M5 East Tunnels: A Flat Roofed, Bolt and Shotcrete-Lined Highway
Abstract
Sydney Australia’s M5 East Motorway connects southwestern suburbs to the airport. Central to the project are twin 3.8 km roadway tunnels which are mostly driven through rock. In order to come up with the winning tender, the project team developed several unique approaches for tunnel excavation and support. The project’s flat roof with thin shotcrete lining, 20 m wide underground intersections, thixotropic-grout sheathed rockbolts and cablebolts, and new shotcrete testing methods all differ significantly from traditional concepts. This paper presents the design basis and construction methods used to achieve the 100-year design life required by the project’s owner.
2001
Rapid Excavation Tunneling Conference (RETC) Proceedings
Daniel N. Adams
Jacobs Associates
Manfred K. Lechner
Baulderstone Hornibrook/Bilfinger + Berger JV
Isabelle Lamb
Hyder Consulting
