Figs. 106 and 107.—Sketches Showing Temporary Strutting Arch Construction, Stazza Tunnel.
Advantages and Disadvantages.
—The great advantage claimed for the Italian method of tunneling is that it is built in two separate parts, each of which is separately excavated, strutted, and lined, and thus can be employed successfully in very treacherous soils. Its chief disadvantage is its excessive cost, which limits its use to tunnels through treacherous soils where other methods of timbering cannot be used.
QUICKSAND TUNNELING.
When an underground stream of water passes with force through a bed of sand it produces the phenomenon known as quicksand. This phenomenon is due to the fineness of the particles of sand and to the force of the water, and its activity is directly proportional to them. When sand is confined it furnishes a good foundation bed, since it is practically incompressible. To work successfully in quicksand, therefore, it is necessary to drain it and to confine the particles of sand so that they cannot flow away with the water. This observation suggests the mode of procedure adopted in excavating tunnels through quicksand, which is to drain the tunnel section by opening a gallery at its bottom to collect and carry away the water, and to prevent the movement or flowing of the sand by strutting the sides of the excavation with a tight planking.
The sand having to be drained and confined as described, the ordinary methods of soft-ground tunneling must be employed, with the following modifications:
(1) The first work to be performed is to open a bottom gallery to drain the tunnel. This gallery should be lined with boards laid close and braced sufficiently by interior frames to prevent distortion of the lining. The interstices or seams between the lining boards should be packed with straw so as to permit the percolation of water and yet prevent the movement of the sand.
(2) As fast as the excavation progresses its walls should be strutted by planks laid close, and held in position by interior framework; the seams between the plank should be packed with straw.
(3) The masonry lining should be built in successive rings, and the work so arranged that the water seeping in at the sides and roof is collected and removed from the tunnel immediately.