Keynote Lecture: Soil-water-tunnel interaction at the front face of a TBM

Abstract

Tunnelling induced groundwater flow is important for the stability of the tunnel face and the time it will take to create and low permeable tunnel face. Infiltration of slurry or foam at the tunnel face has been tested in the past without considering the influence of groundwater flow, resulting in too high infiltration velocities. The contribution first analyses the groundwater flow during tunnelling in both an unconfined and semi-confined sandy aquifer, followed by studying the relation between the groundwater flow and infiltration of slurry and foam at the tunnel face. Consequences will be discussed.