Grouting techniques for the unfavorable geological conditions of Xiang'an subsea tunnel in China

One of the major challenges during subsea tunnel construction is to seal the potential water inflow. The paper presents a case study of Xiang'an subsea tunnel in Xiamen, the first subsea tunnel in China. During its construction, different grades of weathered geomaterials were encountered, which was the challenging issue for this project. To deal with these unfavorable geological conditions, grouting was adopted as an important measure for ground treatment. The grouting mechanism is first illustrated by introducing a typical grouting process. Then the site-specific grouting techniques employed in the Xiang'an subsea tunnel are elaborated. By using this ground reinforcement technique, the tunneling safety of the Xiang'an subsea tunnel was guaranteed.