Optimization of Automated Instrumentation for Urban Tunnel Excavations

C. Peña Chueca & J.M. Creus Fernández
ACCIONA Construcción, São Paulo, Brazil

R. Collado Bermejo & D. Fernández Mendi
Geprode, São Paulo, Brazil

Every underground excavation project results in a disturbance of the ground’s natural equilibrium, inherently causing movements and settlements in the soil and in surrounding buildings. These movements are monitored through instrumentation. In recent years, automated monitoring systems have increasingly been implemented.

This paper presents several case studies, mainly from the São Paulo Metro Line 6 Project. We discuss the Pompeia–Higienópolis section, where tunnelling was carried out beneath buildings exceeding 20 storeys in height; the monitoring of São Paulo Metro Lines 1 and 4, where operational conditions make manual monitoring nearly impossible; and the drawdown control platform used to monitor the dewatering wells required for shaft excavation.

We also present the Quito Metro Line 1 Project, describing how the Historic City Center was monitored during TBM tunnel excavation and the construction of San Francisco Station, located beneath the square of the same name.

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