Master Formulas and basic Rules for Tunnelling Logistics

The main tasks of tunnelling logistics are the immediate disposal of the material accrued during excavation and the appropriate provision of the construction material required for driving and supporting. This applies to the external tunnelling logistics, ranging from the sources of the construction materials by way of intermediate storage to the tunnel entrance and from there to the sinks for the excavated material, as well as to the internal tunnelling logistics, embracing loading and unloading transport vehicles and transportation within the tunnel (Fig. 1). The costs for the external logistics grow with the increasing volume of materials in proportion to the length of the tunnel, On the other hand, the accumulated costs for the internal transportation, as experience shows, increase overproportionately with the length of the tunnel.

In this report general calculation formulas are derived for the length-dependence of the internal transport requirements and the resultant transport costs. They are useful for planning and constructing road, rail and pipeline tunnels. These master formulas for tunnelling logistics provide a series of generally valid basic rules for tunnelling, which are presented and explained following the derivation of the formulas. The report is rounded off with an application example, which demonstrates the general rules won from the master formulas, and their implications for practical use.

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