A Case Study on Elephant Foot Method for Tunnelling in the Soft Ground

토사터널에서의 각부보강공법 적용성 연구

The engineering characteristics and the reinforcement effect of the elephant foot method were discussed with parametric study. The elephant foot method is adopted to support the loads transferred from tunnel crown and improve bearing capacity of elephant foot in poor ground condition. The evaluation of reinforcement effect, which has the mechanical relationship between ground condition, footing size and reinforcement system, was carried out through the previous research and numerical analysis. In addition, the simple design chart was proposed to estimate the applicability of the elephant foot reinforcement method. It will be practical for the engineer to determine the optimum reinforcement method for safe tunnelling in soft ground condition.