Fundamentals of Soft Ground Tunnelling from Design to Construction

Details

1-day course

CPD Credit: 7 hours, C1 / C2

Course Aim

The purpose of this course is to introduce the concepts and methods of conventional sprayed concrete tunnelling in soft ground to practicing engineers. Delegates will learn about the design principles, key elements of urban tunnelling and identifying risks to the contractors, operators and third parties associated with tunnelling.

Course Overview

This is a one day course that will cover conventional tunnelling method (Sprayed Concrete Lined - SCL) in soft ground. The course is intended as an introduction to tunnel design principles and construction aspects of a tunnel project in urban areas. Pros and cons of various tunnel ling types including waterproofing systems are discussed. Dimensioning tunnel lining using simple analytical methods and numerical modelling for preliminary design are presented. The attendants will learn about identification of tunnelling risks including geotechnical risk, site safety risks, risks related to stakeholders and risk management tools to control tunnelling project risks. Key standards, best practice design books and guidelines relevant to tunnelling are introduced. To engage the attended  professionals with the above subjects, real projects and case studies in the UK and worldwide are presented.

Course Objectives

After the course, the participants should be able to:

• Various tunnelling methods in soft ground,
• Fundamental design principles of soft ground tunnelling and associated analytical tools,
• Fundamental principles of ground movement induced by tunnelling, impact assessment on third party assets and mitigation measures,
• Construction setup and cycles for conventional tunnelling and temporary support measures,
• Quality control process, risk management and site supervision,
• Waterproofing systems.

Who Should Attend? 

Civil/Structural/Geotechnical Engineers and Project Managers of all levels.

Trainers Profiles

Dr Ali Nasekhian is a Senior Associate with Dr Sauer & Partners. He received his Bachelor and Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering and Geotechnics from University of Tehran in 2003. In 2002, he joined DKP Geotechnical Consulting Engineers where he gained experience in geotechnics by his involvement in several projects with a wide spectrum of geotechnical applications for 5 years. He has managed several ground engineering projects in Iran before he began his doctorate degree in 2007 in the field of Geotechnics and Tunnelling at Graz University of Technology in Austria. Concurrently he obtained his Professional NATM Engineering degree from Graz University of Technology and University of Leoben. He moved to the UK in 2011 to join the DSP design team delivering cutting edge FE modelling and geotechnical analysis for a series of complex tunnelling projects in London including Bond Street Station, Tottenham Court Road Station and Bank Station Capacity upgrade projects as well as the Farringdon Station on the Elizabeth line in London. More recently he has been working on the HS2 Euston Station project where he has been leading the impact assessments of the HS2 works on the adjacent London Underground infrastructure. He has also published 27 papers in the field of uncertainty analysis, numerical modelling and tunnelling in international conferences and journals. His broad geotechnical knowledge and expertise has also supported DSP in delivering cost driven solutions for infrastructure projects in the UK and worldwide projects.

Bethan Haig is a Senior Associate with Dr Sauer & Partners. Since graduating from Bristol University in 2004 with a Masters in Civil Engineering with study in Continental Europe, she has worked across the UK Tunnelling sector; as a designer, contractor and supplier. Early projects included the A3 Hindhead road tunnel, Thames Tideway and Crossrail, now known as the Elizabeth line. In recent years Bethan has worked on a number of London Underground Upgrade projects in complex urban environments including the Bank Station Capacity Upgrade, Euston and Euston Square station upgrades to prepare for HS2 as well as the proposed extension to the Bakerloo line. Bethan’s work on these projects has ranged from feasibility assessment, scheme and detailed design, including looking at the interaction between new structures and existing LU assets. Bethan has spent some years seconded to Contracting teams and at Bank was the Tunnel Engineering Manager responsible for the development and realisation of the tunnel design during construction, ensuring it met all functional and operational requirements including evolving stakeholder requirements. She is currently the chairperson of the Technical Subcommittee of the British Tunnelling Society.  

Dr Benoît Jones has 23 years of very diverse experience in tunnelling as a designer, researcher, contractor, academic and inventor. He is a Chartered Civil Engineer and Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a Fellow of the Geological Society, and Founder and Managing Director of Inbye Engineering, a technology and consulting company established in 2014. Before this he set up the MSc in Tunnelling and Underground Space at the University of Warwick from scratch and ran the course for 5 years. Throughout his career he has demonstrated a strong commitment to innovation, research and best practice, writing more than 60 articles and papers. In 2009 he won the ICE Telford Premium Prize for a paper published in ICE Proceedings Geotechnical Engineering. In 2016 he won two NCE Tunnelling Awards for a new technology called ‘Strength Monitoring Using Thermal Imaging’, followed by an International Tunnelling Association award in 2017. More recently in 2022 Benoît published a textbook titled ‘Soft Ground Tunnel Design’, for which he won an NCE Tunnelling Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Tunnelling Industry.

Please contact the Team for further information on scheduled course dates and In-Company options. You can reach us by phone: 01 665 1305 or email cpdtraining@engineersireland.ie