Influence of Cairo Metro Tunnel Excavation on Pile Deep Foundation of the Adjacent Underground Structures: Numerical Study

• Main Authors: Mo’men Ayasrah, Hongsheng Qiu, Xiedong Zhang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-03-01
• Series: Symmetry
• Subjects: tunnel construction; soil movement; numerical simulations; bending moment; lateral deflection; shallow tunnel
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-8994/13/3/426

Day by day the call to solve traffic congestion problems is increasing. Subway tunnels and high-speed railway are commonly used for transportation. Therefore, tunnel construction induces soil movement, which in turn affects the stability and integrity of adjacent existing buildings. A series of numerical simulations have been established to investigate the effects of tunnel construction of the Greater Cairo Metro–Line 3-Phase-1 on adjacent pile cap foundations of Garage El-Attaba building. Many parameters have been investigated such as tunnel diameter and the distance between pile and tunnel at different tunnel axis and deep and shallow tunnel. After thorough analysis of the results’ simulation, it was found that the tunneling induces additional axial forces and bending moment as well as increasing axial settlement and lateral deflection. Moreover, the results obtained from the parametric study for the shallow and deep tunnel show that the tunnel depth has a much significant effect on piles responses. Finally, the tunnel diameter has an impact on pile responses as well as the pile cap foundation influenced by the tunnel when the tunnel is in very close vicinity of the pile, and its effect is modest to negligible if located far away from the buildings.