Study on the Estimation of Safety Zone and the Movement of Ground at the Inter-Crossing Tunnel

A certain range of the original ground around the tunnel should be preserved to ensure structural safety of the tunnel when other structures are made around the tunnel, and thus this range is defined as safety zone of the tunnel. The main points to ensure the stability of an existing tunnel when constructing a new tunnel in an inter-crossing area are distance between two tunnels, size of the new tunnel, excavation method for the new tunnel, ground condition around the tunnel, and lining type of the existing tunnel etc. When the new tunnel is excavated above the existing tunnel, the existing tunnel is likely to suffer deformation at a crown zone, damage of arching effect, and live load of the new tunnel etc. On the other hand, when the new tunnel is excavated below the existing tunnel, the existing tunnel is likely to be damaged due to settlement. This study has been made on the behavior of the existing tunnel by means of model test and numerical analysis when the new tunnel is excavated below the existing tunnel. Safety zone of the tunnel was estimated by the results of strength/stress ratio obtained from numerical analysis, and the movement of ground was estimated by the model test. The results of earth pressure, ground displacements, and convergence of the tunnel obtained from model test were compared with those of numerical analysis, and show a similar trend.