The provision of effective infrastructure systems (transport, power, water, waste) is something most people take for granted, yet its importance is paramount when considering public safety and economic growth. Furthermore, the increase in urban growth, which could reach 70% in 2050, is leading to increased demand for underground infrastructure systems (railways, metros, etc.). Underground infrastructure systems provide sustainable solutions in large cities that help to optimise the use of surface spaces and minimise pollution; however, they also require the construction of new tunnels (tunnelling), deep-excavations and shafts that cause ground movements, which raise concerns related to serviceability and safety of existing buildings, pipelines, tunnels, and other infrastructure in congested urban areas.
The project main aim was to developed simplified numerical solutions, implemented in MATLAB scripts, that will benefit engineers that need to assess the risk of tunnelling in urban areas during their design of underground construction. In particular, soil-structure interaction models were developed that allow estimating the response of pile groups and piled structures to external actions and tunnelling-induced ground movements, with a focus on predicting foundation and structure distress/damage. Also, design-charts are proposed to facilitate the quick exploitation of research outcomes in practice. Although the original research proposal aimed to focus on tunnelling beneath piles and piled structures, the project was expanded towards the investigation of the following thematic areas, always related to urban tunnelling: i) the response of buildings on shallow foundations to tunnelling in urban areas; ii) deep-excavations next to pile foundations; iii) distortions and movements of existing tunnels and utility pipelines due to underneath tunnelling.
