Quantification of Stratigraphic Transition Location Uncertainty for Tunneling Projects
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 148, Issue 8
Abstract
Stratigraphic transitions within the tunnel envelope cause a rapid change in tunnel boring machine (TBM) operating parameters and impose a significant challenge to TBM tunnel projects. This paper presents a geostatistical modeling–based probabilistic approach to quantify the stratigraphic transition location uncertainty in the longitudinal direction of tunneling and at the tunnel face. Geotechnical data from a soil tunneling project were used to elucidate the capability of the approach. A deterministic soil profile and TBM operation data from the project were examined to evaluate the results of the approach. The results revealed that the stratigraphic transition location uncertainty (for 90% confidence interval) in the longitudinal direction, for the two stratigraphic transitions within the tunnel envelope, extended over a longitudinal distance of 28 rings and 130 rings. The occurrence of the stratigraphic transitions in the longitudinal direction at Ring 275 and Ring 550, for a 95% occurrence probability (), matched the locations of the change in rate of dissipation of chamber pressure from recorded TBM data. The stratigraphic transitions () occurred 15 rings before and 30 rings after the locations suggested in the ground profiles suggested in the geotechnical baseline report (GBR). At the tunnel face, the probability of encountering stratigraphic transitions was the highest between Ring 200 and Ring 300, and varies between 60% and 90%.
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Data Availability Statement
Lane Construction Corporation provided the borehole data used in this study. Direct requests for these data may be made to the provider. All code generated for this study is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the University Transportation Center for Underground Transportation Infrastructure (UTC-UTI) at the Colorado School of Mines for funding this research under Grant No. 69A3551747118 from the USDOT, and Lane Construction Corporation for providing the site investigation data used in this study. The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and not of the USDOT.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 148 • Issue 8 • August 2022
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© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 22, 2020
Accepted: Feb 23, 2022
Published online: May 17, 2022
Published in print: Aug 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Oct 17, 2022
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