Geotechnical Aspects of Underground Construction in Soft Ground – Ng, Huang & Liu (eds)

© 2009 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-0-415-48475-6

Performance review of a pipe jacking project in Hong Kong

T.S.K. Lam
Geotechnical Engineering Office, Civil Engineering and Development Department, Government of
the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

ABSTRACT: The pipe jacking method is commonly used in Hong Kong for construction of underground
cable duct crossings and stormwater drains. The method minimizes the disturbance to or interference with the
activities and facilities on the ground surface. In this paper, details of a pipe jacking project completed recently in
Hong Kong, involving use of a pressurized slurry tunnel boring machine to form a 222 m long, 1.95 m diameter
cable tunnel, are described. Results of the performance review carried out on completion of the project are also
presented.

1 INTRODUCTION

A cable duct crossing was constructed in an urban

area at Kowloon West of Hong Kong. The cable duct
crossing had to traverse a highway and some rail-
way tracks. Conventional open cut excavation method
was not used because of the disturbance that could
be caused to the facilities on the ground surface. Pipe
jacking method was used instead. The cable duct cross-
ing was constructed in fill comprising loose to medium
dense, silty coarse sand, and a pressurized slurry tunnel
boring machine (TBM) was selected for the project.
In this paper, details of the project are described. A
performance review was carried out on completion of
the project. The key construction aspects, monitoring
data obtained at the site during construction, impact
on sensitive features in and surrounding the site and
a summary of the observations and decisions made
during construction are presented. The information
given in this paper is obtained during auditing of the
project by the Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO) Figure 1. Location plan.
of the Civil Engineering and Development Department
(CEDD) of the Government of the Hong Kong Spe-
across a highway, the MTR Tung Chung line, the Air-
cial Administrative Region. The auditing was carried
port Express Line and a public park. Pipe jacking
out to exercise geotechnical control in the interest of
method was used to form the 2 m diameter pipe open-
public safety.
ing at 8 to 9 m depth in fill, the properties of which are
shown in Figure 8. The groundwater level was mea-
sured at about 2.0 m below ground.Two working pits of
2 PROJECT DESCRIPTION 14 m long × 4 m wide × 10 m deep were constructed
at both ends of the cable duct crossing for the tunneling
2.1 Details operation.
The site is located near West Kowloon Highway at
2.2 Geotechnical aspects of the tunnel works
Kowloon West (see Figure 1), Kowloon.
The project involves construction of a 222 m long At the design stage, plans and supporting documen-
1.95 m diameter tunnel to serve as cable duct crossing tation of the geotechnical design of the pipe jacking

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 Figure 3. Close-up view of settlement monitoring prism.

piezometers were installed along the alignment of the

pipe jacking (PZ1 and PZ2) (see Figure 1).
A monitoring plan including monitoring of set-
tlement, groundwater level and vibration, and a site
supervision plan for the works were prepared. The
method statement for the works and details of the pres-
surized slurry machine selected were also submitted to
Figure 2. Locations of monitoring prisms on the railway the relevant departments including the GEO for review.
tracks. The stakeholders affected by the project were also
notified and consulted by the designer. For the railway
works, a geotechnical risk assessment and a risk tracks, trigger levels of “alert”, “action” and “alarm”
mitigation plan were prepared by the designer. (or AAA) of 12 mm, 16 mm and 20 mm respectively
The most sensitive features affected by the works for settlement and 1 in 1500, 1 in 1250 and 1 in 1000
were the railway tracks and the underground utili- respectively for angular distortion were set and agreed
ties, including drainage pipes and sewers, close to the by the MTR Corporation Limited. At alert level,
alignment of the pipe jacking. readings would be reviewed and plans for remedial
Prior to the commencement of works, a condition measures and contingency actions would be prepared.
survey of the existing road and the structures within At action level, the planned remedial measures would
25 m of the alignment of the pipe jacking and a CCTV be implemented and the works could only continue if
survey of the existing drainage pipes and sewers within the remedial measures taken were effective. The alert
20 m of the works were carried out. Another CCTV and action levels would also be revised if necessary.
survey was also carried out on completion of the At alarm level, all works would be stopped or con-
works. tingency actions taken and the design, construction
An instrumentation scheme consisting of 168 set- method and the planned remedial measures would be
tlement markers for the road surface, 123 settlement reviewed. A maximum tolerable track settlement of
monitoring prisms for the railway tracks and four 25 mm was allowed.
piezometers for groundwater level was adopted. Loca- AnAutomatic Deformation Monitoring System was
tions of the settlement markers, settlement monitoring used to take readings for monitoring the railway track
prisms and piezometers are shown in Figures 1 and 2. settlement. Three CYCLOPS theodolites were posi-
The settlement markers were installed adjacent to tioned on opposite sides along the tracks, and the track
the jacking pit and receiving pit and on the road sur- settlement was monitored on a daily basis in real time.
face along the alignment of the pipe jacking. Out of the The data taken were transferred to a computer in the
123 settlement monitoring prisms installed, 32 were site office which were then processed and posted onto
installed on the Tung Chung Line (up) (TCL up) (on the internet for real time monitoring by relevant parties
both rails), 30 on the Airport Express Line (up) (AEL (Figures 3 to 5).
up), 31 on the Tung Chung Line (down) (TCL down)
and 30 on the Airport Express Line (down) (AEL
2.3 Construction
down) (see Figure 2).
One piezometer each was installed close to the jack- A RASA DHL1650 pressurized slurry TBM was
ing pit (VBH1) and receiving pit (VBH2) and two used (Figure 6). The diameter of the shield body

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Figure 4. Positions of settlement monitoring prisms on the Figure 6. Pressurized slurry TBM.
track.

Figure 7. Dimensions of TBM and concrete pipe.

Figure 5. A CYCLOPS theodolite.

and the equipment tube of this TBM is 2,000 mm

and 1,990 mm respectively. The excavated diameter is
2,040 mm. The pipe installed has an outside diame-
ter of 1,950 mm and an internal diameter of 1,650 mm
(Figure 7).
The construction method involved use of a pres-
surized slurry system. The slurry support pressure at
the excavation face was set to balance the ground and Figure 8. Typical groundwater pressure.
groundwater pressure as indicated in the control panel
of the TBM. The TBM operator checked the pressure
gauge to control the pressure at the excavation face and excavation face was controlled by the pressure control
the slurry-discharge pressure gauge to control the cir- valve of a by-pass unit placed in the jacking pit.
culation pressure. The typical groundwater pressure at During operation, a lubricant consisting of water,
the excavation face was 50 to 70 kPa with an average bentonite and mineral oil was injected into the annu-
value of 60 kPa at the tunnel axis level. To balance lus around the pipes to fill the voids around the pipes
the ground and groundwater pressure, a slurry pres- to reduce soil movement. On completion of the pipe
sure of 10 to 20 kPa above the water pressure, which is jacking, the cavities around the pipes were grouted. A
60 to 90 kPa, was applied at the excavation face for the cement grout with a minimum compressive strength
operation (Figure 8). The slurry pressure applied to the of 20 MPa was used.

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3 PERFORMANCE REVIEW

3.1 Control of amount of materials excavated

In a pressurized slurry system, the ground was
mechanically excavated while the excavated face was
stabilized and supported by slurry. The excavated
materials were removed by slurry transport. To check
if voids had been formed in the soil above the tunnel
during excavation, the amount of materials excavated
was monitored during the tunneling operation. A de-
sander was used to separate the solids from the slurry.
The solids were mainly fine sand which was later used
for backfilling the pits. The weight of the soil exca-
vated from the jacking pit, receiving pit and the tunnel
was worked out to be 2,262 tonnes before the works
commenced. During the works, 593 tonnes of sand and
1,461 tonnes of finer soil were disposed of. The total
amount of soil disposed was therefore 2,054 tonnes
which was less than the calculated value. Although
limited by the accuracy of measurement, this provided
a rough indication that no significant voids had been
formed in the ground above the tunnel. No boulders
were encountered and no cutter had to be replaced for Figure 9. Excavation sequence of pipe jacking (a) and set-
this project. tlement profiles at tracks TCL Up, AEL Up, AEL Down and
TCL Down (b).

3.2 Settlement of railway tracks

In this project, the most sensitive features are the
railway tracks.
The excavation sequence of the pipe jacking works
in terms of the distance from the railway tracks is
shown in Figure 9. Pipe jacking commenced on 29
March 2007. Fourteen days after commencement of
the pipe jacking (12 April 2007), the TBM reached the
TCL Up track and 5 more days later (17 April 2007),
it went past through all the tracks. Included in the fig-
ure is also the track settlement in response to the pipe
jacking.
The tracks settled as soon as the pipe was jacked Figure 10. Settlement trough at track TCL Up.
past and away from the section. At the TCL Up track,
the track settled by 12 mm when the pipe was installed
at a distance of 23.5 m away from the section. Similar has been carried out to some distance away from the
rate of settlement was noted at tracks AEL Up, AEL tracks.
Down and TCL Down except in those cases, the track The settlement troughs at tracks TCL Up, AEL Up,
settlement was less. On completion of the pipe jacking, AEL Down and TCL Down are shown in Figures 10
maximum settlement of tracks TCL Up, AEL Up, AEL to 13 respectively. The settlement troughs are almost
Down andAEL Down were 22 mm, 15 mm, 10 mm and symmetrical in these cases.
3 mm respectively which are less than the maximum The maximum settlement on the pavement was
tolerable track settlement of 25 mm. 15 mm which was recorded by settlement point SC19
In pipe jacking, the whole length of the pipe adjacent to TCL Up track (Chainage 29362).
is jacked and moved forward, resulting in distur- Given the ground conditions and the method of con-
bance to the soil around the whole length of the struction as described above, a maximum volume loss
pipe. With the cutter head about 90 mm larger than of 3.6% was calculated (see Figure 14).
the pipe to be jacked (see Figure 7), it is possi- The maximum groundwater drawdown recorded by
ble that voids would form around the pipe which the piezometers at the jacking pit and receiving pit
would result in ground movement, and hence settle- (VBH2 and VBH1) was 1.1 m, which was only slightly
ment along the length of the pipe even after excavation above the permissible value of 1 m. At PZ1 location,

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Figure 11. Settlement trough at track AEL Up.

Figure 12. Settlement trough at track AEL Down.

Figure 14. Properties of error function to represent the

settlement trough above a tunnel (after Peck, 1969).

the meeting, it was decided that for the remaining

works, an alternative type of lubricant, in lieu of a mix-
ture of water, bentonite and mineral oil, was used to fill
the gap between the pipe and the TBM over-break. This
lubricant formed a solid substance once injected into
the gap and it helped to reduce settlement of the over-
Figure 13. Settlement trough at track TCL Down.
burden fill caused by closure of the overbreak voids
around the pipe. The density of the bentonite slurry
the maximum drawdown recorded was 0.7 m, and at was also increased. The advance speed of the TBM was
PZ2 location, no significant amount of groundwater reduced from 9 m per night shift to about 6 m per night
movement was observed. shift. With the actions taken, the rate of increase of
No undue settlement was recorded at the drainage track settlement was reduced and the final settlement
pipes, sewers and the structures nearby. was contained to within the permissible value.

3.3 Actions taken at action level during

construction 4 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Twelve one days after commencement of the pipe
The following conclusions and recommendations can
jacking (19 April 2007), a settlement of 15 mm was
be made from the project:
recorded at the TCL Up track which was close to the
action level. An urgent meeting was held among the 1. The use of pipe jacking method was effective in
client, designer and contractor on that night. After forming a 222 m long, 1.95 m diameter cable tunnel

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 at 8 to 9 m depth. The pressurized slurry TBM used ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
is appropriate for the type of ground conditions
encountered. The author would like to thank the Director of the
2. It is necessary to apply appropriate geotechnical Civil Engineering and Development Department and
control measures to this type of project affecting the Head of the Geotechnical Engineering Office for
sensitive features in the interest of public safety. the permission to publish this paper. Comments on the
With the geotechnical control measures applied, the paper from Mr Joe B.N. Leung and Dr Richard Pang
geotechnical risk is assessed and the potential haz- are gratefully acknowledged.
ards are identified early. Any undue settlement or The author would also like to thank the Employer
irregularities observed during construction can be of the Project – CLP Power Hong Kong Limited, the
detected promptly and appropriate remedial mea- Designer – Black & Veatch Hong Kong Limited and
sures, such as use of a different annulus filler to suit the Main Contractor – Kum Shing (K.F.) Construction
the actual ground conditions encountered, change Co. Limited for the co-operation to exercise geotech-
of the advance speed of TBM, etc. can be taken to nical control in the interest of public safety in the
prevent catastrophic failure from happening. project and the permission to publish the technical
3. It is important to control the amount of materi- data/details given in the paper. The views given in the
als excavated from the tunnel opening to prevent paper reflect only those of the author and not of the
significant ground loss. This could be achieved by above companies.
comparing the excavated volume with the theoreti-
cal excavation volume to check if significant voids
have been formed in the soil above the tunnel and REFERENCES
checking the amount of filler/grout used to fill the
voids around the pipes. In this project, only the Peck, R.B. 1969. Deep excavation and tunneling in soft
ground. Proceedings of the 7th International Confer-
total amount of materials excavated from the tun- ence on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering,
nel opening is obtained. A better method should be State-of-the-Art Volume: 225–290.
devised for future similar operation measuring the
amount of materials excavated for each section of
the tunnel excavation and checking the amount of
filler/grout used to fill the voids around the pipes.

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