A construction strategy for a tunnel with big deformation

By integrating literature reviews, site observa- tion, field monitoring, theoretical analysis, summarization, etc., a construction strategy was proposed and verified for tunneling with big deformation in this paper. The tunnel was in phyllite, shotcrete cracks and steel arch distortion were observed, and a big deformation with a maximum of 2.0 m was monitored during the initial stage of the construction. Through carefully examining the site observation and laboratory test results, a construction principle was established for the tunneling on the basic concept of maintaining the rock strength/stiffness and keeping the rock dry, by providing confinement pressure to the rock, reducing the rock exposure time, keeping water out of the tunnel, etc. To achieve the construction principle, a set of specific construction measures with 11 items was further proposed and applied to the construction. To check the effectiveness of the construction measures, field monitoring was carried out, which showed that the rock deformation was well controlled and the tunnel became stable. An allowable deformation was then determined using the Fenner formulae and the monitored data in order to guide further construction, which received a good result. From this study, it can be concluded that providing quick strong initial support and reserving core soil at the working faceare extremely important to control the rock deformation and keep the tunnel stable.

Floor heave characteristics and control technology of the roadway driven in deep inclined-strata

Based on in-mine instrumentation and theoretical analysis of the unsymmetrical large-deformation that occurred in the roadway after excavation,Differential Floor Heave(DFH)was found to be the main reason for roadway failure.It needs to be pointed out that the specific roadway was driven in inclined rock strata.In addition,the factors that contribute to the occurrence of DFH are discussed in detail.It is believed that DFH is triggered by the unsymmetrical stress distribution in the floor and the different rock types encountered near the two floor corners.Hence,DFH control should be focused on the left floor corner where shearing failure occurs initially and the left floor surface where tensile failure is more severe.The proposed DFH control strategies include unsymmetrical grouting for the whole roadway,re-design of the roof and ribs support,reinforcement of the weak zones,and release of the concentrated stress in the earlier stage.Meanwhile,it is recommended that in the later stage,both bolts and cable bolts with higher strength and the backfilling technique using the coal measure rocks and concrete should be employed in the reversed-arch floor.The field instrumentation results,after using the proposed control strategies,indicate that large deformation in a DFH roadway has been successfully controlled.