Ryan Chen

Postgraduate Research student
Centre for Geotechnical Research



School of Civil Engineering, Room 360
Phone: +61 2 9351 5156
Fax: +61 2 9351 3343
Email: R.Chen@civil.usyd.edu.au

Research project - Behaviour of Tunnels in Sedimentary Rock of the Sydney Basin

Supervisor: Prof John Small

In the past 10 years, new methods of ground supports have been implemented in the underground constructions in the Sydney basin. There are significant improvements in the construction speed and efficiency, but our understanding about the long-term performance of materials and systems is still poor. This project is aimed at improving our understanding of behavior of the combined rock bolt and Fiber Reinforce Shotcrete support systems in the Sydney tunnel, a better understanding of the ground stability and material behaviour can improve the reliability of design, construction and maintenance of road and rail tunnels system.

In the past 40 years, there have been many major tunnels finished in Sydney. Most tunnels built in Sydney encounter the similar ground situations (the Hawkesbury Sandstone). Most of these tunnels use similar ground support technologies, a combined rock bolt and fiber reinforced shotcrete lining support system.

A finite element numerical program TD21 is used and is to be developed to study the rock behavior surrounding the tunnel. Creep behavior of the tunnel could be extended to include a shotcrete lining with time-dependent material properties, and a theoretical study will be compared with actual field data provided by industry partners.