Stabilisation of the Excavation Face in Shallow Tunnels Using Fibreglass Dowels

摘要

Stability of the excavation face in shallow tunnels excavated in poor rock is at present a relevant problem in tunnelling. Even though face reinforcement with fibreglass dowels has proved to be efficient, there is still no reliable routine design method available. A new calculation procedure is illustrated in this paper for the analysis of face reinforcement with fibreglass dowels in shallow tunnels. The procedure is based on the limit equilibrium method applied to the rock core ahead of the face, and it offers a detailed evaluation of the interaction between each reinforcement element and the surrounding rock. The main calculation result concerns the safety factor of the excavation face with dowel reinforcement. On the basis of this safety factor, it is possible to identify the appropriate dowel lengths and the number of dowels. The procedure has been applied to two real cases, and satisfactory results have been obtained.