Abstract
This paper refers to the proposed western extension of the Athens Metro to Piraeus city. The railway consists of a 9.45 m diameter, 8.2 km long tunnel and seven stations. Tunnelling works are expected to be undertaken within a variety of lithological formations ranging from very strong alpine limestones to recent soft littoral deposits. The tunnel alignment was divided into 12 areas with respect to the geological and geotechnical conditions that may be encountered during construction. In many of these zones, the geotechnical conditions together with the presence of sensitive surface and/or subsurface structures led to the selection of a closed-face TBM (Earth Pressure Balance Machine or Slurry Tunnel Boring Machine) as the appropriate tunnelling technique. The Piraeus extension is a project where in places both types of commonly used closed-face tunnelling machines will encounter ‘text book’ application areas, but not always. The applicability of each type of TBM is discussed using the available data obtained from an extensive site investigation.
Résumé
Cet article concerne l’extension ouest du métro d’Athènes vers la ville du Pirée. La ligne de 8,2 km de long est constituée d’un tunnel de 9,45 m de diamètre et de 7 stations. Les travaux de creusement seront réalisés dans différentes formations géologiques allant des calcaires alpins très résistants aux dépôts littoraux meubles et récents. Le tracé du tunnel a été divisé en douze sections par référence aux contextes géologiques et géotechniques qui seront rencontrés lors de la construction. Dans plusieurs de ces zones, le contexte géotechnique, associé à la présence de conditions de surface délicates et/ou de structures de subsurface, a conduit au choix d’un tunnelier à bouclier fermé (à pression de terre: ETBM ou pression de boue: Slurry TBM) comme techniques de creusement adaptées. L’extension du Pirée est un projet où les deux types de tunneliers fermés communément utilisés rencontreront des secteurs d’application classique. Les domaines de mise en œuvre de chaque type de tunnelier sont discutés, utilisant les données obtenues à partir d’une reconnaissance approfondie des terrains.
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The authors would like to thank Attiko Metro S.A. for their support and permission to publish this paper.
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Marinos, P.G., Novack, M., Benissi, M. et al. Assessment of ground conditions with respect to mechanised tunnelling for the construction of the extension of the Athens Metro to the city of Piraeus. Bull Eng Geol Environ 68, 17–26 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-008-0183-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-008-0183-9