Investigation of response of metro tunnels due to adjacent large excavation and protective measures in soft soils

• An existing metro severely damaged by nearby large excavation is analyzed by 3D FEM.
• The development of bending moment and displacement of left tunnel is obtained.
• The excavation-soil-tunnel interaction mechanism in this project is investigated.
• Effectiveness of several measures on existing metro protection is evaluated.
• Longitudinal divided excavation is found to be effective to protect existing metro.

The inevitable influence of large excavation in soft soils on nearby tunnels is of great concern in practice. In this paper, the influence of a nearby large excavation on existing metro tunnels of the Ningbo Metro Line 1 in sensitive soft soils is investigated and presented. Considerable displacement in the left tunnel closer to the excavation induced by the nearby excavation was revealed by field monitoring. Visible cracks and leakages were observed in left tunnel linings. Three dimensional numerical simulations are conducted to investigate the responses of the ground and left tunnel due to the adjacent excavation. The development of bending moment and displacement of the left tunnel during different construction stages of the nearby excavation is obtained. Then the interaction mechanism between the nearby excavation, surrounding soils and existing twin tunnels is investigated, which is of significance to the interpretation of the influence of the nearby excavation on the existing twin tunnels. Several protective measures for alleviating the influence of adjacent excavation on left tunnel are studied, including divided excavation, soil improvement and a cut-off wall. It is found that the left tunnel is influenced to varying degrees during different construction stages and the time effect is distinct for this large excavation in soft soils, which would be suggestive to engineers to pay more attention to the protection of adjacent tunnel during the crucial construction stages. The bending moment and displacement of the left tunnel is strongly related to the unloading effects and displacement of surrounding soils, which can be alleviated by means of proper improvement of excavation sequence. Comparatively, longitudinally divided excavation is more effective in protecting the left tunnel than soil improvement or a cut-off wall. This study is of certain reference value for protecting metro tunnels adjacent excavation in soft soils.