Civil Excavations and Tunnelling

This is a comprehensive text on Civil Excavations at the surface as well as subsurface locales, including tunnels that could be created with or without aid of explosives using latest methods, equipment and techniques with due consideration to safety and the environment.

Surface excavations include benching, trenching, channelling, pitting, demolishing, road construction and constructions related to Civil and Construction Projects. Techniques to create a network of vertical, inclined and horizontal openings (Drifting, Raising and Sinking) that is required while constructing caverns for different purposes such as repository, oil storage, power generation and recreation facilities for general public have also been included.

Key coverage

• Criteria to select equipment have been demonstrated through a case study which gives consideration to factors related to environment, safety, ergonomics, and the economy.
• An attempt has been made in to give comprehensive treatment to modern partial-face borers, full-face tunnel borers, multi-tool miner (MTM) attachments and impact hammers/hydraulics.
• Tunnelling methods are also described including new Austrian tunneling method (NATM); Lee's tunnelling method (LTM); pre-vault method; mechanical pre-cutting tunnelling method (MPTM). Micro-tunnelling and the use of trenchless technology for laying pipelines for water, gas, cables for power, telecoms and sewer lines are also included.
• While creating excavations of any kind at any locale surface or underground, damage to the environment (pollution) and accidents are unavoidable. They cannot be eliminated but efforts could be made to minimize them. These aspects have been covered within the chapter on health/hazards, safety and environment (HSE).

The author's 34 years of background of working in the excavation related disciplines, initially for a decade in the field and then as university professor and as an industrial consultant inspired him to write this book.

Excavation is a multi-disciplined activity involving Civil, Construction and Mining Engineers, Earth-Scientists and Geologists. Hence, this book is likely to be used by the students, officials and engineers of these disciplines. This book is intended to serve as a textbook for students of undergraduate level and beginning year of graduate level at Schools or Institutes having any of the above-mentioned disciplines.

Chapter 1 : Introduction and Site Investigations
Chapter 2 : Ground and Rock Fragmentation - Drilling and Blasting
Chapter 3 : Earth Movers, Excavators and Open-cut Excavations
Chapter 4 : Tunnelling by Conventional Methods
Chapter 5 : Mechanized Tunnelling
Chapter 6 : Shield Tunnelling in Soft Ground
Chapter 7 : Special Methods
Chapter 8 : MicroTunnelling
Chapter 9 : Raising, Sinking and Large Sub-surface Excavation
Chapter 10 : Hazards, Safety and the Environment