New Grad Course, CE 686

                                                            Engineering Faculty Document      3-06

                                                            May 9, 2006

 

 

MEMORANDUM

 

TO:                 The Faculty of the Schools of Engineering

 

FROM:           The Faculty of the School of Civil Engineering

 

RE:                 New Graduate Level Course

 

The Faculty of the School of Civil Engineering has approved the following new course.  This action is now submitted to the Engineering Faculty for a recommendation for approval.

 

CE 686            Underground Construction

 

                        Sem 1, Class 3, Lab 0, Cr 3.

 

                        Prerequisite:  CE 580 or instructor consent

 

                        Planning, analysis, design and construction of underground structures

                        in soft ground and rock.  Ground structure interaction.  Static and seismic

                        stresses on tunnel support.  Relative stiffness method.  Ground  

                        deformations.  Construction methods, types of support, and their effects

                        on the surrounding ground.  The focus of the course is on the under-

                        standing of the interaction between ground and structure.

 

Reason:          To provide students with the fundamental knowledge and skills to plan

                        design, monitor, and build underground facilities in soft ground and rock.

                        The course builds on the geotechnical fundamentals of CE 580 or similar

                        courses.

 

 

 

____________________________

M. Katherine Banks, Interim Head

School of Civil Engineering

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supporting Documentation

 

1.  Justification:  As the demand for additional built environment increases and with

      limited available land to be built on, more and more facilities are designed and

      constructed under the ground surface.  Only in the highway system in the US there

      are hundreds of tunnels, which total about 655 miles.  Many of the tunnels built in

      the US are several decades old, and some are more than 100 years old and require

      major repair or total replacement.  The course provides the fundamental knowledge

      for the design of new underground facilities and for the upgrade and maintenance of

      existing facilities.   

 

2.  Level:  Graduate Level

 

3.  Prerequisities:  CE 580 or Instructor consent

 

4.  Instructor: Antonio Bobet

 

5.  Course Objectives:  Students who complete this course should be able to:

 

• Understand the fundamental mechanisms of ground-structure interaction
• Design laboratory and field tests to investigate mechanical properties of the ground for the design of underground facilities
• Design tunnel support as a function of ground conditions and excavation methods
• Predict ground deformations during and after construction
• Design tunnel support for static and seismic loading
• Design tunnel support below the water table

 

6.  Course Outline:

 

            Lectures         Topic

 

                 3                 Introduction and planning of underground facilities

                 3                 Geological and geotechnical aspects of tunneling

                 6                 Ground structure interaction.  Relative stiffness method,

                                    characteristic curves, analytical and numerical methods

                 6                 Tunnels in rock.  Rock mass classification systems

                 6                 Tunnels in soil.  Stability number.  Face support.

                 3                 Ground deformation

                 3                 Tunnels under the water table

                 3                 Seismic design of underground facilities

                 3                 Other underground structures: cut and cover, shafts, buried pipes

                 3                 Construction methods and effects on surrounding ground

                 3                 Exploration and monitoring

 

7.  Text:  Class notes and other materials distributed in class.