Vibration effect and ocean environmental impact of blasting excavation in a subsea tunnel

• Blasting vibration and underwater sound pressure induced by subsea tunnel blasting was tested. • Propagation laws of PPV and underwater sound pressure induced by subsea tunnel blasting were studied. • Prediction model for underwater sound pressure induced by subsea blasting was established. • Safety range for Sousa Chinensis under the impact of subsea tunnel blasting is proposed. Drill-blast method is one of the important methods in the current subsea tunnel excavation construction. Controlling the vibration effect during blasting construction and its impact on the marine environment has been a key topic in the construction of subsea tunnels. This paper takes the Xiamen subsea tunnel excavation and blasting project as the background, combines blast vibration monitoring in the tunnel and underwater sound pressure testing in seawater, analyzes the attenuation law of subsea tunnel blast vibration propagation along the rockmass, studies of the characteristics of shock waves formed in water following the propagation of blast stress waves to seawater. Based on the dynamic finite element numerical calculation, the impact of blasting vibration effect of mainline tunnel on the adjacent built service tunnel structure and the characteristics of shock wave pressure distribution in water excited by blasting vibration are analyzed. Considering the influence of the burial depth of tunnel blasting source, a mathematical prediction model of the attenuation law of underwater sound pressure in water caused by subsea tunnel blasting is established. Based on the pressure control standard of marine organism safety, the control range of marine organism safety under the influence of subsea tunnel blasting is proposed.