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TBM tunneling in marble rock masses with high in situ stress and large groundwater inflow: a case study in China

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Abstract

Two of four headrace tunnels in the Jinping II hydropower project were constructed using tunnel boring machines (TMBs). The geology along the tunnel alignment is dominantly massive to highly fractured marble and the maximum overburden depth is 2,525 m. The paper discusses the problems encountered during the TBM tunneling, including instability of the tunnel wall and face induced by high in situ stresses, high-pressure groundwater inflows and excessive cutter and cutterhead damage. Measures taken to overcome these problems involved modifications to both the machines and the mode of operation as well as changes to the support parameters.

Résumé

Deux des quatretunnelsd’amenée du projethydroélectriqueJinping IIontétécreusés en utilisantdes tunneliers. La géologiele long dutracé du tunnelestprincipalementconstituée de marbres massifs à fortementfracturés, avec un recouvrementatteignant au maximum 2,525 m de hauteur. L’articlediscute des problèmesrencontrés pendant le creusement au tunnelier, avec des instabilités de paroi et du front de taille du tunnelrésultant des fortes contraintes in situ, des venues d’eau sous forte pression, des hors profils et des dommages aux boucliers des tunneliers. Les mesuresprises poursurmontercesproblèmesontcomporté des modificationsà la fois desmachines et du mode opératoireainsique des changementsdans le dimensionnement du soutènement.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to Professor Zhou Chunhong, East China Investigation and Design Institute, China Hydropower Engineering Consulting Group Co., for his help on collecting the site geological information. The authors are also grateful for financial support from National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 50878009) and China Scholarship Council.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Urban Security and Disaster Engineering of Ministry of Education, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, China

    Q. M. Gong & Q. R. She

  2. Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Laboratory for Rock Mechanics (LMR), 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    L. J. Yin

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  1. Q. M. Gong
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  2. L. J. Yin
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  3. Q. R. She
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Correspondence to Q. M. Gong.

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Gong, Q.M., Yin, L.J. & She, Q.R. TBM tunneling in marble rock masses with high in situ stress and large groundwater inflow: a case study in China. Bull Eng Geol Environ 72, 163–172 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-013-0460-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-013-0460-0

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