Design, analyse, draw and plan the construction of tunnels and shafts: soft-ground EPB and slurry TBMs with segmental linings, hard-rock TBMs, NATM / SEM with sprayed concrete and rock bolts, cut-and-cover boxes and microtunnelling, each with its launch and reception shafts. Build the ground model and alignment, then check the face pressure window along the drive, the surface settlement trough and the damage to the buildings above, design the lining or the rock support by convergence–confinement and the Q-system, choose the TBM and estimate its performance, and design the shafts for hoop thrust, base heave, uplift, piping and flotation. Play the TBM drive and watch the face, the settlement and the building respond; take the A3 drawing set, a 3D model, the construction sequence with hold points, ITP and trigger levels, quantities, cost, programme and a design Excel workbook.
Preliminary design for feasibility and education. Use site-specific investigation, numerical (FE) analysis near sensitive structures, the TBM supplier's data and an independent check by a qualified tunnel engineer. The sample project is synthetic.
What the tunnels & shafts studio does
Five tunnelling methods with their shafts: a soft-ground EPB or slurry TBM with a precast segmental lining, a hard-rock TBM, NATM / SEM with sprayed concrete and rock bolts, a cut-and-cover box between retaining walls, and microtunnelling / pipe jacking. The ground model is a layered profile of fill, clay, sand, gravel and rock with groundwater; the alignment follows the ground surface between the shafts.
Face stability uses the wedge–silo mechanism (Horn; Anagnostou & Kovári) and the undrained stability ratio (Broms & Bennermark), giving the minimum support pressure, the blow-out limit and the operating window along the whole drive. Ground movement uses the Gaussian trough (Peck; O'Reilly & New) with twin-bore superposition, its development as the face passes, and building damage by Burland & Wroth with Boscardin & Cording categories.
Segmental linings are designed by Einstein & Schwartz with the Muir Wood joint reduction and an N–M interaction check to the selected code, with TBM thrust and jack bearing. Rock support uses Hoek–Brown, convergence–confinement (Duncan Fama, Vlachopoulos & Diederichs) with shotcrete, bolts and steel sets, squeezing (Hoek & Marinos) and the Q-system.
Shafts cover circular and rectangular shafts in diaphragm walls, secant piles, caissons or sprayed concrete: hoop thrust, secant overlap, props by apparent pressure, base heave, hydraulic uplift, piping, flotation, caisson sinking and inflow. Also groundwater inflow (Goodman), smoke-control critical velocity and jet fans, pipe-jacking forces with interjack stations, and the cut-and-cover box frame.
Interactive tools: play the TBM drive and watch the face pressure, the settlement plan and the building respond; drag sliders for the face pressure, the building and the rock support. Outputs: an A3 drawing set, a 3D ground block and shaft model, construction sequence with hold points, ITP and WHS, instrumentation trigger levels, quantities, cost, programme, report and an Excel workbook with live formulas.