„SEE Tunnel:Promoting Tunneling in SEE Region“

ITA WTC 2015 Congress and 41st General Assembly

May 22-28, 2015, Lacroma Valamar Congress Center, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Backfill grouting with two-component grout - Case study Tehran

metro line 7 east-west lot
Author: Amir ZARRIN, Shahrood University of Technology, Iran, amir.zarrin@shahroodut.ac.ir
Co-author: Shokrollah ZARE, Shahrood University of Technology, Iran, zare@shahroodut.ac.ir
Co-author: S. M. Esmaeil JALALI, Shahrood University of Technology, Iran,
jalalisme@shahroodut.ac.ir

Topic (Mechanized Tunnelling in Development and Use)

Keywords: Backfill grouting, Two-Component Grout, Mix Design, Tehran Metro Line 7 (E-W lot)

1. Introduction
In Tehran metro line 7 east-west lot an EPB-TBM has been chosen to perform the excavation of the
tunnel. In this project, excavating diameter is 9.14 meters and outer diameter of segments (with
35 cm width) is 8.85 meters, with considering to placement of segments, the width of annular gap
(tail void) is 29 cm that should be filled with grout. Based on the hydrology studies, 65 percent of
tunnel route is placed in saturated area. For this reason, the key (main) characteristics of injected
grout in this section of tunnel are washout resistance and stability against water. The objective of
this paper is to develop experiment designs to improve the consistency and stability of grout
against water and provide the optimum mix design plan with evaluate and optimize the
parameters.

2. Geology
The east-west section of line 7 of Tehran metro is located in the Tehran quaternary alluvium. The
alluvium sediments in along the route of the metro tunnel mostly consist of fine-grained sediments,
gravel and rubble and like a cover slip over the older sediments. Generally, alluvial layers have
variable grain size distribution, so that sediments get more fine-grained from east to west, and in
western zones of tunnel, layers with clay are further developed. According to field and laboratory
studies, the soil in along the tunnel axis has been considered 6 engineering geological types. Each
unit is presented in Table 1.

Table 1 Characteristics of engineering geological types in tunnel rout

Engineering ET-1 ET-2 ET-3 ET-4 ET-5 ET-6

Geo. Types
Describe of soil Sandy gravel & Very gravely Very silty Clayey silty Clayey silt & Very soft
gravely sand sand with silt clayey with sand with clay with sand clayey sandy
gravel gravel silt
Percent passing 3-12 % 12-30% 30-60% 22-34% >60% >50%
through 200
sieve
Soil GW,GW- SC,SC- SC,SM&CL SC,SM CL,ML&CL-ML ML
classification GM,GPGC,SW&SP SM&GC
(USCS)
 „SEE Tunnel:Promoting Tunneling in SEE Region“
ITA WTC 2015 Congress and 41st General Assembly
May 22-28, 2015, Lacroma Valamar Congress Center, Dubrovnik, Croatia

3. The backfilling grouting system

Choosing of proper grouting system for backfilling, done by considering area characteristics,
penetration rate, acting loads on the concrete ring, machine design, availability of materials,
economic issues and project budget. Type of grout and its characteristics largely depend on design
of the grouting system on the shield and backup system. Considering that the EPB is a
second-hand machine, much of design of the machine has already been done, and according to
the design and technical specifications of the machine, two-component grout system used in this
project. Two-component grout is the one of the injection systems for back filling of the annular
gap. This type contains two component A and B. Component A is usually composed of cement,
bentonite, water and admixtures such as retarder (slow the setting rate of concrete), super
plasticizer (to reduce water content and improve the flow characteristics) and anti-wash out (to
reduce the washing out of the fine particles with increasing the cohesion of the grout). Component
B acts as an accelerator (to increase the rate of early strength development and speed up the start
of finishing operations) and usually sodium silicate is used due to economic cost. Numbers of TBM
technical specifications are as follows:

- Two-component grouting system (include pumps, flow meters, control valves, PLC conductors)
- One tank with a capacity of 5 m3 for component A with spiral mixer
- One tank with a capacity of 1 m3 for component B without mixer
- Pipes for grout transferring to TBM

For injection system, inside the shield for component six main injection lines and six reserved lines
are embedded. Six injection lines for component B are considered. As mentioned before, TBM and
backup system are designed base on two-component grouting system. The injection process is
shown schematically in fig. 1.

Fig. 1 schematic of procedure of grout injection

4. Specified the optimal mix design

Based on the hydrology studies, 65 percent of tunnel rout is placed in saturated zone. For this
reason, the key (main) characteristic of injected grout in this section of tunnel is wash-out
resistance and stability against water. In addition, grout mixture should have a proper bleeding
and gelling time, pumping capacity and sufficient strength. The mixture should be economically
and have good condition in availability of additives. In order to provide the proper and optimal mix
design, several tests are done. In the next section, methods of specify any parameters that effect
on mixtures treatment and procedures of providing the optimal mix design is described.
 „SEE Tunnel:Promoting Tunneling in SEE Region“
ITA WTC 2015 Congress and 41st General Assembly
May 22-28, 2015, Lacroma Valamar Congress Center, Dubrovnik, Croatia

4.2 Tests and samples

Table 2 Phase I mixtures The grout mixtures investigated in this

study are prepared cement, water,
Mix No. Cement Bentonite Water Retarder bentonite, accelerator, retarder and
(kg) (kg) (kg) (kg) anti-wash out. The products of 4 suppliers
are chosen as anti-wash out additives.
These four types are B, C, K, T. To achieve
A-1 350 25 875 3.5 a mixture design that would be technically
and economically efficient, the parameters
A-2 350 35 872 3.5 that affect the quality of the grout should
be analysed. The affecting parameters are
A-3 350 45 868 3.5 bleeding, marsh viscosity, gelling time,
washout resistance and compressive
A-4 380 25 866 3.8
strength. To specify any of the parameters,
there are standards and methods that are
described in each section. Tests are done
A-5 380 35 862 3.8
in 2 phases. The first phase of the study is
done to qualify and quantify parameters
A-6 380 45 858 3.8 such as bleeding, marsh viscosity to get
the best mixture designs of component A.
A-7 400 25 859 4 Phase II of the study involve gelling time,
compressive strength and wash out
A-8 400 35 855 4
resistance tests for selecting the best mix
design. In the phase I, between the 50
mix designs studied in laboratory, finally 9
A-9 400 45 851 4
mix designs are selected. These mix
designs reported in Table 2.

4.2.1 Bleeding

Table 3 Bleeding percent of mix designs after 4 hours Bleeding is a form of segregation in which
a layer of water migrates to the surface of
Mix No. A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A8 A9 the grout during the initial stage of
Bleeding % 6.4 2.6 2.3 5.6 2.7 2.3 5.2 2.2 1.8 cement hydration process. Later on, some
of the floating water is re-absorbed into
the grout due to further hydration
reactions (CHU, 2010). Bleeding can
occur at any time during the
transportation, handling and placing of
grout. In grouting process, bleeding
causes precipitate in the transferring
pipes. Based on the projects experienced
and other investigations, the bleeding
value should be less than 5% after
4hours (Barnett, 2008). All of the mix
designs except A1 have bleeding less than
5% after 4 hours. Bleeding test results
Fig. 2 Measuring bleeding after 4 hours
are presented in table 3. Fig. 2 shows
bleeding test.
 „SEE Tunnel:Promoting Tunneling in SEE Region“
ITA WTC 2015 Congress and 41st General Assembly
May 22-28, 2015, Lacroma Valamar Congress Center, Dubrovnik, Croatia

4.2.2 Marsh viscosity

The most common method of assessing the rheological behavior of cement grouts in the field is to
measure the amount of time it takes one liter of grout to flow through a marsh cone or funnel.
This measurement is called the marsh time or Marsh viscosity and gives an idea of the rheological
behaviour of the grout. According to Pellegrini & Perrza (2009) and Barnett (2008) studies,
injection grouts should have a marsh-viscosity between 35–45 seconds. High marsh viscosity
causes pumping issues and low marsh viscosity causes grout bleeding. In Fig. 3, results of Marsh
viscosity tests are shown. According to the results in the first phase of tests and economic issues,
A2 and A9 as appropriate mix designs of component A are selected for testing in Phase II. In next
step, anti-wash out with different amounts (according to products instructions) is added to
component A. Then, Component B (sodium silicate) is added to prepared samples and optimal
amount of component B, gelling time, wash-out resistance and 7-day compressive strength are
determined and finally an optimal mix design is presented.

Fig. 3 Mix designs marsh times

4.2.3 Gelling time and optimal amount of sodium silicate

Gelling time is the time it takes for the

Table 4 Gelling times (sec) for admixture designs
grout to catalyze from liquid form to
gelatinous form (Fig. 4). Gel times are
No. Time(sec) No. Time(sec) No. Time(sec) No. Time(sec)
1 9.5 7 11 13 10 19 often
11.5 set to ensure that the grout moves
2 11.5 8 10.5 14 8.5 20 through
9.5 the pipe before hardening. (Lee,
3 9 9 10 15 10 21 2007).
9 Gel time can be varied between
4 10.5 10 11 16 11.5 22 8-11
8.5 seconds based on the grout
5 9 11 10.5 17 9 23 formulation.
9 (Pellegrini and Perruzza,
6 10.5 12 8.5 18 10 24 2009;
11.5 Pelila et al., 2011; Feddema,
2001). If the grout gels too quickly, it
causes injection pipe clogging.
Conversely, if the grout does not gel
quickly enough, it may not be strong
and hard enough. To specify the optimal
amount of component B, 2 selected mix
designs of component A are mixed with
certain amounts of anti-wash out
additives and 55,70,90 and 130 Kg/m3
of sodium silicate. Then, the gelling time
of each sample is determined and after
the analysing of results, the optimum
Fig. 4 Gelatinous form amount is specified. In this test, among
the 130 samples, only 24 samples have
optimal gelling time (Table 4).
 „SEE Tunnel:Promoting Tunneling in SEE Region“
ITA WTC 2015 Congress and 41st General Assembly
May 22-28, 2015, Lacroma Valamar Congress Center, Dubrovnik, Croatia

4.2.4 Wash-out resistance

Table 5 Washout resistance test For gout injection in projects located

in below the water table, Grout
No. C.A Silicate Type Dosage Wash-Out resistance against the dispersion,
Sodium of (% of Resistance
(Kg/m3) AWA cement)
Flushing out and suspending in the
1 A2 70 K 0.4 Good surrounding water is important.
2 A2 70 K 0.6 Average
Anti-washout characteristics can be
evaluated through a series of
3 A2 70 K 2 Bad
visually demonstrative, qualitative
4 A2 70 K 5 Bad tests, such as pouring the grout
5 A2 90 T 6 Average through a column of freestanding
6 A2 90 C 0.5 Bad water to observe the extent of
dispersion of the grout particles
7 A2 70 C 1 Average
(Chuaqui,2003). The range of
8 A2 70 C 3 Good
scoring is bad, average, good and
9 A2 130 B 0.6 Average very good. For this section, 24 mix
10 A2 70 B 2 Good designs witch have optimal gelling
11 A2 90 B 4 Good times are selected. Results of
12 A9 70 K 0.4 Good
washout resistance test are shown
in Table 5. Fig. 5 shows scoring
13 A9 70 K 0.6 Very Good
standards.
14 A9 70 K 2 Bad
15 A9 70 K 5 Bad
16 A9 70 T 1 Bad
17 A9 70 T 6 Average
18 A9 70 T 10 Average
19 A9 70 C 0.5 Average
20 A9 70 C 1 Good
21 A9 70 C 3 Good
22 A9 90 B 0.6 Average
23 A9 70 B 2 Good
24 A9 70 B 4 veryGood

Fig. 5 wash-out resistance scoring

 „SEE Tunnel:Promoting Tunneling in SEE Region“
ITA WTC 2015 Congress and 41st General Assembly
May 22-28, 2015, Lacroma Valamar Congress Center, Dubrovnik, Croatia

4.2.5 Compressive strength

Appropriate compressive strength is other parameters that must be achieved after the injection of
two-component grout in the annular gap. In general, the strength of two-component grout has to
be similar or little bit more than the mechanical characteristics of the soil being excavated (Barnett,
2008). The two-component grout should just act as an “interface element” between the
surrounding ground and segmental lining, in order to homogenously transfer the pressures on the
lining. If the early strength of grout is less than the soil strength, ground loss may be occurs. It is
very important that if the annular gap didn't fill properly with good early strengthen grout, ground
loss around the segmental lining cause the migration of the settlement toward the surface in
short-term. The acceptable compressive strength is about 1.5-2.0 MPa for samples after 7 days
hardening. The condition of preparation for studied samples was at 28°C of temperature and 80%
humidity in the laboratory (Novin, 2012). Among the 24 mix designs, only mixtures with good and
very good wash-out resistance are tested. Results of this test are presented in Fig. 6.

Fig. 6 a) Loaded cubic and b) Measured UCS for selected admixtures

5. Conclusion
The proper injection system for backfill grouting and filling the annular gap, should be selected
with regard to ground conditions, advance rate, handling methods, availability of materials and
other requirements. Type of grout and its characteristics, depends on design of injection system on
the shield and backup system. In the Tehran metro line 7, according to design TBM and backup
system, two-component grout has been chosen for injection operation. Based on the experiences,
this type of injection system is more efficient at high advance rates. Because this system allows
more control over injection operation and ground settlements, especially in urban areas.to achieve
a mixture with technical and economic efficiency, the parameters that affect the quality of grout
such as bleeding, marsh viscosity, gelling time, wash-out resistance and compressive strength
were evaluated. With regard to project conditions, TBM designs, cement components and
specifications of used materials and economic costs, mix design with 400 kg of cement, 45 kg of
bentonite, 851 kg of water, 4 kg ( 1% of cement weight) of retarder, 70 kg of silicate sodium
(as accelerator) and 0.6 % of cement weight type K AWA was selected as optimal design for this
project.
 „SEE Tunnel:Promoting Tunneling in SEE Region“
ITA WTC 2015 Congress and 41st General Assembly
May 22-28, 2015, Lacroma Valamar Congress Center, Dubrovnik, Croatia

6. Refrences
CHU, V.T.H.,(2005). A Self-Learning Manual-Mastering Different Fields of Civil Engineering Works
(VC-Q&A Method).Retrieved from http://www.ice.org.uk/Information-resources/Document-
Library/A-self-learning-manual--Mastering-different-fields

Barnett, P., (2008). Construction of bored tunnels in urban areas-Essential techniques for success.
Retrieved from http://wiryanto.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/makalah_9.pdf.

Pellegrini, L., Perruzza, P.& US Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, (2009). Sao Paulo
metro project-control of settlements in variable soil conditions through EPB pressure and
bicomponent backfill grout. 19th conference of rapid excavation and tunneling, pp. 1137-1153.

Lee, R.K.,(2007). Packer Injection Grouting for the Long-Term – An Engineering

Perspective. Proceedings of the Water Environment Federation, Collection Systems 2008 , pp.
366-383. doi:10.2175/193864708788812497

Peila, D., Borio, L.& Pelizza, S., (2011). The behaviour of a two-component backfilling grout used
in a tunnel-boring machine. Acta geotechnica slovenica, Vol 1, pp. 5-15.

Feddema, A, Möller, M, Zon, W.H.& Hashimoto, T, (2001). ETAC two-component grout field test at
Botlek rail tunnel. Modern Tunneling Science and Technology, Swets & Zeitlinger, p.809-815.

Chuaqui, M., Bruce, D. A.& American Society of Civil Engineers, Deep Foundations Institute.
(2003).Mix Design and Quality Control Procedures for High Mobility Cement Based Grouts.3 rd.
Speciality conference on grouting, Grouting and ground treatment 2003,New Orleans.

Novin, A., Tarigh Azali, S.& Akhondi, M.(2012), Two Component Grout Admixtures Planning in
Line 7 of Tehran Metro Project (E-W Lot), ITA 2012, Bangkok.