Underground, Vol.36, No.11, pp.55–63. (in Japanese)
Public Works Research Institute (PWRI), 2017, Technical report on behavior of mountain tunnel during
earthquake and countermeasures, Technical note of PWRI. (in Japanese)
Shimizu, M., Kurisu, M., and Kato, S., 2005. Damage of railway tunnels caused by 2004 Mid Niigata
Prefecture Earthquake. Journal of JTA-Tunnel and Underground, Vol.36, No.5, pp.37–44. (in
Japanese)
Wang, W.L., Wang, T.T., Su, J.J., Lin, C.H., Seng, C.R., and Huang, T.H. 2001. Assessment of damage
in mountain tunnels due to the Taiwan Chi-Chi Earthquake. Tunnelling and Underground Space Tech­
nology, Vol.16, pp.133–150.

116