Tunnel, Infrastructure Convergences/Monitoring and Engineering Role

Abstract

Worldwide we see that the construction industry is expanding, requiring new directions, new perspectives that can help reduce time, cost, and make transportation easy, safe, and affordable. For decades now, most of the large cities have completed their surface infrastructure. It has become urgent to address their issues for overpopulated cities where nowadays all infrastructure is overwhelmed, these issues must be addressed, solved and have vision to build underground infrastructure. Developed countries are focused on expanding their infrastructure for road systems, subway network, railway, storm, and sanitary systems. The emergency for underground infrastructure development requires more large-scale projects to be built and it is becoming more crucial building tunnels/underground structures for the future than ever before. Engineering focus, scientific searches are looking to develop their ideas for designing and delivering project underground, but government, agencies and engineers are concerned about the safety, durability, functionality, and the lifetime of this structures planned to be functional for decades. To address all this concerns this study provides information of how to identify the risk on tunnels and underground structures by capturing data from the beginning phases of construction, to analyze, evaluate and produce bulletins and engineering reports through convergences and monitoring. Convergences are the key factor on development of infrastructure underground as it is the only way to explore and analyze the rock mass disturbance during excavation. Convergences and monitoring in infrastructure are the safety coefficient for building underground, preventing accidents, and assessing real risks associated with tunnel/mine works and ensuring progress of the construction in underground structures. This study delves into the engineering role of convergence monitoring, during construction activities on project excavated using New Austrian Tunnelling method and Sequential Excavation Method. The primary objective of convergence monitoring is to gather critical information on ground movements and disturbances, thereby enhancing safety measures during tunnel construction. The monitoring process serves as an early warning system offering evidence of the real risks associated with underground infrastructure, bringing results and engineering data to be used for the design as key coefficient for structural design, type of material, type and strength of the concrete, rebars, concrete mix design. By using the convergence and monitoring system on underground infrastructure this study represents information that can contribute to risk assessment, structural analysis, and the lifetime of a project.