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METRO SANTIAGO UNDERGROUND WORKS OF THE NEW LINE 5 TO

MAIPU
Alexandre R.A. Gomes1, C. Mercado2, M. Houska1 & K. Maia1

1
Geoconsult Latinoamerica Ltda., Santiago, Av. Andres Bello, 2777, of. 502, Las Condes, Chile
2
Metro S.A., Av. Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins,1414, Santiago, Chile

KEYWORDS
NATM, Shallow tunnels and caverns, Subway.

INTRODUCTION
The construction works of the new line 5 extension to Maipu started in March 2007 and were sub-
divided in 4 construction lots. The first two lots shall be ready for operation in December 2009,
whereas the rest of the new extension shall be finished at the end of 2010. This new line extension
shall connect the existing Metro network of the Santiago central area with the south-western city
region, improving commuting services for over 1 million people.

The present article describes the main challenges and the experience obtained during the
construction of the NATM tunnels and caverns of the project, which were excavated in novel
ground conditions and crossed underneath lakes, houses, buildings, canals and expressways with
very low overburden.

NEW LINE 5 EXTENSION TO MAIPU


The line 5 extension to Maipu presents 3,8 km of
elevated and 10,3 km of underground sections with an
overall length of about 14,2 km (Gomes et al., 2008). NEW-L5
EXTENSION

The underground sections include single double-track


NATM running tunnels (about 60 m2 cross sectional
area), 9 large shallow underground stations, galleries
and caverns (with cross-sections up to 160 m2) and
several intermediate ventilation and emergency exit
shafts and access tunnels.

For this extension, tunnel alignment was set higher than


in previous lines as to reduce the stations depth, making
tunnel cover minimum at some sectors. In fact, running
tunnels overburden ranges in the order of 9-10 m with a
minimum of 5m at the turn-out section. The crown of
access and station tunnels in general is at 7-8 m depth, with a minimum cover of 6.5m.

Underground tunnels and caverns are excavated following the principles of the NATM (New
Austrian Tunnelling Method), with the use of the conventional cyclic and sequential excavation
method. After each excavation step, a primary shotcrete lining (reinforced with lattice girders, wire
mesh, steel bars or fibers) is immediately installed. The secondary lining - also of shotcrete - is
installed at a later stage to provide the final support and long-term stability to the tunnel section.
These double-layer reinforced shotcrete linings are of permanent character.

BEHAVIOUR OF THE NOVEL GROUND CONDITIONS


The most typical Santiagos soil consists of the quaternary sediments of gravel from the Mapocho
and Maipo river basins, the so called Ripio de Santiago, = 22,5 kN/m3; c= 20 35 kPa; =
45; E=200-250 MPa, which presents excellent geomechanical characteristics and is very suitable
for tunnelling. Other typical ground conditions consist of sediments deposited by erosive streams
from the Andean Cordillera, consisting mainly of clay and silt with low to moderate plasticity and
sand lenses of varying thickness (Gomes et al., 2008).

Hydrological conditions are also favourable and the ground water level is far below the planned
tunnel alignment at a depth of 70-80m below ground surface. The occurrence of water infiltration is
associated to existing water bearing layers, leaking tubes and surface water percolating through the
permeable gravel layers.

The underground excavation of the new line 5 extension has been carried out in different ground
conditions, where there had been no previous tunnelling experience in Santiago. The tunnels cross
through zones with deposits of ravelling gravel, fine silt-sands of volcanic origin with well to
medium cementation, the so-called Pumicita and alluvium deposits of clayey silt and sand, which
are encountered in layers or intercalated with gravel horizons with varying granulometry and fines
content.

(a) Gravel deposit, clayey-silt and sand (b) Clayey-silt (top heading) and pumicite
lenses in bench (Running tunnel) (bench) (Access Tunnel)

(c) Ravelling gravel (Access Tunnel)

Figure 1 View of tunnel face ground conditions.


The gravel conglomerate found along the alignment presents mechanical and deformational
properties similar to that of the typical Ripio de Santiago. Nevertheless, the percentage of fines
that contribute to the cementation of this soil was found to be about 3% in some areas, which is
lower than the typical 5% of fines found in other gravels of Santiago. This fact, in association with
the ravelling ground behaviour observed in some exploratory pits, lead to the anticipation of
potential unstable ground conditions during underground excavations. Therefore, for the more
critical tunnel sections, special support measures such as forepoling with self drilling anchors or
pipe-roof umbrella were applied. For the remaining sections, systematic forepoling was not applied
during construction so that recurrent overbreaks occurred and had to be controlled by the reduction
of round lengths, subdivision of top heading face and immediate installation of the shotcrete
support.

The volcanic origin soil (Pumicite) corresponds to a fine sand with approximately 35% of fines
without any plasticity. This soil presents at tunnel springline the following properties: = 15 kN/m3;
c = 65 kPa; = 35; E = 70-120 MPa (Gomes et al., 2008). During construction, the Pumicite
presented an excellent behaviour due to its stiffness and well cemented particles with excellent face
stability (up to 8 m high faces) and no tendency to overbreak. The installation of the shotcrete
support had to be carried out carefully with moistening of the perimeter surface and application of a
thin, initial shotcrete sealing of 1 to 2 cm thickness, as to provide the required bond for the
application of the following shotcrete layers.

(a) Pumicite with excellent face stability (b) Gravel and clay layer
(Station Tunnel) (Station Tunnel)

Figure 2 View of tunnel face ground conditions.

In many sectors, the tunnel face presented mixed ground conditions composed by horizons of
gravel, clayey silts, pumicite or sand lenses. In the contact between these strata, mainly when the
gravel was located in the top heading zone, there has been some local instability which generated
overbreak. For these sectors, excavation had to be carried out carefully, with short round length and
a rapid installation of shotcrete.

RUNNING TUNNELS
The running tunnels present a cross-section of about 60 m2 with a diameter of about 10 m and a
typical horse-shoe shape with flat invert, which bears the secondary lining. A structural ring closure
(arched invert) was applied only at some sections which presented special characteristics, such as,
tunnel intersections, crossing of foundations from bridges and multi story condominiums or sectors
where the soil showed unfavourable conditions or major deformation behaviour during top heading
excavation.
The running tunnels excavation sequence was carried out either in stages (top heading, bench and
eventually invert) or full face with the use of a massive supporting core (Figure 3). The round
lengths were typically 1.0 to 1.2 m depending on the ground conditions. The ground support was
guaranteed by a primary lining constituted by shotcrete reinforced with wire mesh. At a later stage,
a secondary lining was installed, consisting of a shotcrete arch reinforced with fibers or wire mesh
and supported by a bottom slab with longitudinal beams or an invert. In general, the double lining
has an overall thickness of 35 cm and is designed as a support of permanent character.

Ground conditions had a major influence on excavation sequence and hence, deformation. In
general, sectors where the soil type was mainly gravel and pumicite, the range of surface
deformations was between 5 and 7.5 mm and 2 and 5 mm, respectively. In some sectors, where the
presence of ravelling gravel in the top heading generated overbreaks and the bench was of clayey-
silt, the deformations reached a range of 9 to 12 mm.

(a) Top heading excavation (b) Full face excavation

Figure 3 - View of mined running tunnel excavation.

TURN-OUT SECTION
The construction of a new turn-out section required the demolition of an existing depot tunnel
simultaneously to the excavation of the new enlarged tunnel with spans of approximately 19 m. Due
to this enlargement, the final bifurcation presents a very low overburden (only 5 m). Part of this
section is located below an artificial lake, which was dewatered prior to tunnel construction for
safety reasons.

(a) Excavation and demolition of existing (b) CD-Wall-construction of enlarged section


tunnel shell

Figure 4 Demolition of existing tunnel.


STATION TUNNELS
In the new line 5 extension, station tunnels are typically constituted by one lateral shaft with 18 m
diameter and an access tunnel perpendicular to the main station tunnel. Exception is the Final
Maipu Station, which counts with 2 access tunnels.

Figure 5 View of typical Station Lay-out

The access tunnel presents a typical cross section up to 154 m2 with a diameter of about 12 m and a
length of more than 30 m. Due to the low overburden and as to reduce surface settlement at the
access tunnel and station tunnel crossing area, the access tunnel top heading was excavated below a
pipe roof umbrella with the provision of a temporary invert. In a second stage, the access tunnel
heading was completed with bench and invert excavation with short ring closure.

The station platform tunnel presents 140 m length and a cross section of 160 m2 with about 15 m
diameter. As the rail level is usually at a depth of 17 to 18 m, the tunnel crown presents only 6-7 m
overburden. Its excavation followed the access tunnel with the subdivision of the tunnel face in
three separated headings (sidewall-drift-excavation) as to reduce deformations and control
overbreaks. A forepoling umbrella protected the first excavation meters at the access and the station
tunnel intersection. The temporary sidewalls were demolished by hydraulic crushers, as the central
heading advanced.

(a) Start of crown excavation of station (b) Station Sidewall drift


tunnel central heading
Figure 6 View of construction of station platform tunnels
Ground surface deformations were in acceptable ranges and within the predictions. For the Access
and Station tunnels, ground surface settlements were in the range of 16 to 36mm and 16 to 28mm
respectively.

INTERACTION WITH ADJACENT STRUCTURES


The running tunnel underpasses several houses and buildings, such as a 14 storey condominium
called Edificio Artec, where it was necessary to control the magnitude of the ground deformations.
As to achieve this, the mat foundations of the building was strengthened and tunnel excavation
carried out below a row of pipe roof umbrella, extended foot-widening and short ring closure
between top heading and invert. This crossing was carried out successfully with ground surface
settlements lower than 8 mm and no visible cracks observed in the building.

(a) Plan view of Edificio Artec (b) Deformation during excavation

Figure 7 Underpass of 14 storey Condominium Artec

The running tunnels also passed below expressway viaducts (General Velzquez and Teniente
Cruz), Americo Vespucio and Autopista del Sol Expressways the Canal Zanjon de la Aguada

Figure 8 Expressway General Velasquez: 4 -lane Bridge and 6- lane Expressway


In the case of the expressway viaducts, founded on lines of pillars, various strengthening beams
were constructed as to uniform the deformation of the vertical single pile foundations, located just 3
m above tunnel crown. The tunnel was excavated beneath pipe roof umbrella protection and with
short ring closure to reduce deformation and the impact on the adjacent structure. With these
measures, maximum deformations of only 8-10 mm were observed at the centre piers of the
overlying bridge at the General Velzquez Viaduct, below the specified acceptable limits.

CONCLUSIONS
The excavations of the first 2 lots of the new line extension was carried out successfully and
finished in the end of February 2009 in accordance with the construction schedule and without
major cost overruns. The clients efforts to pursue low disturbance, cost-effective and pragmatic
technical solutions, together with a continuous engineering site supervision during construction has
proved to be effective to guaranty a safe and rapid construction. The excavation works of remaining
sections shall be finished until the end of 2009.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to express their gratitude to Metro S.A. for the permission to publish this
article.

REFERENCES
Gomes, A.R.A.; Pimentel, K.C.A. and Houska, M. (2008), Metro Santiago: Design and Construction of Shallow
Tunnels, GEOMECHANIK UND TUNNELBAU, Vol. 1, No3, pp. 182188.
Gomes, A.R.A., Bfer M. and Muoz, P (2007), Metro Santiago Building an Urban Tunneling Industry from the
Ground Up, Proceedings of the ITA-AITES WORLD TUNNEL CONGRESS 2007 the 4th Dimension of Metropolises,
Prague, Vol. 1, pp. 7580.
Gomes, A. & Bfer, M. (2005), Proyecto y Construccion de las Obras de Tuneleado de la Estacion Puente Alto, Linea
4 Metro de Santiago, Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium of Engineering Geology, Geotechnics,
Geomechanics and Environment, CIP APIG, Lima.
Gomes, A. & Bfer, M. (2004), Metro de Santiago: Tunnelling under the Fray Andresito Bridge, Proceedings of the
30th ITA-AITES WORLD TUNNEL CONGRESS 2004 - Underground Space for Sustainable Urban Development,
Singapore.
Mercado, C.; Chamorro, G. and Egger, K. (2004), Santiagos Metro Expands, Proceedings of the North American
Tunneling (NAT 2004) Conference, Atlanta.
Gomes, A. and Bfer, M. (2002), Aspectos de Diseno y Construccion de las Obras de Tuneleado del Metro de
Santiago, Proceedings of the 12th COBRAMSEG / 1st CLBG / 3rd SBMR, ABMS; So Paulo, pp. 199211.

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