1727
Engineering inspection and supervision of tunnels and underground stations
of urban metro systems
Inspection et surveillance des tunnels et stations de métro souterraines
Katzenbach R., Leppla S.
Technische Universität Darmstadt, Institute and Laboratory of Geotechnics, Germany
ABSTRACT: According to the general standards and regulations civil engineering structures like bridges are supposed to be inspected
and supervised regularly regarding stability, transport safety and durability. Unfortunately there are no national or international
technical standards for tunnels and underground railway structures. Based on existing general standards and regulations for civil
engineering structures a new concept for engineering inspection and supervision of tunnels and underground structures of urban metro
systems has been defined by the Institute and Laboratory of Geotechnics of Technische Universität Darmstadt. The defined modalities
and continuous procedures guarantee a sustainable preservation of the underground structures by early identification of insufficiencies
and defects. The developed concept is applied to the engineering inspection and supervision of the tunnels and underground stations
of the urban metro system of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The concept can be applied to other urban metro systems anywhere in the
world if the boundary conditions like construction type, age, load impact and soil and groundwater conditions are adjusted.
Resume: Selon la loi et les normes générales existantes, les structures de génie civil comme les ponts doivent être régulièrement
inspectées et surveillées du point de vue de leur stabilité, leur sécurité de transport et leur durabilité. Il n’existe malheureusement pas
de normes techniques pour les tunnels et les structures de transports souterrains. Un nouveau concept d’inspection et de surveillance
des tunnels et stations de métro souterraines a été mis en place par l´Institut et le Laboratoire de Géotechnique de la Techniche
Universität Darmstadt, en se basant sur des normes et lois générales existantes en génie civil. Les modalités et procédures régulières
définies dans ce projet assurent une protection durable des infrastructures souterraines grâce à l’identification précoce de défauts et
d’insuffisances. Ce concept est mis en application pour l’inspection et de la surveillance des tunnels et stations de métro souterraines à
Francfort, en Allemagne. Il peut être également appliqué à n’importe quel autre système de métros souterrains en adaptant les
conditions limites telles que le type et l’âge de la construction, l’impact de charge, les propriétés du sol et de la nappe phréatique.
KEYWORDS: Inspection, supervision, urban metro system, tunnels, underground stations.
1 THEORETICAL BASICS
According to the general standards and regulations all civil
engineering structures like bridges, retaining walls and tunnels
have to be inspected and supervised regarding stability, traffic
safety and durability. This obtains for tunnels and underground
stations of urban metro systems as well. The basis for qualified
engineering inspection and supervision of all civil engineering
structures are a lot of national regulations and standards, for
example (Schweizerischer Ingenieur- und Architektenverein
1997, Deutsches Institut für Normung 1999, Verband Deutscher
Verkehrsunternehmen 2005, Schweizer Bundesamt für Straßen
2005, Bundesministerium für Verkehr 2007a and 2007b, DB
Netz AG 2011). There are no national or international standards
or regulations regarding the engineering inspection and
supervision of urban metro systems.
In the last decades enormous financial resources were spend for
planning and construction of underground engineering
structures of public infrastructures. These investments are only
maintainable if the structures have a long service time.
Regarding the sustainability of the structures the engineering
inspection and supervision has a growing importance
(Morawietz 1992, Haack and Schäfer 2009).
The objective of the continuous inspection and supervision is
the economic supply and maintenance of the structures. This
means a long-term indemnification of stability, traffic safety
and durability.
The 3 aspects stability, traffic safety and durability are defined
as follows:
Stability means the absorption of regular loads by the
structure
traffic safety means the riskless use of the structure
durability means a long as possible use of the structure
under consideration of stability and traffic safety
Figure 1. Time related connection between maintenance cost and status
of structures (Wicke at al. 2001).
