GeoPrac sponsor Nicholson Construction is working on one of the most challenging grouting jobs in the world right now. They are performing grouting in porous limestone formations under the shipping channel in Miami’s Biscayne Bay as part of the Port of Miami Tunnel project. This grouting work was the featured article in the June 2012 issue of Tunnel Boring Magazine (Here is a link to the story in PDF format). They are being called to perform the work both onshore and offshore to depths up to 126 feet below grade, including inclined holes up to 146 feet deep. Environmental regulations are abig consideration, but even that pales in comparison to the logistical challenges of not impacting cruise ship traffic in the port. Make sure you read about this interesting grouting and tunneling project. [Source: Tunnel Business Online. Image: Tunnel Boring Magazine]
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Subway Tunnel Collapse in Cologne Germany
Early indications are that a collapse of a subway tunnel station still under construction was to blame for the sinkhole that destroyed Cologne’s Historical Archive, home to documents dating back to 922 A.D. More info after the break. (Photo by DPA via Spiegel Online)
Devil’s Slide Breakthrough Video and Links
The “breakthrough” media event for CALTRANS’ Devil’s Slide Tunnel project was this past Friday. A large crowd of politicians, news crews and locals were on hand as a road-header broke through a shotcrete face in a ceremony to mark the completion of the excavation portion of the first of two tunnels. It will still be over a year until the tunnels are opened to traffic. The second tunnel is expected to breakthrough as early as this week. (Photo by SFGate.com)
Caltrans tunnel punch-through from Barry Parr on Vimeo.
The Video came from the Coastsider, the page also has comments from the videographer, Barry Parr, which offer a good perspective on the event.
Click on through for more links etc.
The Claremont Tunnel – Designed to Survive Fault Rupture on the Hayward Fault
The Claremont tunnel beneath the Berkeley Hills on the east side of Oakland is a water supply tunnel that serves over 800,000 customers in Richmond, Oakland, San Leandro and neighboring communities. One of the unique things about the tunnel is that it crosses the active Hayward Fault. Most of the time when you talk about designing for earthquakes you’re talking about designing to withstand the seismic forces. In this case, the designers needed the water transmission tunnel to withstand up to 7.5-ft of offset due to fault slip and still maintain a minimum level of service. (Photo credit: Sue Bednarz, Jacobs Associates, Inc. by way of Civil Engineering Magazine)
This post describes the relatively recent Claremont Tunnel Seismic Upgrade Project as reported in Civil Engineering Magazine (May 2008, v. 78, no. 5, pp 58-63, 96-97).