Construction of a Metro Tunnel in Mexico City with an EPB Shield

Ismail Benamar, Dalia Zaldivar

In the proceedings of: GEO2011: 64th Canadian Geotechnical Conference, 14th Pan-American Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, 5th Pan-American Conference on Teaching and Learning of Geotechnical Engineering

Session: Buried Structures & Subsurface Systems

ABSTRACT: The construction of the tunnel for Metro Line 12 represents a breakthrough and a challenge to Mexican engineering as this is the first great diameter mechanized tunnel to be bored under urban area and in the special soft soil conditions typical of Mexico City clays. It is a tunnel excavated by EPB TBM under very low covers and also subjected to regional subsidence phenomena. Along its way, the EPB shield runs below and next to important underground structures such as sewerage tunnels and river conductions, pile foundations for bridges, superficial Metro lines and underground crossways. The present paper discusses the excavation process of the first three sections of the tunnel, the first of which served as the learning curve of the process.

RESUMEN: La construcción del túnel de la Línea 12 del metro representa una gran innovación y un reto para la ingeniería mexicana ya que este es el primer tunel mecanizado de gran diámetro que se excava bajo una zona urbana y bajo las condiciones especiales de los suelos blandos típicos del Valle de México. Es un túnel de gran diámetro excavado con tuneladora EPB bajo pequeñas coberturas y que estará sujeto al fenómeno de consolidación regional. A lo largo de su trazo, el escudo EPB corre bajo y cerca de importantes estructuras subterráneas tales como conducciones de aguas negras y de ríos, pilas de cimentación de puentes, líneas superficiales de metro y pasos subterráneos. El artículo presenta el proceso de excavación de los primeros tres tramos de túnel, el primero de los cuales sirvió como curva de aprendizaje del proceso.

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