Planning of Subsurface Use

165 Pages·1977·9.235 MB·English

by  Birger Jansson and Torbjörn Winqvist (Auth.)

D7:1977
PLANNING OF SUBSURFACE USE
Birger Jansson
Torbjörn Winqvist
This document refers to research grant 730591-8 from the Swedish Council for Building Research to
VBB,Vattenbyggnadsbyran, Stockholm.
Permission for distribution approred by the Security Officer
The National Land Survey of Sweden 1975-05-26.
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First edition 1977
ISBN 0 08 022689 2
Key words:
rock cavity
tunnels
subsurface
urban planning
responsibility of planning
building control
inventory of establishments
UDC 69.035.4:711
624.19
69.009
D7.1977
ISBN 91-540-2707-1
Statens rad for byggnadsforskning, Stockholm
LiberTryck Stockholm 1977
3
FOREWORD
Background to the project ficiently, so that not infrequently damage
in the ground and to buildings occurs as a
The technique of subsurface construction in
result of the lowering of the ground-water
the form of tunnels and rock cavities has
table, landslides and settling. During
been developed in Sweden to a very high le-
both the construction and utilisation sta-
vel. The extent of subsurface construction
ges, there is also occasional disturbance
work is considerable compared with that in
caused by noise and vibration, which is
other countries, both in relation to the
undesirable for the environment.
size of population and also in absolute fi-
gures. The utilisation of cavities below
Certain subsurface areas in large towns are
the ground has developed in a very short
attractive for different types of activity
time to cover a large number of individual
and in time become so riddled with installa-
activities.
tions close to the surface of the ground
that crowding and conflicts occur. Each
As a result of construction, skill and a
special requirement for space is not infrequ-
wide range of knowledge concerning the
ently satisfied in a special tunnel often
characteristics of subsurface installations,
parallel to tunnels for other purposes. Un-
as well as of geological and hydrological
necessary cost and the spread of disturbance
characteristics, it has been possible to
or damage can result from the fact that dif-
build subsurface installations in a very
ferent combinable demands are not co-ordina-
satisfactory way from the standpoint of
ted within the same space.
function and economy. There has been very
little attention paid from the outside to
In certain cases, activities may be forced
subsurface construction and to subsurface
to use subsurface installations in spite of
utilisation. As a result of this, skill
the fact that location above ground level
and experience have not been exploited suf-
would be preferable. In other cases, the
4
possibility of locating activities below sive studies within the fields concerned.
ground level has not been utilised due to a The project has been primarily intended to
lack of knowledge about subsurface construc- collect and compile the range of knowledge
tion technology or due to insufficient ana- and experience available among those active
lysis. within subsurface construction, from author-
ities and from other parties concerned.
These examples of lack of foresight in the
utilisation of subsurface areas implies the The intended direct result of the project
risk that greater conflicts may occur in the was specified in the following points:
future in connection with increased utilisa-
tion of subsurface areas. Lack of confi- - contributions with opinions on current
work on modified building legislation
dence concerning special subsurface con-
within the Housing Department,
struction technology may develop and the
- contributions with opinions on the work
result may be poor utilisation of the sub- and instructions for planning and con-
struction within the Swedish Board of
surface as an important resource in town
Urban Planning
planning.
- basic material for research and develop-
ment work within the field of knowledge
There is an obvious demand for better ex- concerning planning,
change of knowledge and better conditions - basic material for a continued interna-
tional exchange of experience.
concerning the utilisation of subsurface
areas. More attention must be paid to this
As the work has proceeded, it has been found
subject by authorities, planning staffs, de-
that there is a clear need of information
cision-makers and legislative experts. Me-
and reference material among authorities and
thods for and the organisation of subsurface
institutions and also among other people
installation planning should be examined.
active in this field. Since the survey ma-
terial has been found to satisfy this demand
to a certain extent, it has been included in
The aim of the project the summary.
The general background described above gives
the motivation for development of the plan-
ning of subsurface installations to a satis- The layout of the project
factory level. For this reason, financial
The project has been limited mainly to
allocations have been applied for and
events and problems in connection with exist-
granted by the Swedish Government Council
ing and future towns and does not therefore
for Building Research for this research pro-
cover problems involved in the planning of
ject, which is known as "Planning of Subsur-
mines. However, due attention has been
face Use".
devoted to the extensive experience in the
mining field of problems similar to those
The work of the research project has been
occurring in subsurface construction.
to obtain an overview of all the factors in-
fluencing the planning of subsurface instal-
The project has been divided into a number
lations and to present a comprehensive view-
of main parts covering the entire range of
point for this field in order to help those
products, which makes possible a dividing
responsible for an installation to under-
up of the survey work between those taking
stand the demands made concerning foresight
part. The figure shows the main parts of
and co-ordination, and also to draw the at-
the project.
tention of the authorities to the part
played in the community by subsurface con-
struction. It has not, on the other hand,
been the intention to carry out more inten-
5
Christer Fritzeil, Architect, of the Royal
Institute of Technology in Stockholm, has
carried out a separate inventory of the
range of knowledge available concerning the
reaction of human beings to the special sub-
surface environment during construction work
and operation.
Very important contributions have also been
made by Harald Berg, Licentiate of Engineer-
ing, Stellan Cyon, Architect, Per Eckerborn,
Graduate Engineer, Hans Edberg, Technologist,
Ulf Ranhagen, Doctor of Technology, all of
VBB, and also Hasse Tullberg, Bachelor of Law,
Skadekonsult AB.
There has been joint consultation in certain
geological matters connected with construc-
tion with Hagkonsult AB (Lars Lundström,
Graduate Engineer).
The project has been divided into four
stages:
During the survey work, the Working Group
has been supported by a Reference Group.
Stage 1 (December 1973 - March 1974), con-
The members of this have been
sisting of programme work and precise defi-
nition of the project. Sten G A Bergman, Doctor of Technology,
Stage 2 (December 1973 - October 1974), Torsten Egerö, Architect, Technical Director
consisting of preparatory inventories, se-
Gunnar Hult, Departmental Head Peter Norrman
lection and preparation of the sample plan-
ning areas. and Director Sven Platzer.
Stage 3 (May 1973 - January 1975), consist-
ing of inventories, analysis and develop-
Special contact has been established with
ment of planning methods, sample planning.
two of the people for whom the survey is
Stage 4 (February 1975 - February 1976),
consisting of summaries and recommendations, mainly intended, namely the Senior Secretary
preceded by the distribution of preliminary
of the now dissolved Committee of Inquiry
results for opinions.
into the Building Laws, Bengt Hedman, Head
of Legal Section of the Housing Department,
and Peter Heimbürger, Head of Planning Sec-
Those active in the survey work
tion at the National Board of Urban planning.
The survey work has been carried out by a
A number of other people, mainly within VBB
working group made up of representatives
Vattenbyggnadsbyrän, have been engaged to a
from different technical fields:
greater or lesser extent.
Birger Jansson, Architect, VBB (Project
leader)
Torbjörn Winqvist, Graduate Engineer, VBB
The execution of the project
(Secretary)
Rolf Brinck, Graduate Engineer, Skadekonsult
The research project has been carried out in
AB
various respects in a different way from
Ulf Kihlblom, Doctor of Technology, VBB
that originally planned. Since inventory
Nils-Eric Lindskoug, Graduate Engineer,
Sven Tyren AB was carried out during the two preparatory
6
stages, it was found that the information Acknowledgements
about the various survey areas was consider-
ably more useful than had been originally This research project has only been possible
supposed. The sample planning section was through the solid and generous support of a
therefore abandoned in favour of more in- large number of authorities, companies and
tensive surveys and analysis of selected private people. It has not been difficult
areas. It was later found important to to obtain the assistance we needed. We be-
carry out an extensive inventory of infor- lieve that this is associated with the fact
mation and reference material. These two that, even if opinions vary concerning our
procedures resulted in a further extension work, the importance of the project and its
to the scope of the project, Stage 3 being good intention have never been queried.
sub-divided into two sections.
Contact has been established with a very
large number of people as the survey has
It was presupposed that a study on the reac-
proceeded. You have all been more than
tion of human beings to underground environ-
helpful. We should particularly like to
ments would be carried out by a group of
mention the local authorities in Gothenburg,
nine experts supported by the special sur-
Stockholm and Uddevalla who have made the
vey secretary. During the execution of the
project, it was found that the members of in-depth surveys possible.
the expert group could not provide suffici-
ent of their own work. For this reason the The bodies referred to for comment and opi-
nion received material which was both com-
survey was carried out by the Secretary,
prehensive and in several respects very dif-
Christer Fritzell, supported by Professor
ficult to tackle. The imposing amount of
Harriet Ryd, of the Royal Institute of
work carried out has considerably increased
Technology in Stockholm.
the value of this report.
The preliminary conclusions and the most
We should also very much like to mention all
important sections of the back-up surveys
those who, inside and outside the Parent
from the first three stages were summarised
Company, have willingly contributed their
in the form of a report called Final Report
expertise during the various stages of the
3 (1975-04-18). This report was distributed
project.
for comment to authorities, state and local
government departments, institutions, uni-
Our grateful thanks to you all.
versities, organisations within the branch,
and to contracting, industrial and consult-
ing companies, making up a total of 100.
The number of responses received was 60, 50
of which must be considered as being well
or very well considered. This response from Stockholm in August, 1977
those involved in subsurface activities must
be considered as an extremely good one. Birger Jansson Torbjörn Winqvist
This report consists of a revised version
of the preliminary edition which was issued
for comment. Due attention has been paid to
contributions and viewpoints from the
sources referred to. The earlier layout,
which was divided up for practical and fi-
nancial reasons under different authors, has
been revised to a layout which is based more
on results and which is easier to read.
9
1. INTRODUCTION
Society makes demands on activities within user. Demands on the process of creation
the construction field. are formulated and proposals are made as to
how these can be satisfied. Only those
- The resources of society are to be safe- characteristics which distinguish subsurface
guarded in a sensible way; construction from other types of construc-
- collective needs are to be satisfied;
tion have been treated.
- the life and property of the individual
citizen are to be protected.
The most important of these are:
It is difficult to find any reason why sub-
- Exploitation of the characteristics of
surface construction should be regarded in
the surrounding soil and rock with re-
a different way from any other type of con- spect to the stability and use of the
rock cavity.
struction. Nevertheless, the creation and
- A special construction technique for the
operation of subsurface installations have
creation of rock cavities.
failed to attract anything like the amount
- The influence of the cavity on the sur-
of attention given to surface construction. rounding mass of soil and rock and on the
ground-water.
- Rock cavities are of a permanent nature
and can be altered only with very great
difficulty.
1.1 Limitations and - Rock cavities are dark spaces with only
limited access to the surface.
definitions
- The creation of rock cavities results in
surplus excavated material corresponding
to the size of the cavity.
The aim of the research project is to pro-
vide a picture of those aspects of the work
It is not the aim of the project to deal
which are relevant from a construction point
with subsurface construction and installa-
of view, and from that of society, i.e. the
tions which can be assigned to conventional
2-J4
10
surface construction i.e. cellars, base- sion possess all or most of the features
ments and foundations to a depth of one characteristic of subsurface construction.
storey, nor with the construction of con-
duits of small dimensions at shallow depths. The dividing line between subsurface and
surface installations should be drawn so
One attempt to define the concept "subsur- that those installations in the subsurface
face construction" which is applicable to possessing all or most of the features char-
this project was made in preparation for the acteristic of subsurface installations are
OECD Advisory Conference on Tunnelling held regarded as subsurface installations even if
in Washington D.C. in 1970. Artificial ca- they are connected to surface installations.
vities below the surface in rock, soil or
water having an area in cross section of The research project does not deal with sub-
2 m2 or greater and which are not subsur- surface construction aimed at the extraction
face parts of surface installations are of minerals, which may be referred to mining
classed as subsurface installations. operations.
The criterion of size should be the guiding
principle even if cavities of smaller dimen-
11
2. CHARACTERISTICS OF SUBSURFACE CONSTRUCTION
The following pages provide an introduction and absence of clayed deposits, crush zones
to the various factors and aspects which and other weak zones.
characterise subsurface installations and
subsurface construction. The aim is to No rock mass is ever homogeneous and certain
supply the reader with information regarding imperfections must be accepted. Rock is
these special traits and to facilitate under- composed of a great number of different
standing of the subsequent presentation. types of material each with its own particu-
lar qualities. As a result of movements in
the earth's crust (tectonic activity) the
bedrock is criss crossed by crush zones and
fissure systems of varying magnitude. Close
2.1 Geology imposes
to the surface the rock is more broken and
governing conditions
its suitability for building purposes can
vary considerably from place to place. At
Earth and rock surrounding a rock cavity are greater depths the rock becomes more compact,
suspended by an arch which is formed in the but at the same time rock and water pressu-
surrounding mass of rock. The arch becomes res increase. During the planning stage the
active through a structural deformation nature of the local rock mass is taken into
which takes place durinq the excavation. consideration by, for example, locating the
Normally, the active part of the rock is con- cavity in relation to the rock's fissure
siderably larger than the cavity itself and system, when working out detailed cross-
distortions are small - on the condition sections, etc.
that the rock quality is good. The import-
ant properties, from the point of view of The possibilities of evaluating the geolo-
construction are: good compressive strength, gical conditions for a subsurface system are
low frequency of fissures and fine cracks limited as soon as one moves away from the
12
20 m
Figure 1
Illustrated above are rock installations for various purposes,
shown with typical sectional areas. The surrounding, rough
framework refers to rock cavity for oil storage.