TUNNEL

What is a Tunnel?
an underground or underwater passageway, dug
through the surrounding soil/earth/rock and enclosed
except for entrance and exit, commonly at each end.
Wikipedia
An artificial undergroundpassage, especially one
built through a hill or under a building, road, or river.
Oxford
A horizontal passageway through or under an
obstruction. - Webster

Uses of Tunnels
Rail Traffic Built to protect the railways from falling
objects. (Snow)
Sewers Passageway for water conveyance
Road Traffic Passage through a hill
Pedestrian Traffic - Underpass
Mining - Underground mining

Parts
Invert (Floor) Bottom part of the tunnel
Crown (Roof) Upper part of the tunnel. May be flat or curve.
Tunnel Walls Both sides of a tunnel extending from floor to roof.
Spring Line- Line connecting all the points in a tunnel where the
curved portion of the roof intersects the top of the tunnel walls.
Shaft Vertical passage through the tunnel. ( Before construction )

Tunnel Construction Methods

1. Classical Method
These methods had much in common with early mining
methods and were used until last half of the 19th century.
Excavation was done by hand or simple drilling
equipment.

2. Drilling and Blasting (D&B) Method

Drilling rigs are used to drill blast holes on the proposed
tunnel surface to a designated depth for blasting.

3. Shields and Tunnel Boring Machine Method

TBMs are used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross
section through a variety of subterranean matter; hard
rock, sand or almost anything in between. As the TBM
moves forward, the round cutter heads cut into the
tunnel face and splits off large chunks of rock.

4. Cut-and-Cover Method
A trench is excavated, with ground supports as
necessary, and the tunnel is constructed in it. The tunnel
may be in situ concrete, precast concrete, precast
arches, or corrugated steel arches.

5. New Austrian Tunneling Method

The New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM) is based on a
concept whereby the ground (rock or soil) surrounding an
underground opening becomes a load bearing structural
component through activation of a ring like body of
supporting ground by spraying. The initial ground support
is provided by shotcrete in combination with fiber or
welded-wire fabric reinforcement, steel arches, lattice
girders, and sometimes ground reinforcement.

Ternate-Nasugbu (aka Kaybiang) Tunnel:

Philippines' Longest Subterranean Road Tunnel

linksTernate, CaviteandNasugbu, Batangas

(300m)

 The Gotthard BaseTunnel(GBT) is a railway tunnelin

the heart of the Swiss Alps. With a routelengthof 57
km (35.4 mi) and a total of 151.84 km (94.3 mi) of
tunnels, shafts and passages, it is the world's
longestrailtunnel, surpassing the SeikanTunnelin
Japan.