12th Panamerican Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering,

39th U.S. Rock Mechanics Symposium, Cambridge MA, June 22-25, 2003

Slurry Shield Tunneling in Highly Permeable Ground

Escudos de Frente Presurizado con Lodo en Suelos con alta Permeabilidad
P. Fritz
Division of Geotechnical Engineering IGT
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH-Z, Zrich, Switzerland

Abstract
For tunneling projects in saturated soils tunnel boring machines (TBMs) with slurry shields are widely used.
However, in coarse, highly permeable soils the suspension penetrates the ground and the required support pressure
cannot be built up.
For the Zimmerberg Base Tunnel near Zurich permeabilities much greater than 10-3 m/s were expected. This value
is usually considered as the critical limit for the applicability of slurry shields. Therefore it was aimed to find
additives for the bentonite suspension which would allow it to attain a higher suspension pressure.
For these investigations an apparatus has been developed, which allows the maximum attainable support pressure
for a given suspension and a ground to be determined. It reflects the real situation, produces reproducible results
and is insensitive to the inevitable variation of individual parameters.
In the tests the additives polymer, sand and vermiculite were studied and their effects on the attainable maximum
suspension pressure investigated. For the best combination, i.e. with a well defined proportion of the individual
components, suspension pressures could be attained which were about 10 to 20 times higher than those with an
ordinary bentonite suspension.
Successful excavation of the Zimmerberg Base Tunnel proved the validity of the laboratory tests.

Resumen
Son populares para proyectos de tneles en suelos saturados los escudos de frente presurizado con lodo
bentnitico. Sin embargo en suelos de gravilla gruesa con alta permeabilidad el lodo penetra en el suelo y la
presin requerida para el frente no puede ser establecida.
Para el tnel de base de Zimmerberg cerca de Zurich se esperaba permeabilidades por arriba de 10-3 m/s.
Normalmente este valor se considera como lmite para la aplicacin de escudos con lodo. Por esto se requiri
investigar aditivos para que la bentonita soportara presiones mayores.
Para estas investigaciones se desaroll un aparato que permite determinar la presin mxima alcanzable para una
suspensin especifica y un suelo. El aparato simula la situacin real, produce resultados reproducibles y es
insensible a las variaciones inevitables de parametros individuales.
Durante los ensayos se estudiaron los aditivos polmero, arena y vermiculite, y sus efectos a la presin alcanzable.
Para la mejor proporcin de los componentes individuales, se alcanz una presin entre diez y veinte veces ms
alto que solo con bentonita.
Los resultados de los ensayos en el laboratorio se comprobaron durante la excavacin eficaz del tnel
Zimmerberg.

1 MOTIVATION
For tunneling projects in saturated, non cohesive soils tunnel boring machines (TBMs) with
slurry shields are widely used. However, in
coarse, highly permeable soils the suspension pe-

netrates the ground and the required support

pressure cannot be built up. The main criteria for
this are the permeability of the ground, the grain
size distribution curve and the properties of the
slurry. For pure bentonite slurries critical values
are 10-4 to 10-3 m/s for the permeability (Fig. 1)

and a grain size distribution curve as indicated in

Fig. 2.
Recently two tunnels had to be built in Zurich
in highly permeable ground outside these
established limits. The Hermetschloo Sewage
Gallery of 2.80 m diameter and with an
overburden (above the crown) of 4 to 5 m is
situated in ground with permeabilities up to 3 x
10-3 m/s. When advancing with a pure bentonite
slurry various surface failures occurred, because
the slurry penetrated the ground without allowing
to build up the required support pressure.

between suspension and ground water of 0.5 bar

was sufficient, at the Zimmerberg Tunnel about
2.4 bar were required. A substantial part of this
value may be attributed to the higher loads to
carry from buildings above the tunnel.
It was expected that this high pressure could not
be attained even with the enhanced suspension
used in Hermetschloo. The present publication
highlights the investigations carried out to find
additives for the suspension which allowed such a
high pressure to be exerted even in this highly
permeable ground.
2 ADDITIVES: STATE OF THE ART

Fig. 1 Critical permeabilities (Kanayasu et al.,

1995, Krause, 1987, Harsch, 1994)
Based on laboratory tests a set of additives has
been determined, consisting of polymer, sand and
vermiculite (c.f. Table 1), which allowed
excavation without any further failures. This
project and the tests have been described by Fritz
et al. (2002).

Fig. 2 Limits of grain size distribution (Krause,

1987)
The other tunnel, the Zimmerberg Base Tunnel,
presented even more difficult conditions due to its
large diameter of 12.35 m and the higher
overburden of up to 15 m. The ground properties
were expected to be similar to those at
Hermetschloo. Pumping tests revealed permeabilities between 1 and 4 x 10-3 m/s, and flow meter
tests even 6 x 10-2 m/s. Whereas at Hermetschloo
for a factor of safety of 1.75 a differential pressure

Much experience is available for bentonite

slurries, not only for slurry shields, but even more
so for diaphragm walls and in the drilling
industry. Bentonite is a type of clay that is formed
by weathering of volcanic ash. It consists mainly
of the clay mineral montmorillonite. Thanks to its
capabilities of forming a yield point and inner
crystalline swelling, bentonite suspensions
stagnate after penetrating the ground to a certain
depth and a filter cake will be built up at the
surface. On the tunnel face sealed in this way the
required pressure for stability is built up.
For highly permeable soils pure bentonite suspensions cannot be used any more, because they
penetrate the ground and the required
suspension pressure may not be
attained.
Krause (1987) was probably the
first to investigate scientifically the
influence of the additives polymer,
sand, cement and mica flakes.
Polymers allow the concentration of
bentonite to be reduced by
simultaneously improving the quality
of the suspension (density, viscosity,
stability, dispersing, clumping).
Sand increases the shear strength of the
suspension and clogs the pores near the surface,
which reduces penetration depth and contributes
to the rapid formation of a filter cake.
By adding cement it was aimed to increase the
shear strength and thereby reduce penetration
depth. However, cement is very sensitive to the
correct concentration. Furthermore, a potential
hardening of the suspension cannot be excluded.
Therefore cement can hardly be applied under the
conditions of a working site.

Mica flakes increase the shear strength and the

run-out time of the Marsh Funnel. However, the
bonding of the filter cake at the wall is very weak,
which would endanger safety unacceptably when
accessing the working chamber under compressed
air conditions.
One of the first applications of additives in a
slurry shield was in the Grauholz Tunnel (Jancsez
and Steiner, 1994), where sand, polymer and
sawdust have been added. Sawdust with its long
fibers is bound to clog the soil pores directly at the
surface. This suspension was only used in one
place to build up a filter cake before accessing the
working chamber under compressed air conditions. Normal advance works may present different problems (see discussion of sawdust below).
Fritz and Tandler (1999) and Fritz et al. (2002)
report on extensive laboratory investigations for
finding appropriate additives and a successful
application to the Hermetschloo Gallery
mentioned above. They started with the same
mixture described by Jancsez and Steiner (1994),
but sawdust proved to be inapplicable during
tunnel advance. Whereas on the positive side the
long fibers clog the soil pores successfully directly
at the surface, their drawback is that they also clog
the sieves in the separation plant. In addition and
even worse, some substances were set free from
the sawdust which caused a dense foam to
develop in the tanks and in the pipes, until the
required pumping volume could not be achieved
any more and the circulation collapsed.
Therefore the sawdust was replaced by
exfoliated (expanded) vermiculite, an aluminumiron-magnesium silicate, belonging to the family
of micaceous minerals.
3 PROPERTIES OF ADDITIVES
Before discussing the laboratory tests for
finding an improved suspension, the properties of
the individual additives with respect to their
contribution to obtaining a higher support pressure
will be highlighted.
Bentonite
Depending on the type of the adsorbed cations,
bentonite is designated as Na- or Ca-bentonite.
When water is available, the cations can hydrate
and the distance between the layer packs will
increase, a process called inner crystalline
swelling, a typical property of montmorillonite or
bentonite. The absorption of water and thus the

swelling is higher for Na-bentonites than for Cabentonites, resulting in higher attainable support
pressures for the former. Ca-bentonites may be
converted (activated) to Na-bentonites by
replacing Ca-ions by Na-ions by means of soda
(Na2CO3).
Our investigations for two different Nabentonites revealed a better quality for the
activated HT-X than for the natural MX-80.
Polymer
From pure bentonite suspensions it is known,
that when adding 0.5 kg/m3 polymer about 30%
less bentonite may be used. However, for the
suspension discussed here with various additives
this effect may be much less pronounced. As a
matter of fact, the quantity of polymer added is
determined solely by aiming to get the best
possible results for the combined action of all
additives.
When adding polymer to water in the laboratory
it was noted that it was not completely dissolved.
However - if before adding the polymer - the
water was heated to 400 C, the solubility was
much better. This procedure was also adopted at
the construction site Hermetschloo, but not at the
Zimmerberg Tunnel due to logistic problems.
Sand
If sand penetrating the ground fulfills the filter
criteria of Terzaghi and Peck (1956) it may plug
the pores and lead to a welcome progressive
filtration process. However, for the coarse gravel
considered here the sand would also require a
larger grain size than just the 1 mm used, so that
the positive influence of the sand seen in
laboratory experiments may only be explained by
the combined action together with other additives.
As a rule limestone sand has been used. In
addition, on one occasion quartz sand was also
tried: the attainable support pressure was
comparable, but it did not separate as quickly
when no longer stirred. However, for practical
application quartz sand was too expensive.
Vermiculite
The effect of vermiculite is based on its large
grain size and its small density (Fig. 3).
The choice of an appropriate grain size
distribution of the vermiculite is important: with a
grain size between 0.7 and 4 mm a suspension
pressure of 1.5 bar could be attained. When
omitting the finer parts and just using grains
between 2 and 4 mm, no pressure at all could be
built up (c.f. Fig. 9).

Fig. 3 Exfoliated
vermiculite,
an
aluminumironmagnesium
silicate

4 TEST METHOD
For pure bentonite slurries various standardized
tests are in use, which lead to characteristic index
values: shear strength, viscosity, stability, density,
and grain size distribution.
However, all these quantities are indirect
quantities, as they only represent physical
properties, but not directly the decisive
parameters. Rules to deduce from these properties
the ability to support the face are, if not
completely impossible, at least hard to establish.
As an example, the density may serve. For pure
bentonite slurries it is often directly used as a
measure of quality. However, for the suspensions
discussed here, it has a much smaller relevance,
because the mode of support for such suspensions
is completely different.
Therefore a more direct test was used where the
suspension pressure and the corresponding
penetration depth are measured with the apparatus
sketched in Fig. 4. First a plastic tube is filled with
gravel e which is then saturated with water. Then
the suspension d is added, the tube is closed and
subsequently subjected to a pressure from a
supply g. The suspension penetrates the gravel
and the amount of water expelled into the vessel
f is measured. With increasing pressure the
penetration depth and water discharge increases.
At a critical value, the so called maximum support
pressure, suddenly the whole suspension is
expelled.
This pressure test has been executed on a daily
basis at both the construction site and the
laboratory of the Division of Geotechnical
Engineering (IGT).
Additionally,
indirect
tests
with
the
"Kugelharfe" (yield limit) and the Filter Press
(stability) have been executed at the construction
site for getting quick indications of the quality of
the suspension and also for the sake of
completeness.

Fig. 4 Apparatus for measuring the support

pressure of the suspension
c Perspex tube (15 cm diameter)
d Suspension
e Gravel (4/8 mm)
f Vessel with water
g Air pressure supply
5 CALIBRATION OF PRESSURE TESTS
During the laboratory tests for the
Hermetschloo Gallery several problems have been
identified that could not be resolved due to time
restrictions. Therefore we took advantage of the
opportunity that arose when we were involved in
the construction of the Zimmerberg Tunnel. The
main topics investigated were:
reproducibility,
influence of loading path,
aging, and
homogeneity of model ground (gravel).
Reproducibility
Initial tests revealed very big variations in the
results even for the same composition of the
suspension. Therefore a comprehensive guideline
was established which specified the preparation
and execution of the support pressure tests in
detail.
In Fig. 5 the results of 13 tests are summarized:
on the ordinate the test time is plotted, on the right
abscissa the pressure. The stepped line indicates
the "continuous" increase of pressure with time.
On the left abscissa the water discharge (which is
proportional to the penetration depth) is plotted.
Various tests have been carried out with different
suspensions, and the now satisfactory reproducibility may be seen from the narrow band the

Aging
When
considering
the
influence of the age of the
suspension on its quality two
cases may be distinguished:
improvement of quality by
allowing the bentonite enough
time for swelling,
deterioration of quality with
increasing age of suspension.

2.5

500
450

2.0

water discharge [g]

23-24 g = ca. 1 cm penetration

400

1.5

300
250
max. support pressure
[bar]

2.5

200

1.0

2.0

pressure [bar]

350

1.5

150

1.0

100

0.5

0.5
0.0

50

10

11

12

13

sample number
0

DIN 4127 states in section

6.1.1, that tests should only be
carried out with suspensions that
have reached final swelling, and IBECO reports,
that a bentonite reaches nearly optimal properties
after 1 to 6 hours. Our tests revealed similar
results: if the age of the suspension was 5 hours or
less even with an improved suspension sometimes
not even a support pressure of 0.8 bar could be
attained. But for an age of 20 hours pressures of
0.0

12

15

18

21

24

27

30

33

36

39

42

45

48

51

54

57

60

time [min]

Fig. 5 Reproducibility test with continuous

loading (suspension according to c of
Table 1, one day old)
curves lie in. Further, in the inline frame the
maximum support pressure attained is shown. The
maximum support pressure is defined as the one,
where the liquid part of the
500
suspension penetrates the gravel
450
quickly and far, or when a
400
volume of 500 ml water has been
expelled. From Fig. 5 an average
350
value of 1.9 bar may be deduced
300
with a standard deviation just
250
under 0.4. I.e. when following
200
these guidelines a satisfactory
150
reproducibility
could
be
100
achieved.

63

66

69

72

75

2.5

water discharge [g]

23-24 g = ca. 1 cm penetration

2.0

max. support pressure

[bar]

1.5
2.5

0.5

0.5
0
V. 5-1

50

V. 5-2

V. 5-3

V. 5-4

sample number

0.0
0

12

15

18

21

24

27

30

33

36

time [min]

Fig. 6 Reproducibility test with sudden loading

(suspension 5 of Fig. 5, but 6 days old)
2.5

500
450

400
350

1.5

300
250

max. support pressure [bar]

water discharge [g]

23-24 g = ca. 1 cm penetration

Influence of loading path

One difference between Fig. 5
and Fig. 6 is that for the former
the
pressure
was
increased
continuously, whereas for the latter
at the beginning it was raised
suddenly to 0.8 bar, i.e. the loading
path was different. Also the age of
the suspension was different. It may
be seen, that the curves for the water
discharge for sudden loading lie
somewhere within the band of the
curves for continuous loading, i.e.
the loading path does not have a big
influence.
The attainable support pressure in
Fig. 6 is lower than that of Fig. 5.
However, this is more likely to be
the influence of aging (see below)
than of the loading path.

1.0

1.5

pressure [bar]

200
150
100

2
1.8

1.6
1.4
1.2
1

0.5

0.8
0

50

pressure [bar]

age of bentonite [days]

0
0

12

15

18

21

24

27

30

33

36

39

42

45

time [min]

Fig. 7 Influence of long-term age of bentonite on

attainable support pressure

6 SUPPORT PRESSURE TESTS

1.4 bar and more could be attained. Therefore as a

rule for laboratory tests only bentonites older than
6 hours have been used. At the construction site,
the average age of bentonite is about one day, i.e.
a minimum age of 6 hours is ensured.
To investigate the development of the quality of
the suspension with increasing age some
suspensions have been mixed, which were then
subjected to pressure tests at increasing age. From
Fig. 7 it may be seen, that the maximum attainable
support pressure exhibits a decreasing tendency
with increasing age of the suspension.
Homogeneity of model ground (gravel)
For the initial tests it was found, that the
procedure how the gravel was built-in into the
Perspex tube had a great influence on the test
results (Fig. 8).
300

3
250

2
1

water discharge [ml]

200

150

100

50

0
0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

pressure [bar]

Fig. 8 Influence of homogeneity of model ground

for a gravel 0.5/16 mm and a pure
bentonite suspension.
c first water, then gravel
d first gravel, then water fed carefully
from below
e first gravel, water poured from above
For simulating an extreme case, first the tube was
partly filled with water, then the gravel was
poured in without taking care not to segregate it
(curve c). Point e shows the other extreme,
where first the gravel has been placed, and then
the water was poured from above in such a way,
that the fine grains of the gravel have been
transported to the bottom. The very big difference
for both the water discharge and the pressure
attained is obvious. Curve d displays the results
where first the gravel was placed, and then the
water introduced carefully from the bottom up.
It should be noted that the tests for Fig. 8 have
been carried out with a gravel 0.5/16 mm. The
gravel 4/8 mm used for all other tests was not so
sensitive to segregation, i.e. it was much more
suitable for use in laboratory tests.

0.8

As mentioned above, the required support

pressure for the Zimmerberg Tunnel was
calculated to be 2.4 bar, compared to the 0.5 bar
of the Hermetschloo Gallery. With the original
suspension used at Hermetschloo this high value
could not be attained. After testing various
compositions one was found with the double
amount of vermiculite and 20% more bentonite
which fulfilled the requirements (d in Table 1).
The corresponding results are displayed in Fig. 9.
The first 6 samples did not exhibit any support
pressure, because the grain size of the vermiculite
between 2 to 4 mm was too great. The last two
tests with the same amount of vermiculite, but
with grains between 0.7 and 4 mm, attained a
maximum support pressure greater than 3 bar,
which was more than sufficient. However,
the amount of vermiculite needed in
practice with this concentration was
considerable. When an amount of 2'000
m3 suspension per day is estimated, then
80 tons vermiculite would be necessary.
Taking into account an apparent density of
10% of its bulk density, about 1'000 m3
vermiculite a day would be required.
To lower this amount in a further series
of tests the content of vermiculite was
reduced to 30 kg/m3 (e in Table 1). The
first three samples in Fig. 10 have been
tested after giving the suspension one day to
swell. Two of these tests attained such high
pressures that they had to be stopped after
attaining 3 bar. Samples 4 to 6 have been tested
between 2 to 4 hours after preparation. As mentioned above this time is too short, which resulted
in a very low support pressure for test 4.
Based on these findings it was decided to use
suspension e for the excavation of the 750 m
long stretch located in loose river gravel.
0.9

Suspension
Additives
Bentonite
(IBECO HT-X)
Polymer
(Carbocel C190)
Sand (grain size
< 1mm)
Vermiculite
(0.7 to 4 mm)

Hermetschloo

Zimmerberg
initial
final

40

50

50

0.5

0.5

0.5

100

100

100

20

40

30

Table 1: Composition of suspensions

(kg/m3 water)

400

350
2.5
300
2

200

150

100

50

1.5

2.5
2
1.5

pressure [bar]

250

max. support pressure [bar]

Support pressure tests

with suspension d of
Table 1.
- Samples 1 to 6 with
vermiculite of a
grain size between
2 and 4 mm,
- Samples 7 and 8
with vermiculite of
a grain size between
0.7 and 4 mm.

water discharge [g]

23-24 g = ca. 1 cm penetration

Fig. 9

1
0.5

0.5

0
1

sample number
0

0
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

time [min]
400

350
2.5
300
2

0.5

0.5
7

0
1

50

100

2
1.5

150

1.5

2.5

200

pressure [bar]

250

max. support pressure [bar]

water discharge [g]

23-24 g = ca. 1 cm penetration

Fig. 10 Support pressure tests

with suspension e of
Table 1.
- Samples 1 to 3 with
a swelling time of
one day,
- Samples 4 to 6 with
a swelling time of
2 to 4 hours.

sample number

7 CONCLUSIONS

0
0

10

Up to now the application of slurry shields was

limited by a permeability of the ground of about
10-3 m/s. By support pressure tests in the
laboratory and successful application in the field it
was showed that the limit may be two orders of
magnitude higher if the bentonite suspension is
enriched with special additives. A mixture of
50 kg bentonite (IBECO HT-X),
0.5 kg polymer (Carbocel C190),
100 kg sand (grain size < 1mm), and
30 kg vermiculite (0.7 to 4 mm)
per m3 water fulfilled all expectations. The
combined action of all additives together is
decisive, as if one component is missing the
effectiveness may be greatly reduced.
In the laboratory and in situ the required
support pressures could be built up. Fig. 11 shows
the resulting filter cake at the face. The
settlements 1.50 m above the crown were between
2 to 4 mm and at the surface only 1 to 2 mm.
No stability problems worth mentioning occurred before the successful breakthrough (Fig. 12).
The main problems during advance have been
the rapid thickening of the suspension with the

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

time [min]

subsequent need of replacement, and the

separation of the vermiculite.
Due to the cyclone with a limit of 1'000 m a
great part of the fine sand remained in circulation,
thereby increasing the density quite quickly. As a
consequence, the 200 m cyclone used before for
pure bentonite was reinstalled, with the advantage
of eliminating the sand, but with the drawback of
eliminating also a large part of the vermiculite.

Fig. 11 Filter cake at the face (courtesy of

Ingenieurgemeinschaft BBPS, Zrich)

Thus in a future project it should be attempted

to find a method of eliminating the sand, but to
retain the vermiculite of similar grain size. The
key to solving this problem is probably to be
found in the substantial difference in density of
these two components.

8 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author would like to express his gratitude
to Christian Mller and Gianluca Ambrosini of the
Division of Geotechnical Engineering for the big
effort they made when carrying out all the support
pressure tests with a multitude of different
suspensions. He would also like to thank Ildiko
Fonyo and Ingeborg Reichenbach for the careful
determination of the composition of the
suspensions.
And last but not least he acknowledges the
collaboration with the owner, The Swiss Federal
Railways, Zurich, the engineer in charge
Ingenieurgemeinschaft BBPS (Basler & Hofmann,
Balestra, Preisig and SNZ), Zrich, and last but
not least the contractor ARGE Tunnel ZrichThalwil.
REFERENCES

Fig. 12 Breakthrough of the TBM (courtesy of

D.Kohler, Prader AG Tunnelbau, Zrich)
Furthermore, the separation of vermiculite may
be demanding. The polymer binds water, which
has to be extracted with filter presses and
conducted to the sewage system. In addition, the
polymer hinders the vermiculite in settling in the
sedimentation basins. For the Zimmerberg Tunnel
the water in these basins has been conducted to a
nearby river. Because it was not completely free
of small vermiculite particles, and because
vermiculite adsorbs hydrocarbons stemming from
grease and oil, once in the river an inadmissible
foam was generated.
A further problem which had to be considered
at the construction site was the crushing of the
vermiculite during the circulation of the
suspension. After four hours of circulation the
coarser particles have been reduced by about one
half, with an equivalent increase of the finer parts.
Therefore it was decided to run the laboratory
tests with a distribution between 0.7 and 4 mm,
but in the field to add vermiculite in the range 2 to
4 mm only.

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