Earth, Atmosphere & Environment Sciences

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Objective: Underground space development has become an economic imperative for our country but there is lacuna in mapping out the long-term development of the underground space and bringing the underground space development to a strategic level. In the present scenario, construction of underground infrastructure is of major concern because there is a huge demand of underground infrastructure. There are several issues and challenges associated with the underground infrastructure construction because of complex geology and uncertainties involved in geotechnical characters of the sub-surface material. The present study envisages focusing on the geotechnical problems associated with the construction of underground infrastructure and probable solutions.

Summary: Presently, underground projects are being designed and implemented to accommodate urban transportation network as well as rail and road connectivity in mountainous regions. The scope for underground structures in urban infrastructure and transportation is enormous in India. However, risks are high due to unexpected ground condition. Developers, EPC contractors and financial institutions face numerous challenges like excavation-induced adverse impact on the adjacent underground structures, prediction of ground settlement due to tunnelling, technologies to isolate underground structures from seismic effects, quantification of uncertainties in underground rock excavation and absence of an integrated support design based on slope and tunnel interaction in project works, which need to be resolved to avoid delays and successful commissioning of projects. The proposed work addresses the issues and provides scientific solutions related to underground infrastructure in urban and hilly regions. The proposed research work focuses on study of tunnel deformation induced by adjacent deep excavation and countermeasures; improved method for predicting tunnelling induced settlements; assessment of underground soil – structure interaction under seismic conditions; probabilistic analysis of underground excavation in rock; stability assessment and support design for tunnel portals in rock slopes for the Himalayan regions; development of non-destructive testing (NDT) method for damage detection in tunnel component using geophysical techniques and development of monitoring scheme for performance assessment.

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