Underground Singapore 2018

Innovation in Bored Tunnel Segmental Lining Design in

Singapore – Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete (SFRC)
M. McGowan, S. L. Suhaendi
Arup Singapore Pte. Ltd., Singapore

P. Fok, R. Venkta
Land Transport Authority, Singapore

ABSTRACT: The opening of Downtown Line 3 (DTL3) marked the longest underground and driver-
less MRT line in Singapore. In complement to this success, the completion of DTL3 tunnels between
Jalan Besar and Geylang Bahru MRT Stations (i.e. Contract C933) marks an engineering leap in the
application of Steel Fibre Reinforced Concrete (SFRC) tunnel segmental lining in South East Asia.
The advantages of SFRC material providing better toughness, impact resistance and durability have
been fully utilized in the project. This paper summarizes some of the challenges encountered during
the design, development stage and segment production stage with comprehensive testing and quality
control procedures. The key considerations in the handling of SFRC segments during construction
will be highlighted. The success of SFRC application in DTL3 has encouraged Singapore’s Land
Transport Authority (LTA) in continuing and expanding the application of SFRC material in future
project (i.e. Thomson-East Coast Line, TEL). The successful experience should also encourage other
rail developers and contractors in the region to embark on utilizing the innovative SFRC material.

1 INTRODUCTION

Traditionally, precast concrete segmental linings for tunnel have been designed with conventional
steel reinforcement bar. Such reinforcement has been satisfactory in many cases; but in other cases,
major issues occurred in relation to the durability of the linings. It is common that the steel rebar cor-
roded due to existence of harmful chemical substances (i.e. chloride, sulfate, etc.) in the ground water,
causing spalling of concrete that would result in a very expensive and disruptive repair programs dur-
ing the design life of precast concrete segmental linings.

Commonly, the tunnel lining would take compressive force (i.e. hoop thrust) generated by ground
overburden & water around the lining and surcharge at the surface, and bending moment generated by
the load differences between the vertical and horizontal load. At some cases, the bending moment
might be high enough to diminish the hoop thrust generated compression in the segment section, re-
quiring tension reinforcement to resist the tensile stress. The steel rebar designed in precast segmental
lining for tunnels would also be required for safety during handling/erection and to resist tensile burst-
ing stresses near the radial joints due to load from ground overburden pressure, ground water & sur-
charge and circumferential joints due to load exerted by TBM shove rams during the excavation.

In railway tunnel, there had been indication of extensive corrosion of precast segmental lining rebars,
particularly where high concentrations of chlorides are present in ground water. The absorption of
chloride salts present in the atmosphere would be accelerated by wetting and drying cycles daily when
trains are not in operation.

Utilization of steel fibres in precast concrete lining has been adopted in some of TBM tunneling pro-
jects around the world. Steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC) segmental lining has been successfully
applied due to:
 1. Potential elimination of conventional rebar from the segment promoting productivity during
manufacturing. Concrete can be cast into the segment mould without any obstruction to dis-
tribute throughout the section with improved rates depending on suitable compaction meth-
ods. Concrete mix can be optimized to achieve strength requirement in design and for
demoulding.
2. Its advantages to increase the resistance of segments against splitting, spalling and impact
which reduces damages to the segment during construction stages (i.e. handling/erection and
erection) as the fibres reinforcement will be multidirectional and evenly distributed through-
out the section.
3. Its resistance against micro-cracking to enhance long-term durability. Risk of damage during
handling will be reduced by distributed fibres protecting the edges of the unit.

Despite all the advantages of SFRC segmental lining, it should be noted that its capacity against bend-
ing moment may not be as high as to conventional steel rebar segmental lining. The high bending
moment inside the segment is usually attributed to the geological condition (i.e. very soft ground, usu-
ally marked with extremely low SPT-N values) and significant additional loading acting on the seg-
ments due to permanent existing structure & future development and/or temporary close proximity
tunneling. During shoving of TBM, particular design check should also be carried out to limit the
thrust force exerted on the SFRC segment at its circumferential joint. The tensile bursting stress re-
sulting from the thrust force should be lesser than the SFRC tensile strength capacity which may not
easily increased, unlike in the case of steel rebar segmental lining. Increasing segmental lining thick-
ness in order to decrease the tensile bursting stress may be considered as a relatively simple solution
though may not be too efficient.

2 DTL3A – C933: JALAN BESAR TO GEYLANG BAHRU TUNNELS

2.1 Tunnel alignment, geology and ground conditions

Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA) initiated the construction of first SFRC bored tunnel seg-
mental lining in South East Asia. The completed 2.3km long tunnels between Jalan Beasr MRT Sta-
tion, Bendemeer MRT Station and Geylang Bahru Station are designed to incorporate steel fibres in
lieu of conventional steel rebar as concrete reinforcing material.

During the advanced study of the overall DTL3 alignment, it was prominent to focus on the risks to
the Client and manage or eliminate those risks. In order to minimize the impact of tunneling works to
the existing (infra) structures, it was considered prudent to have stacked bored tunnel arrangement be-
tween DTL3A – C933 MRT stations, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. DTL3A – C933 tunnel alignment

Kallang Formation is generally encountered beneath the made ground along DTL3A Contract C933
alignment. Underlying the Kallang Formation is the Old Alluvium formation. The Kallang Formation
soils comprise the marine clay, fluvial sand, fluvial clay and estuarine clay. Marine clays notably pre-
sent at Jalan Besar and Kallang Bahru area, sandwiching the fluvial sand and / or fluvial clay layers.
The existence of both upper and lower marine clays are found at Jalan Besar area. The geological
condition along C933 is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Geological profile along DTL3A – C933 bored tunnel

The depth of tunnel to its axis was in the range of 16.4m to 37.9m. A summary of tunneled geological
condition is given in Table 1 showing more than half of the tunnel drives were in OA formation.

Table 1. Tunnelled geological condition in DTL3A – C933

Bored Tunnel Full Face Soil – KF Mixed Soil – KF & OA Full Face Soil – OA
Bukit Panjang Bound 8% 15% 77%
 Expo bound 19% 26% 55%
The geotechnical design parameter for bored tunnel segmental lining design is shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Geotechnical design parameters for DTL3A – C933 bored tunnel lining design

Based on the measurement from standpipes and piezometers installed in the fluvial layers and residual
soils within C933, the piezometric water heads were recorded to be ranging from +103.36 mRL to
+97.95mRL with ground level ranging from +105.96 mRL to +101.32 mRL. For bored tunnel lining
design, GWL at 3m below GL was applied as lowest credible level (i.e. lower bound). Chemical anal-
ysis conducted to determine the corrosiveness of the soil and groundwater to buried concrete struc-
tures showed:
1. Chloride content of water samples fell between Class 1 and 2 in accordance with LTA Design
Criteria.
2. Sulfate concentration for both soil and water samples categorized as Class 1 in accordance
with SS289.

The classification and protective measures for chemical aggressiveness to concrete structures was de-
signed based on SS289.

2.2 Tunnel drive structure and TBM strategy

The major tunnel works within mainline tunnel drive for DTL3A Contract C933 include:
1. Twin bored tunnels with both parallel and stacked arrangement from West Launch Shaft at
Bendemeer Crossover to Jalan Besar Station and from East Launch Shaft at Bendemeer Sta-
tion to Geylang Bahru Station.
2. Two Escape Shafts as tunnel fire safety escape provision: Allenby ES between Bendemeer
Station & Jalan Besar Station and Kallang ES between Bendemeer and Geylang Bahru Sta-
tion.

Based on the construction programme and geological & hydrogeological conditions for the tunnelling
works, a total of 4 Earth Pressure Balance (EPB) TBMs were deployed from the launch shafts at
Bendemeer Station. The tunnel drive for Bukit Panjang Bound took precedence over the Expo Bound
in order to mitigate any tunneling risk associated with stacked tunnel arrangement.
Figure 3. DTL3A – C933 TBM strategy

3 DESIGN

3.1 General considerations

In general, the structural analysis of SFRC is quite similar to steel rebar RC segments. The high hoop
thrust in the lining would balance any tensile stresses due to the unbalanced loading conditions or ring
building tolerances such that the lining will remain in compression. Essentially, the SFRC segmental
tunnel linings were designed as unreinforced RC, with some enhancement of tensile strength for burst-
ing loads and extra toughness for resisting handling/erecting loads.

Structural concrete design codes, such as SS CP65 and EC2, adopt a design approach on the basis of
material properties. In this approach, material properties such as compressive strength or residual
flexural strength would be determined from standard cube or prism tests. These mechanical properties
are then applied into equations defining the performance of the concrete element to determine the
structural capacity.

The general details adopted for the SFRC segmental lining is given in Table 3.

Table 3. Details for SFRC segmental lining

Number of Segments 7 + 1 Key
Segment Aspect Ratio App. 9.5
Internal Diameter 5.8m
Segment Thickness 275mm
Ring Length 1400mm
Ring Taper +/- 20mm, to accommodate min. track radius of 300m
Concrete Grade C50/60
Reinforcement and Cover Segments reinforced with steel fibre hence no requirement of con-
crete cover
Radial Joint Connections Spear (Straight) bolts
Circumferential Joint Connections Spear (Straight) bolts
Grout Hole Grout hole as provision for secondary grouting
Erection Mechanism Vacuum lifting

3.2 Codes and Standards

At the design stage of segmental lining for DTL3A – C933, there were no internationally recognized
design codes available for SFRC. Hence, the design of precast concrete segmental linings would fol-
low the recommendations provided in appropriate national design codes and standards for traditional-
ly-reinforced concrete. As a result, the SFRC segmental linings were designed in accordance with SS
CP 65 Structural Use of Concrete, as unreinforced RC for ground loading, water, surcharge, etc.

The relevant specifications and testing procedures in order to establish/verify the engineering proper-
ties of steel fibre and SFRC are shown in Table 4.

Table 4. Relevant specifications for steel fibre and SFRC

Standard Number Title
BS EN 14721: 2005 Test method for metallic fibre concrete. Measuring the fibre content in fresh and
hardened concrete
BS EN 12350-2:2000 Testing fresh concrete. Slump test
BS EN 12350-6:2000 Testing fresh concrete. Density
BS EN 12350-7:2000 Testing fresh concrete. Air content. Pressure methods
BS EN 12390-3:2002 Testing hardened concrete. Compressive strength of test specimens
BS EN 12390-6:2000 Testing hardened concrete. Tensile splitting strength of test specimens
BS EN 14651:2005 Test method for metallic fibre concrete. Measuring the flexural tensile strength (lim-
it of proportionality (LOP), residual)

3.3 Design approach

The lining design was carried out using the continuum model based on Muir Wood (modified by Cur-
tis) to obtain the forces and displacements in the lining. The continuum model considers homogenous
ground conditions around the tunnel ring which enables the prediction of hoop thrust, bending mo-
ment and radial displacement.

For SFRC segmental lining, crack width would not significantly affect its long term durability. How-
ever, it would be prudent to carry out the check as part of design requirement by demonstrating that
flexural tensile stress in the concrete section would not exceed the SFRC flexural tensile strength at
first crack.

Design check for bursting stress at radial joint and circumferential joint was carried out using end
block analogy as described by Leonhardt. The bursting stress were then checked not to exceed the
SFRC design splitting tensile strength. Based on the SFRC tensile strength, The TBM working thrust
force was limited to a maximum of 33MN.

Figure 4. Sample of SFRC segmental lining capacity check for DTL3A – C933

3.4 Special cases of SFRC segments

In DTL3A – C933, some of the SFRC segmental lining required some modifications due to special
cases, as follows:
1. Tunnel opening (i.e. connecting adits at both Allenby and Kallang escape shafts)
The SFRC segmental lining at tunnel openings incorporated the provision of shear cones (i.e.
bicones) at the circumferential joints. In order to accommodate the opening in the lining ring,
the segments were also strengthened by adding steel rebars similar to the reinforcement cage
found in traditional RC segments.
2. Close proximity of 2nd TBM excavation
At one particular chainage, the bored tunnels would be in a semi-stacked configuration with
clear excavation separation of app. 2.5m in poor ground of Kallang Formation. In order to ac-
commodate the induced additional lining forces on the constructed lower tunnel, a short
stretch of SFRC segments at this area were strengthened by adding steel rebars.

a) Tunnel opening b) Close proximity tunneling

Figure 5. Special cases of SFRC segments

3.5 SFRC testing regime

A comprehensive testing regime proposal had been conducted during the design stage, comprising:
1. Steel fibre reinforced concrete, covering testing on concrete constituents, design mix, trials
and other associated sampling and testing requirements.
2. Mechanical properties, covering tests to assess the material properties such as compressive
strength, tensile splitting strength and flexural strength
3. Large scale tests to evaluate segment performance in order to verify design assumptions.

a) Segment flexural test b) Fire test

Figure 6. SFRC segment large scale tests
Fire testing on SFRC complied with the Specification and Guidelines for Testing of Passive Fire Pro-
tection for Concrete Tunnels Linings published by EFNARC in March 2006. The fire performance
was assessed with a concrete test slab of nominal area of 2000mm x 2000mm with one surface ex-
posed to the furnace. The test slab had a thickness of 275mm as per tunnel lining. Following
EFNARC recommendation and the nature of tunnel lining to be under compression, the test slab was
preloaded with magnitude of 2500kN/m which was in excess of the magnitude of maximum tunnel
hoop thrust under working conditions. BS 476 curve was adopted for the SFRC fire testing.

4 CONSTRUCTION

4.1 General consideration

The advantages of SFRC application in segmental tunnel linings include:

1. Durability improvement
Crack arresting mechanism of the steel fibres inside the concrete matrix reduces crack propa-
gation and discrete nature of individual steel fibres avoid widespread corrosion of reinforce-
ment.
2. Productivity improvement
The removal of steel rebars accelerates the segment production.
3. Better impact resistance
The even and multi directional distribution of steel fibres, including the edges and corners of
the segment provides better resistance against impact and abrasion loads during segment han-
dling and transportation from production factory to TBM launching shaft and assembly inside
TBM. This will lead to lesser repairs to edge of segments due to chipping and spalling.
4. Cost savings
The savings on production costs pertain mainly to steel materials, labours, equipments,
worksite area, and higher production rate in segment production by eliminating the need for
manufacturing, handling, storing and positioning of rebar cages. SFRC segments are less
prone to edge of segments chipping, and spalling during segment handling and transportation,
resulting in savings in repair cost.

Prior to SFRC segment full scale production, trial mix at the precast segment yard was carried out to
simulate similar segment production processing. The QA/QC procedures during segment production
were carried out to ensure SFRC segments leaving precast yard were in compliance with the specifica-
tion and requirement.

4.2 SFRC segment production

The application of SFRC in DTL3A – C933 facilitated a rapid automated segment carousel production
line and steam curing with consequent reduced factory space and number of moulds. Once the moulds
were stripped they could be rapidly cleaned and returned for refilling. It was not necessary to install,
align and fix a rebar cage within the segment mould. The elimination of reinforcement reduced the
segment factory worksite area as the bar bending fabrication yard was eliminated.

The production rate comparison of RC Segments using conventional system and SFRC segments us-
ing automated Carousel system is shown in Table 5. The segment production cycle time was reduced
resulting in an increase in segment productivity of up to 20%.

Table 5. Comparison between RC segment conventional and SFRC segment carousel production system
Conventional RC segment SFRC segment
Daily production capacity with 5 sets of mould 8 rings 10 rings
Workers per day 30 workers 30 workers
Man-day per ring 3.75 man-days 3 man-days
5 SUMMARY

Being the first in South East Asia, Singapore’s DTL3A – C933 between Jalan Besar and Geylang
Bahru Stations successfully applied SFRC bored tunnel precast segmental lining in lieu of traditional-
ly precast RC segments. The success resulting from a sequence of activities starting with robust de-
sign, development of material & concrete mix design, segments large scale tests, followed with com-
prehensive testing & QA/QC procedures during segment production stage and proper handling &
erection of segments at the construction site.

The application of SFRC bored tunnel precast segmental lining marks the achievement to improve the
sustainability and productivity in the construction industry, particularly of mega underground rail pro-
jects. Following the experience of SFRC tunnel lining application benefits and advantages, an oppor-
tunity for other projects in the region to embark similar journey has been widely opened.

6 REFERENCE

Curtis, D. J. 1976. Discussion note upon the Circular Tunnel in Elastic Ground. Geotechnique 26:
231-237.
Muir Wood, A.M. 1975. The Circular Tunnel in Elastic Ground. Geotechnique 25(1): 115-127.
Arup. 2011. Final Design Bored Tunnel – C933 SFRC Segmental Lining and Building Damage As-
sessment Calculations (Bored tunnels from JLB to SGI). Singapore.
Arup. 2011. Final Design Bored Tunnel – C933 SFRC Segmental Lining and Building Damage As-
sessment Calculations (Bored tunnels from JLB to KLB). Singapore.
Arup. 2011. C933 Geotechnical Interpretative Baseline Report (Tender). Singapore.
ITAtech AGS. 2016. Guidance for Precast Fibre Reinforced Conrete Segments – Vol. 1: Design As-
pects. Lausanne.
Efnarc. 2006. Specification and Guidelines for Testing of Passive Fire Protection for Concrete Tun-
nels Linings.