Effects of twin tunnels construction beneath existing shield-driven twin tunnels

This paper presents a case of closely spaced twin tunnels excavated beneath other closely spaced existing twin tunnels in Beijing, China. The existing twin tunnels were previously built by the shield method while the new twin tunnels were excavated by the shallow tunnelling method. The settlements of the existing tunnels and the ground surfaces associated with the new tunnels construction were systematically monitored. A superposition method is adopted to describe the settlement profiles of both the existing tunnels and the ground surfaces under the influence of the new twin tunnels construction below. A satisfactory match between the proposed fitting curves and the measured settlement data of both the existing tunnels and the ground surfaces is obtained. As shown in a particular monitoring cross-section, the settlement profile shapes for the existing tunnel and the ground surface are different. The settlement profile of the existing structure displays a “W” shape while the ground surface settlement profile displays a “U” shape. It is also found that due to the flexibility of the segmental lining, the ground losses obtained from the existing tunnel level and the ground surface level in the same monitoring cross-section are nearly the same.