HONG KONG, CHINA

Controlling Overbreak in Hong Kong

Computerization Improves Efficiency
The use of new generation CAN-bus drillrigs in Hong Kong has been monitored at two different jobsites. The first is at Pak Shing Kok, where Atlas Copco Rocket Boomer L2 C drillrigs equipped with ABC Regular worked for Hyundai-Kier; and the second is at West Rail, where larger Rocket Boomer WL3 C drillrigs worked for Nishimatsu and Dragages. Despite hard and abrasive rock in both situations, good average penetration was achieved, allied to economic consumption of drillbits and rods. Operator wages were reduced dramatically, thanks to computerization of the drilling operation, and profiling was as good as expected, given the other variables involved.

Introduction
The development of Hong Kong as a major southern gateway for China continues apace. Integral to the overall plan is the enlargement of the freight railway system to handle the huge volumes of goods coming through the container port, which is now the largest in the world after Rotterdam. We describe here two major railway tunnel contracts at which new generation Atlas Copco Rocket Boomer drillrigs equipped with CAN-bus control systems worked.

MTRC Pak Shing Kok Tunnels

The Hong Kong MTRC Pak Shing Kok tunnels comprise a complex of five interconnected tunnels driven as nine tunnels totalling 6 km in length. The tunnels have a cross-section of some 35 sq m and are located in crystalline pyroclastic rocks, resulting in high bit wear. For the drill and blast operations, the contractor Hyundai-Kier Joint Venture employed three Atlas Copco Rocket Boomer L2 C drillrigs. These were two-boom rigs with a CAN-bus based control system.
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The rigs were equipped with ABC Regular boom navigation system, with which the operator guides the booms and feeds to the correct positions using a preset drill pattern presented on the display screen in the cab of the drillrig. The feeds can host up to 14 ft-long rods to provide a maximum hole depth of 4.2 m. The rock was hard and abrasive, but not as brittle as regular hard crystalline basement rock. As a result, expectations for penetration would normally be on the low side, and bit wear would be high. However, the average penetration achieved at Pak Shing Kok was in the range of 2.5 m/min, and the service lives of bits, rods and shanks was around 400 m, 8-9,000 m, and 8-9,000 m respectively. These results are considered as good, taking into account the high penetration rate. A single operator controlled the two booms on each machine, and the total drilling time, including positioning, for a 70-hole, 4 m round was 1.5 to 2 h. As the manual moving of the boom from one hole position to the next generally took about 40 to 50 seconds, the operator was busy with the levers for two thirds of the drilling time. The tunnels are being concrete lined, so it is very important to keep overbreak at a low level (Fig 1 overleaf).

Rocket Boomer WL3 C drillrigs working for Nishimatsu and Dragages at a 110 sq m face.

FACE DRILLING

HONG KONG, CHINA

West rail tunnel contract D & B 350 Hong Kong Overbreak (m) (after shotcrete support)

West rail tunnel contract D & B 350 Hong Kong Underbreak (m) (after shotcrete support)

Frequency

Frequency

Overbreak (m)

Underbreak (m)

Tunnel No 6 was the first to be excavated, and the objective was to keep overbreak low by demanding smaller margins than usual, and the consequence was too much underbreak. Some of the underbreak is explained by application of too much shotcrete for primary support. Certainly, better results with respect to overbreak have been achieved on other projects, but it always comes down to the ambition of the management and the incentive and skill of the labour.

West Rail Contract DB 350

The West Rail contract DB 350 included a 5 km-long double-track tunnel located in the Repulse bay formation, which comprises mainly crystalline pyroclastic rocks. The joint venture companies Nishimatsu and Dragages split the tunnel half each. Nishimatsu used the new generation Atlas Copco Rocket Boomer WL3 C CANbus drillrigs for face work. The tunnel design, which was produced by the joint venture, is a double-track single tube tunnel with a cross-section of 110 sq m. A concrete wall along the centre-line separates the two tracks from each other. The two WL3 C drillrigs had feeds long enough to handle 5.8 m holes. The drilled length of the rounds varied generally from 5.0 to 5.8 m. In poor rock, these long rounds were shortened. This is important to bear in mind when overbreak is discussed later. The rigs were equipped with ABC Total, which moves the booms and feeds to new positions automatically, after each hole is drilled.
FACE DRILLING

The two rigs were positioned side by side at the tunnel face, and each drilled 77 holes of the total 154 holes for the 110 sq m face, plus three 4 in holes for the parallel cut. The contour holes were given a spacing of 35 to 40 cm. Generally, all but the contour and the bottom holes were drilled in the Total mode. The pull of each round was about 90%. Two rounds per day, 25 days per month gave a production of 200220 m per month. If the perimeter profile was free of protruding rock, automatic drilling was also used for the contour holes. The wear on drilling tools was the same as for the MTRC tunnels described earlier, with the exception of the bit life, which was around 500 m. Here again, it can be concluded that the CAN-bus rig treated the drilling tools well.

Fig 1. Profile results at West Rail tunnel contract D&B 350 chainage 1556 to 1997.

Control panel of the new Rocket Boomer WL3 C.

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HONG KONG, CHINA

Rocket Boomer WL3 Cs used at West Rail.

Fig 2. Profile results at contract 611, MTRC.

One man operated the three-boom rig, and when the Total mode was utilized the booms had no downtime, even for shorter rounds. The time for the drilling operation, including setup, was in the range of 2-2.5 h, and the penetration rate for the 48 mm spherical button bits was 2.5 m/min. In cases where only one drillrig was used at the face, the drilling of a full round took 3.5 to 4 h. Considering the length of the round, with respect to the poorer rock quality, overbreak could not match the result from the MTRC tunnels. Without any splitting on rock-classes, the results from 450 m of tunnel are shown in Fig 2 below. Here, as in the MTRC project, the drilling of the contour holes starts 10 cm outside the

theoretical line, and the bottom holes 30 cm outside the theoretical line. What is surprisingly encouraging, is that underbreak is found only in half the surveyed sections and, where found, only small quantities are registered. As the deviation is a multiplication of 2x the length of the hole, a 5.5 m-long hole can be expected to deviate 50% more than a 4 m-long hole. Consequently, the underbreak ought to be more embarrassing than in the MTRC case. Information on the rock quality provided by the contractor shows that almost all excavation is in rock having a value higher than 10, which can be considered as good. Overbreak caused by geology should not have been dominating in this case.

Contract 611, MTRC Hong Kong Over and Underbreak

Conclusions
It is very important for machine suppliers to have good working relationships with experienced customers, as they, to some extent, become partners in the development of new equipment. Atlas Copco believes that its new generation drillrigs are profitable tools when chasing costs in tunnel construction. Improvements, such as better drill steel economy, savings on operator wages, and higher utilization have resulted in a good reception of the new series of drillrigs in Hong Kong. While the results for overbreak are not conclusive, they are favourable, and there is no doubt that the higher accuracy of the CAN-bus drillrigs is a contributing factor. s
FACE DRILLING

Over & Underbreak (m)

Overbreak Underbreak

Tunnel 1-9

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