Evaluation of pore water pressure on the lining during tunnel operation

Control of ground water is one of the most important factors for long-term operation of tunnel because most of tunnel is located in the ground. In case of leakage tunnel, there is no pore water pressure on the lining when the drainage system is properly working. After long-term operation, however, the pore water pressure can be developed on the lining due to the deterioration of the drainage system. The increased pore water pressure on the lining is termed here as 'residual pore water pressure'. Residual pore water pressure can be measured by piezometer, but it is generally not allowed because of damages of drainage system. Therefore, an indirect and nondestructive method is required for evaluating the residual pore water pressure. Moreover, understanding of pore water pressure is needed during healthy operation of the lining. In this study, a new method for evaluation of pore water pressure on the lining during operation is proposed using theoretical and numerical analysis. It is shown that the method is particularly useful for stability investigation of pore water pressure on the lining during operation using theoretical analysis with normalized pore water pressure curve.