Advancement of Storm Water Tunnels - Essay Example

Name Institution Tutor Date Introduction A tunnel is along underground passageway that is completely enclosed except for the openings for exit and entrance, commonly at every end. A tunnel is capable of carrying people or vehicles across different destination that always shortens the distance. In the olden days, tunnels were used mainly for mining, due to the recent chronological developments; tunnels have commonly been used for transport purposes that link different places and canals for diversion of water. Tunnels are in the recent constructed all over the world. This paper explores on the storm water tunneling technique. Background storm water tunneling In the early days, underground tunnels were specifically for mining. Before mining, in the ancient history, tunnels were used to carry water. In different countries such as the ancient Rome, tunnels were mostly designed to carry water from various aqueducts nearby. The technology of the tunneling technique has since developed until today. More often, tunneling becomes solutions to different challenges. However, construction of tunnels is still under several studies since there is a need to upgrade the design of the tunnels according to the needs and time. Water tunnels are often constructed in different soil layers that always vary from hard rock layer to soft clay layer. In the soft clay layer, the digging of the tunnel is done using the New Australian Tunneling Method. In the hard layers, the tunnels are dug using the tunnel boring machine (Nuhu I and Maimunah, 2014). Several tunnels are constructed and designed specifically for carrying of the storm water. Most tunnels are used as sewers for many cities to help such cities in easing flood problems. For instance, the Brunel’s Thames Tunnel was the first tunnel that was constructed to cross under the tidal river and first shield the driven tunnel. Before construction of tunnels, there are several conditions to be considered, firstly, the environmental condition, this includes the hydrogeological and the geotechnical characteristics of the layers of the soil. This will help decide on the best tool to be used in the construction of the tunnels. Again, the engineers need to consider the effects of constructing the tunnels to different utilities that are underground and the ones on the surface. This can help reduce cases of destruction of certain utilities. Finally, the engineers should consider the cost of constructing the tunnels, the technical aspect required by the tunnels and the time schedule for the construction purpose (Nuhu I and Maimunah, 2014). Advancement of storm water tunnels There have been several advancements in the storm water tunnels. The first advancement is the introduction of the cover and cut tunnel. In constructing of various tunnels using the cover and cut method, the shape of the tunnels are usually rectangular. There are several technologies used in the cover and cut method. The first technology is reinforcing of the concrete walls using steel struts, self supported or the pre stressed tie-backs.the other advancement is that the underground water is lowered b the use of the water well system. The diaphragm of the storm water tunnels are installed by the use of different machineries and its bottom depth always ranges between twenty and thirty meters below the ground surface (Nuhu I and Maimunah, 2014). Another great advancement in the storm water tunnel technique is the introduction of the tunnel boring machine. The machine was introduced in the late 1975. The main work of the machine was to evacuate and transport the excavated mucks and to mount the reinforced concretes. From then, there have been advancements in technology, for example for one meter tunnel, the technology comprise of the TBM advance and the excavation phase. Again there is erection of the pre-casted lining of the concrete segment. Finally water proofing and soil grouting operates outside lining ring. The tunnel boring machines were later used for pumping water or as the ventilation shafts (Spathis and Gupta, 2012). Critiques of the storm water tunnel Just like sewage, storm water is of little dirty secret. The water is channel out through different tunnels into the lakes and streams. The combined sewer systems that exist in close to seven hundred cities are just part of storm water problem. Devine terms it as a multi headed beast. In order to explain what this means, one needs to consider several problems created by the urban water. Rainwater is absorbed slowly into the ground in the natural environment. But in the city covered with concrete, there is nowhere for the water to go but just in the sewer systems, which later discharges high volumes of the water into the streams hence eroding the banks of the rivers and disposing sediments in the water ways (Baker , 2011). There are more adverse impacts of the storm water tunnel technique. As the storm water flows down the tunnel, it picks metals, oil, pesticides and other related contaminants that has toxic effects on the people, habitat and on the wildlife. For instance, close to thirteen percent of the United States Rivers and eighteen percent of the United States lakes and thirty two percent of its estuaries are impaired by the storm water which means they are not safe for fishing and swimming. In the current system, the environmental protection agency issued several guidelines to the states and cities on different ways of managing the storm water. But different environmental groups criticized such standards which instruct the constructors to reduce the runoff to a minimum practicable extent as in effective and vague. Clean water advocates also claim that monitoring of the sewer overflows has not been taken seriously (Baker , 2011). Benefits of the technology Tunnel can be used as storm water sewers. This is also known as the storm filter. Several cities in the world often use the sewer system in transporting the rain water to the nearby outlets such as the rivers or the streams. Storm sewers are different pipes that are capable of transporting the water runoffs from the streets to the natural source of water such as rivers and streams. Commonly, there is always provision of the catch basins that store the water before it is released into the streams or rivers. This catch basin also acts as a trap for the floating debris such as the sands, rubbish and other materials that are not supposed to be disposed into the streams or rivers. Some of the storm sewers are often treated while others are not treated (Chapman et al., 2010). This always depends on the area of jurisdiction. Water treatment helps to purify and clean water for it to be released into the natural rivers or streams. This is very vital since most of the engineers are striving to consider different environmental issues as one of their most priority status (Butler and John, 2010). Modern approaches to storm water tunnel One of the great modern approaches to the storm water tunnel is the storm water management and road tunnel project. This project was conceived after several flash floods in Kuala Lumpur and created more losses to the individuals. This project was conceived with the new innovative minds of the engineers to tackle the problem of floods and the traffic jams in Kuala. The project captured several attentions of many international engineers who possess the ingenuity and the functional ability. SMART employed two slurry tunnel boring machines that measured 13.26 meters in diameter and the biggest in the southern Asia (Azmaliza et al., 2007). The engineering team went on record for breaking the time used for constructing 66 rings in one week of operation. The modern tunnel helps to divert more water from Klang and Ampang. This helps to save the finance of Kuala. The project assembled most of the engineers in Malaysia and it won the group accolades from several prestigious builders award. The modern project operates in three different principles according to the amount of the discharged floods (Azmaliza et al., 2007). Future directions With the improved and modern technology on the storm water tunnel, the future of the modern turnels is likely to improve. The initiative is to improve the water ways and this will in turn improve the amenity and health status in several urban centers. The evolution of the program and education on the storm water management techniques can help improve the management of the storm water in the near future. The findings of the technique have been very positive and combined with the recommendations that arise from various evolutions, there is likely to be a strong basis for the improvement in the design and hence prevention of the storm water pollution in the rivers and streams (Chapman et al., 2010). Conclusion Tunnels play a very important role in the way of life since it eases flooding in the environment. The technology of tunneling was invented in the eighteen century but has since developed over a long period of time. The current technologies that are used in the construction of tunnels around the world are of late very efficient and more developed. The new technology introduced includes the tunnel boring method. The paper has also covered on the modern advancement in the tunnel technology SMART which is used in Malaysia to control floods and upgrade the city. The modern tunnels are of benefit to the individuals; however, there are some critics to the tunneling of the storm water. References Azmaliza ,Kamis and Setan.(2007). The applications of surveying techniques in Kuala Lumpur Smart Tunnel Project. International Symposium and Exhibition. pp 5-7 . Baker L.(2011). New Strategies for Controlling Stormwater Overflows. Retrieved from: http://www.governing.com/topics/energy-env/New-Strategies-Controlling-Stormwater- Overflows.html Butler, D and John D. (2010).Urban Drainage, Third Edition. UK: CRC Press Chapman, D, Metje, N and Stärk A. (2010). Introduction to Tunnel Construction.UK: CRC Press Nuhu I and Maimunah A. (2014). Evaluation And Roles Of Tunnels Technology In Managing Environmental Disaster. malaysia: Spathis, A and Gupta, N (2012). Tunneling in Rock by Drilling and Blasting. UK: CRC Press United States. Congress.(2009). Efforts to address urban storm water runoff: USA: U.S. Government Printing Office. Read More