Constructed in 1931 by the Illinois Terminal Railroad, the Tucker Tunnel is located underneath Terminal Boulevard in downtown St. Louis. Over the years, the tunnel condition has deteriorated and the concern is that the failure of the tunnel would have a severe impact on the roadway above as well as adjacent buildings. Expanded Polystyrene manufacturer and fabricator Versa-Tech was awarded the contract for providing the Geotechnical Fill in the form of EPS Geofoam Blocks that will be used to fill the void. Some 3,300 blocks totaling over 675,000 cubic ft will be utilized for the first phase. The blocks have a unit weight between 1 and 2 pcf and unlike conventional backfill, should reduce the lateral pressures on the inside of the tunnel to prevent the walls from failing outwards and adversely affecting buildings and other infrastructure. [Source: Versa-Tech. Image: Versa-Tech]
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The Devil’s Slide Tunnel Project was originally scheduled to open at the end of 2012, but it has been delayed slightly to an early 2013 opening. If you look at some recent photos, you can hardly tell that there is anything left to finish. I’ve been following this project since it started, since to me it represents the essence of geoengineering, with important roles played by geotechnical engineers, geological engineers, hydrogeologists, and of course geotechnical contractors and tunneling specialists. I thought it would be interesting to list a few of the posts I’ve written about the project over the years and present a bit of information I only recently learned. Click through for more. [Image: kxyoung on Flickr]