Exploring the feasibility of prestressed anchor cables as an alternative to temporary support in the excavation of super-large-span tunnel

Excavating super-large-span tunnels in soft rock masses presents significant challenges.To ensure safety,the sequential excavation method is commonly adopted.It utilizes internal temporary supports to spatially partition the tunnel face and divide the excavation into multiple stages.However,these internal supports generally impose spatial constraints,limiting the use of large-scale excavation equipment and reducing construction efficiency.To address this constraint,this study adopts the“Shed-frame”principle to explore the feasibility of an innovative support system,which aims to replace internal supports with prestressed anchor cables and thus provide a more spacious working space with fewer internal obstructions.To evaluate its effectiveness,a field case involving the excavation of a 24-m span tunnel in soft rock is presented,and an analysis of extensive field data is conducted to study the deformation characteristics of the surrounding rock and the mechanical behavior of the support system.The results revealed that prestressed anchor cables integrated the initial support with the shed,creating an effective“shed-frame”system,which successively maintained tunnel deformation and frame stress levels within safe regulatory bounds.Moreover,the prestressed anchor cables bolstered the surrounding rock effectively and reduced the excavation-induced disturbance zone significantly.In summary,the proposed support system balances construction efficiency and safety.These field experiences may offer valuable insights into the popularization and further development of prestressed anchor cable support systems.

Feasibility evaluation for excavation of Naghshe Jahan Square subway station by underground methods

In recent years, in reaction to the increasing usage of urban areas, the excavation of underground spaces has been developed. One of the most challenging issues encountered by engineers is the construction of subway stations as large underground spaces at shallow depth with soft surrounding soils. In this paper, Naghshe Jahan Square subway station located in Isfahan, Iran, has been simulated by geomechanical fnite difference method(FDM). This station is located under important historical structures. Therefore, the ground displacement and surface settlement induced by the excavation of the subway station should be strictly controlled. Many of such problems are affected by selected excavation method. For these reasons, different underground excavation methods associated with construction have been studied. In this study, sequential excavation method and large-diameter curved pipe roofng method are used and the numerical results of the two methods are compared. The presence of groundwater table obliges us to choose special techniques for the stability of the ground around the subway station during construction; hence compressed air and ground freezing techniques are utilized in the simulations of the subway station. Finally, after choosing appropriate support systems, the large-diameter curved pipe roofng method with 1.5 m spacing between curved pipes is proposed.