Analysis of unlined pressure shafts and tunnels of selected Norwegian hydropower projects

Norwegian hydropower industry has more than 100 years of experiences in constructing more than4000 km-long unlined pressure shafts and tunnels with maximum static head of 1047 m（equivalent to almost 10.5 MPa） reached at unlined pressure tunnel of Nye Tyin project. Experiences gained from construction and operation of these unlined pressure shafts and tunnels were the foundation to develop design criteria and principles applied in Norway and some other countries. In addition to the confinement criteria, Norwegian state-of-the-art design principle for unlined pressure shaft and tunnel is that the minor principal stress at the location of unlined pressure shaft or tunnel should be more than the water pressure in the shaft or tunnel. This condition of the minor principal stress is prerequisite for the hydraulic jacking/splitting not to occur through joints and fractures in rock mass. Another common problem in unlined pressure shafts and tunnels is water leakage through hydraulically splitted joints or pre-existing open joints. This article reviews some of the first attempts of the use of unlined pressure shaft and tunnel concepts in Norway, highlights major failure cases and two successful cases of significance, applies Norwegian criteria to the cases and reviews and evaluates triggering factors for failure.This article further evaluates detailed engineering geology of failure cases and also assesses common geological features that could have aggravated the failure. The minor principal stress is investigated and quantified along unlined shaft and tunnel alignment of six selected project cases by using threedimensional numerical model. Furthermore, conditions of failure through pre-existing open joints by hydraulic jacking and leakage are assessed by using two-dimensional fluid flow analysis. Finally, both favorable and unfavorable ground conditions required for the applicability of Norwegian confinement criteria in locating the unlined pressure shafts and tunnels for geotectonic environment different from that of Norway are highlighted.

Assessing foundation behaviour under complex loading near tunnels

The stability of strip footings subjected to eccentrically inclined loads is critical for reliable foundation design.This study investigates the effect of a circular unlined tunnel in a rock mass on the ultimate bearing capacity(UBC)of a foundation with width B under inclined and eccentric loads.Adaptive finite element limit analysis was employed to evaluate the reduction in UBC of the footing resting above a tunnel.The examined critical parameters include normalized load eccentricity(e/B),load inclination(β),and horizontal and vertical distances of the tunnel from the foundation(P/B and Q/B,respectively),along with rock mass properties.The results reveal that for e/B≥0.25 and β≤60°,the reduction coefficient,R_(c)≥0.90,suggesting that the presence of a tunnel has a minimal impact on the load-bearing capacity of the footing,with failure primarily governed by load eccentricity and inclination.Additionally,potential failure mechanisms are explored,showing that at lower e/B,higher β,and lower Q/B,the tunnel significantly affects footing's failure envelope.Conversely,at higher e/B and lower β,failure is due to rotational effects of footing,regardless of the tunnel's position.To predict the Rc more accurately,due to the time-consuming nature of direct calculations,both MLR and ANN models were developed.The MLR model provided a baseline for comparison,while the ANN model,with a coefficient of determination(R2)of 0.98,demonstrated superior accuracy compared to the R2=0.96 of MLR.Using both approaches ensured robust and efficient predictions of Rc.Since Rc does not directly provide the reduced UBC of footing due to presence of tunnel,the study introduced bearing capacity factor(Nc)to enable direct calculation of the reduced UBC of footing.These findings offer theoretical guidelines for preliminary design and provide practitioners with an effective tool for evaluating UBC reduction in complex loading scenarios involving tunnels.