Interaction between tunnel and unstable slope – Influence of time-dependent behavior of a tunnel excavation in a deep-seated gravitational slope deformation

Abstract A back analysis of old tunnels in an unstable slope context leads to consider several situations of tunnel entering a slope: cross-cutting tunnel to the slope, oblique tunnel to the slope, or shallow tunnel parallel to the slope. Identified pathologies of structures vary depending on these situations. In the context of a shallow tunnel, the tunnel excavation leads to a slope destabilization due to a more or less important deconfinement of the surrounding massif. Construction techniques influence, on one hand, slope surface displacement acceleration, on the other hand, structural damages in the tunnel lining. Nevertheless, the interaction between tunnel and unstable slope depends on the distance between the slope surface and the tunnel lining plot according to the tunnel diameter (D) and on the geological, geomorphological, hydrological and seismic contexts of the slope. This research focuses on different mechanisms of slope instability in a glacial unloading context, especially in creeping contexts, and on damages affecting the structure of tunnels parallel to the slope. Through numerical simulations, the influence of the construction techniques was studied; so was the choice of the tunnel situation, more or less away from the slope surface. Mainly the delay time before tunnel structure implementation) on the damage lining processes, the interaction between tunnel and slope surface displacements and their time evolution have been taken into account for the most critical tunnel situation in the slope. The different situations of tunnel in the slope permit to set in evidence the safety distance from the slope in the context of a slow glacial unloading mechanism.