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Tunneling Through Cobbles In Sacramento, California


2001

Rafael Castro
Formally with Underground Construction Managers, Inc.

Ross Webb
Affholder Incorporated

Joel Nonnweiler
Sacramento Regional County Sanitary District

 


The three thousand foot long 66-inch diameter Folsom East Interceptor Section 2B was completed accident free, on time and under budget with no measurable surface settlement. The tunnel passed through nested cobbles, highly abrasive sands and gravels, and abandoned mine workings with less than five-feet of cover at times. Preventing settlement was critical since the tunnel passed under a heavily traveled state highway. A pilot project to test microtunneling and pipejacking methods in the same ground conditions abandoned both drives before completing the planned drive lengths. This paper discusses performance of the conventional tunneling method selected to excavate the ground and the effectiveness of the ground modification techniques employed.