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RIVERSIDE BADLANDS TUNNEL, INLAND FEEDER PROJECT: THE CHALLENGES BETWEEN
CONCEPT AND COMPLETION

2003

Jay Arabshahi
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California

Steve Klein
Jacobs Associates

John Waggoner
GeoPentech, Inc.

John Townsend
Hatch Mott MacDonald

 



The Riverside Badlands Tunnel is a 13 km (8 mile) long segment of the Inland Feeder Project. This 3.65 m (12 ft) finished diameter water tunnel presented many challenges that had to be overcome to take the project from concept to reality, not the least of which were the diverse ground conditions. Construction of the tunnel was carried out by a single tunnel boring machine (TBM) in one tunnel drive.

The project is considered a success due to the accurate baseline established for the ground conditions; the approaches used to mitigate adverse conditions; and the appropriate use of TBM excavation methods, which achieved rapid advance rates despite the challenging ground conditions.