Difficult Ground Brochure
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Robbins ™ RELIABLE | RESPONSIVE “Partnership and cooperation are crucial to the success of every TBM project. Even today, Mother Nature represents a formidable opponent and requires the concerted effort of every party associated with a TBM project.” GARY BRIERLEY Dr. Mole Inc. DIFFICULT GROUND REQUIRES Even in the most well-planned projects, tough conditions can come up. It helps to have a team of experts on your side and Robbins Field Service teams are the most experienced in the business. With over 900 successful projects to their name, we can confidently say that experience is our...

CAVERNS AND VOIDS Uncovering the Unexpected THE CHALLENGE While excavating the 2.8 km long Galerie des Janots tunnel in La Ciotat, France, contractor Eiffage encountered obstacles they weren't expecting. Ground conditions included limestone with powdery clays, and as they pressed on they hit a large cavern measuring 8,000 cubic meters in size. ROBBINS SOLUTION Robbins Field Service assisted and advised Eiffage with the difficult ground conditions. When the cavern was encountered, a plan was put into effect that included erecting a 4 m high wall of concrete so the TBM would have something to...

MIXED FACE CONDITIONS Competent rock in the tunnel face combined with residual soil just above created difficult and unstable tunneling conditions. Two EPB TBMs were stalled with only 750 m left in the drive. The machines were attempting to bore through mixed face conditions including hard granite and soil for the Namma Metro project in Bangalore, India. Although “This is an industry first, another manufacturer built the machines, Robbins came to the rescue. ROBBINS SOLUTION has utilized their in-house Robbins Field Service refurbished the machines and took over operation of the parallel...

HIGHLY VARIABLE GROUND CONDITIONS No Job Too Tough THE CHALLENGE The Sleemanabad Carrier Canal in Madhya Pradesh, India, is a 12 km long water transfer tunnel that will bring water from the Narmada River to over 100,000 hectares of land. A Robbins Crossover XRE machine, 10 m in diameter, began boring the tunnel in 2011. Ground conditions were expected to be variable, but the conditions changed every few meters and water inflows were severe. By 2017, those tough conditions combined with commercial issues meant the contractor had only completed 1,600 m on their own. ROBBINS SOLUTION In...

UNFORESEEN SITE CONDITIONS SQUEEZING GROUND To further mitigate the effects of squeezing Getting Out Of A Tight Situation ground or collapses, Robbins’ Torque-Shift System was retrofitted to the cutterhead motors. Once modifications had been made, advance rates soared to a high of 723 m in one month, and were more than double that of a drill and blast operation proceeding from the opposite end of THE CHALLENGE Central Turkey’s Kargi Kizilirmak HEPP is an 11.8 km long hydroelectric tunnel through the mountains of Central Turkey. A 10 m Robbins Double Shield the tunnel. The TBM bored 7.8 km...

HIGH COVER TUNNELING Solving A Century-Old Problem THE CHALLENGE The Olmos Trans-Andean water transfer tunnel in Peru is the second deepest civil works tunnel in the world with cover of up to 2,000 m. The project was more than 100 years in the making, with several attempts being made and thwarted by incredibly difficult volcanic geology with over 400 fault zones. In 2007, a new attempt was made using a Robbins Main Beam TBM. The ground was difficult, with rock bursting, large over-breaks, and cathedralling in fractured and unstable ground. About 16,000 rock bursting events were recorded...

The Power To Push Through THE CHALLENGE At Vietnam's remote Thuong Kon Tum Hydroelectric Project, a Robbins Main Beam TBM was launched in 2012 to bore a section of what will be Vietnam's longest tunnel once complete (17.4 km). Commercial circumstances for the original contractor, combined with incredibly difficult geology, left the project at a standstill. In 2015, the revitalized project and its new contractor called on Robbins to lead the refurbishment and operation of the TBM. ROBBINS SOLUTION Robbins Field Service crews assessed and refurbished equipment and launched it again in 2016....