Rock Material Recycling in Tunnel Engineering

Voit, Klaus; Kuschel, Erik

doi:10.3390/app10082722

Cited by 22 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 27 publications

(37 reference statements)

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“…The majority of the excavated material is moved out from these intermediate construction accesses, thus there are landfill sites in the immediate area around the access tunnels. For more detailed information on the material management concept and location of the landfill sites, see 26 …”

Section: Tunnel Structure and Excavation Volume Of The Brenner Base Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Calcareous Bündner Schists show an E‐Modulus of approx. 38 GPa, 26 while standard aggregate rock material, like granite, exhibits a range of 50–70 GPa, Gabbro and Basalt even a magnitude of approx. 60–100 GPa.…”

Section: Concrete Production Using Bündner Schists Aggregatementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this context, there are also major efforts to achieve a high level of recycling of tunnel excavation material at the construction site of the Brenner Base tunnel. This is of great importance as a result of the following reasons 26 : During tunneling, approximately 43 M tons of excavation material are estimated for the Brenner Base tunnel, from which ca. 25 M tons are generated at the Austrian tunnel section. The forecast during the preceding environmental impact assessment of the Brenner Base tunnel expects a share of material depositing of approximately 79%, meaning that—in the case of the Austrian tunnel section—landfill sites with a volume approximately 12 M m 3 need to be built. In return, the construction site has a high demand for rock raw material such as gravel and sand that is—if no material processing is implemented—provided from natural resources of the surrounding (quarries and gravel pits) causing an environmental impact in sensitive alpine areas. Transport of gravel and sand would be carried out at least partly by truck (because not for each construction section rail access is available) raising the traffic volume in this area. Next to environmental considerations, recycling can be reasonable from an economic viewpoint, reducing the construction costs and thereby unburden the tax payers. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tunnel spoil recycling for concrete production at the Brenner Base tunnel in Austria

Voit

Murr²,

Cordes³

et al. 2020

Structural Concrete

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In the construction of major tunnel structures, large quantities of rock material are generated by the excavation of, for example, tunnels or caverns out of the in situ rock mass. Excavated rock material was often considered as undesired by‐product and from a legal point of view as waste in the past. Nevertheless, there is the need for construction material at the tunnel construction site directly where the rock material is generated. Broad scientific research is conducted concerning the utilization possibilities and optimization of recycling implementation. This article deals with the recycling of tunnel excavation material substituting conventional aggregate for concrete by the example of the Brenner Base Tunnel in Austria. Concrete design, material processing, and concrete production were affected by challenging geological bedrock conditions. This article presents the scientific approach, experimental setup, verification, and the realization on the construction site. The way from preliminary mixing designs to the final product is illustrated for two main rock types: calcareous schists, which successfully were recycled and processed as aggregate for shotcrete, structural and inner lining concrete; and quartz phyllite with unsuitable rock properties for concrete production due to intense foliation and mica‐rich mineral composition. The results are demonstrating the need for detailed examination of rock and concrete properties regarding the usability of tunnel excavation material.

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Section: Tunnel Structure and Excavation Volume Of The Brenner Base Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Concrete Production Using Bündner Schists Aggregatementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tunnel spoil recycling for concrete production at the Brenner Base tunnel in Austria

Voit

Murr²,

Cordes³

et al. 2020

Structural Concrete

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“…The latter describes the technical characteristics required for spoil material re-use/recycling, considering both environmental protection and the costs of treatment or use as a virgin raw material. Some recent publications have posed the question of the re-use of spoil material from mechanized tunnelling [6][7][8][9][10][11][12], since high amounts are produced at each excavation site. They highlighted that the final destination of this material needs to be considered with care, in particular to protect the water compartment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mesocosm Experiments at a Tunnelling Construction Site for Assessing Re-Use of Spoil Material as a By-Product

Caracciolo

Grenni

Mariani

et al. 2021

Water

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Mechanized excavation of tunnels with Earth Pressure Balance-Tunnel Boring Machines requires the use of foaming agents. The latter contain the anionic surfactant sodium lauryl ether sulphate (SLES) as the main compound. The re-use as a by-product of excavated soil containing foaming agents (spoil material) can pose a risk for soil and particularly for aquatic ecosystems if they are close to the spoil material final destination site. This work reports the chemical results (SLES residual concentrations) and ecotoxicological effects (battery of five tests) of 28 day-mesocosm studies performed at a tunnelling construction site. The soil mesocosms were set up with two different lithologies, which contained four different foaming agent products at the highest amounts used for excavation. The decrease in SLES concentrations and the ecotoxicological tests were performed in soil and its water extract (elutriate) at different times (0, 7, 14, 28 d). Elutriates were prepared in order to simulate a possible SLES leaching from soil to water. The results showed a decrease in SLES over time and different ecotoxicological responses depending not only on the initial amount of each product, but also on the soil lithology and organism tested (aquatic or terrestrial). This study showed how only site-specific ecotoxicological evaluations can ensure a safe management of the spoil material, making possible the re-use of soil and avoiding production of waste.

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“…During the past twenty years, large subsurface infrastructure projects produced a vast amount of excavated material (Galler, 2016(Galler, , 2016Resch et al, 2009), adapted associated legislation (Haas et al, 2020b;Resch, 2012) and endeavoured sustainable waste reduction (Cabello Eras et al, 2013;Magnusson et al, 2015). Environmental considerations are an inevitable keystone for the construction approval and hence, require to demonstrate potential scenarios or disposal as well as management concepts of using excavated material (Erben, 2016;Galler, 2015;Voit and Kuschel, 2020). Although finding utilisations of excavated material are compulsory, recurring technical challenges remain and originate from geological complexity and underlying processing techniques (Lassnig, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applicability of excavated rock material: A European technical review implying opportunities for future tunnelling projects

Haas

Mongeard

Ulrici

et al. 2021

Journal of Cleaner Production

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The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is a world-wide leading organisation in the field of particle physics and operation of high-class particle accelerators. Since 2013, CERN has undertaken feasibility investigations for a particle accelerator, named Future Circular Collider (FCC) to be installed within a 90-100 km subsurface infrastructure likely to enter construction phase after 2030. An important aspect of its construction and environmental impact assessment is the management of approximately 9.1 million m 3 of excavated rock and soil. The aim of this paper is to thoroughly review the applications of excavated material across European subsurface construction projects from a technical point of view and set them into context with studies currently ongoing for FCC. We propose a conceptual flow model for rock characterisation with respect to both applicability of excavated material and tunnelling excavation techniques for future international subsurface construction projects.The review has revealed a vast and encouraging potential across different European construction sites efficiently using excavated rock and soil over the past decade ranging from concrete production, geopolymer production, embankment and landfilling. Examples of reviewed subsurface tunnelling projects are likely to be applied for FCC including concrete production, clay-sealing for embankments, geopolymer face stabilization, recultivation or agricultural usage as mixed soil material or sustainable waste disposal.

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Rock Material Recycling in Tunnel Engineering

Cited by 22 publications

References 27 publications

Tunnel spoil recycling for concrete production at the Brenner Base tunnel in Austria

Tunnel spoil recycling for concrete production at the Brenner Base tunnel in Austria

Mesocosm Experiments at a Tunnelling Construction Site for Assessing Re-Use of Spoil Material as a By-Product

Applicability of excavated rock material: A European technical review implying opportunities for future tunnelling projects

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