STABILITY OF TUNNEL WORKING FACE IN SQUEEZING GROUND

Practical solutions that are available today for assessing stability of tunnel working face are largely based on the concept of critical stability ratio. The accuracy of a prediction of the soil behavior in the working face, thus, depends on the ability of the solution to completely and accurately describe the stress fields or kinematics generated by the excavation and the accuracy of the undrained shear strength of the soil introduced in the computation. This paper reviews the selected solutions describing stability of the tunnel heading in squeezing ground, and suggests a reference solution which is established based on comparison of the solutions and field data on stability of tunnel headings in clays. Although dealing with the shear strength determination is an important companion part of the geotechnical prediction for stability of the tunnel heading in clays, this part is beyond the scope of this paper at this time.