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Infrastructures
Special Issues
Underground Infrastructure Engineering
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Underground Infrastructure Engineering

A special issue of Infrastructures (ISSN 2412-3811).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 March 2022) | Viewed by 24447

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Andreas Benardos

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Guest Editor
School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, GR15773 Zografou Campus, Athens, Greece
Interests: underground space development; underground mine design; risk assessment in underground projects; ventilation; project cost estimation and feasibility assessment; applications of artificial neural networks in geoengineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Dimitrios Kaliampakos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, Zografou Campus, National Technical University of Athens, 9 Iroon Polytechniou str., GR15773 Athens, Greece
Interests: urban underground space; environmental engineering; feasibility assessment
Dr. Pavlos Nomikos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, Zografou Campus, National Technical University of Athens, 9 Iroon Polytechniou str., GR15773 Athens, Greece
Interests: rock mechanics and rock engineering; tunnelling; stability of underground openings; rock support and reinforcement

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The development of underground space to host a variety of uses which are difficult, impractical, less profitable, or even environmentally undesirable to be installed on ground level has become a predominant practice in modern societies. The engineering community has produced a great deal of exceptional underground projects that served their purpose with an increased efficiency compared to the respective surface solutions and proved the technological capabilities of the underground construction industry.

Nevertheless, there are still significant challenges to be addressed in order to further improve underground infrastructure engineering and facilitate the cost-effective and efficient construction and operation of underground spaces.

This Special Issue is part of this pursuit to gather insights from a multidisciplinary scientific target group of authors that will act as a focal point for key issues to consider in underground infrastructure engineering.

Topics like underground space design, lessons learned from notable cases, the integration between surface and underground space, advances in rock mechanics, novel construction approaches and support measures, value engineering, as well as experiences from the operation of such facilities in terms of maintenance, risk assessment, and overall budgeting are part of the scope of this Special Issue of Infrastructures. Finally, special attention is paid to the recent developments under the framework of Industry 4.0 which will bring on new challenges but with more novel solutions in the whole value chain of the design and construction of underground space.

This Special Issue aims to bring together scientists from different fields that are willing to submit their articles on the above topics and to further promote underground space development.

Dr. Andreas Benardos
Dr. Dimitrios Kaliampakos
Dr. Pavlos Nomikos
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Infrastructures is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • underground space development
  • planning and zoning of the subsurface
  • rock mechanics
  • design and support of underground excavations
  • risk assessment
  • underground engineering 4.0

Published Papers (5 papers)

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22 pages, 11538 KiB  
Article
Evacuation in an Underground Space: A Real-Time Investigation of Occupants’ Travel Speed in Clear and Smoked Environments
by Kallianiotis Anastasios, Papakonstantinou Despina, Giouzelis Nikolas and Kaliampakos Dimitrios
Infrastructures 2022, 7(4), 57; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/infrastructures7040057 - 14 Apr 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2478
Abstract
In order to achieve a comprehensive study regarding evacuation efficiency in underground space, globally accepted regulations and standards include, among other parameters, the maximum unimpeded travel speed of occupants in case of emergency evacuation. Researchers attempt to investigate the variation of travel speed [...] Read more.
In order to achieve a comprehensive study regarding evacuation efficiency in underground space, globally accepted regulations and standards include, among other parameters, the maximum unimpeded travel speed of occupants in case of emergency evacuation. Researchers attempt to investigate the variation of travel speed using different approaches. The aim of this paper is to study occupants’ travel speed during evacuation procedures in an underground space. Underground spaces have special requirements as they differentiate from a typical building regarding the absence of physical lighting, the fact that exit route paths are always ascending and the limited orientation awareness of their users. A total of 40 volunteers participated in a large-scale experiment that involved the evacuation of the underground space in real time. Two distinct evacuation drills took place, the first one in a smoke-free environment and the second simulated fire conditions via the presence of dense artificial smoke. During each trial, the required evacuation time as well as the walking speed of each occupant were monitored, with the aid of digital cameras positioned in appropriate spots inside the underground space. The evacuation speed resulted from the experiments is compared to those of international regulations (e.g., NFPA 130) regarding horizontal travelling, as well as travelling on an upward staircase. The effect of the presence of smoke on evacuation speed is discussed. The importance of direct and constant guidance to the occupants of an underground space is highlighted during evacuation in a smoked environment and its contribution to safety improvement. Finally, the effect of the egress route type of an underground space on occupants’ speed is discussed and how this may affect the decision making during the design of an underground infrastructure, in order to achieve a safe environment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Underground Infrastructure Engineering)
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22 pages, 6007 KiB  
Article
Coupling Coordination of “Urban Rail Transit—Social Economy” Composite System
by Zhiheng Wang, Xiaozhao Li, Nikolai Bobylev, Shuchen Li and Jiangfeng Liu
Infrastructures 2022, 7(4), 56; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/infrastructures7040056 - 11 Apr 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1992
Abstract
The harmonious development of urban rail transit, underground space engineering, and social economy is the key to regional sustainable development. Based on synergetic theory, this paper constructs the coupling coordination evaluation system of “rail transport-social economy” composite system at the scale of a [...] Read more.
The harmonious development of urban rail transit, underground space engineering, and social economy is the key to regional sustainable development. Based on synergetic theory, this paper constructs the coupling coordination evaluation system of “rail transport-social economy” composite system at the scale of a city cluster. With this system, the coupling and coordinated development pattern and characteristics of “rail transit-social economy” in the Yangtze River Delta city cluster from 2002 to 2020 were analyzed. The paper makes a horizontal comparison with the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei city cluster and the Pearl River Delta city cluster, as well as analyzes the differences in development and existing problems, and puts forward policy suggestions for rail and urban underground space development. The results show that: (1) The rail transit of 11 cities in the Yangtze River Delta shows a “step by step” development pattern. That is “national central city, provincial city, second-tier city, third-tier city, etc.”, accompanied by periodic changes of coupling and coordination degree. In addition, there is also the phenomenon of unbalanced development within the region; (2) From 2002 to 2020, the development of rail transit in the three city clusters shows a situation of “the overall supply is lacking and lags behind the social economy for a long time”. Among them, the Pearl River Delta city cluster has the most serious lags. Multi-channel financing, speeding up the construction of the rail transit scale according to local conditions, and improving operating efficiency are considered to be the keys to solve this problem; (3) In general, the coupling between rail transit and the social economy in the Yangtze River Delta city cluster is better than that in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei city cluster and the Pearl River Delta city cluster, but the coordination is at a slight disadvantage. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Underground Infrastructure Engineering)
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11 pages, 3981 KiB  
Article
Case Studies and Challenges of Implementing Geotechnical Building Information Modelling in Malaysia
by Min Lee Lee, Yee Linn Lee, Sxue Liang Goh, Chai Hoon Koo, See Hung Lau and Siaw Yah Chong
Infrastructures 2021, 6(10), 145; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/infrastructures6100145 - 12 Oct 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3603
Abstract
Unforeseen ground conditions are some of the main contributors to construction cost over-runs and late completion. Recent research trends have witnessed the scopes of building information modeling (BIM) technology being extended to subsoil and substructure constructions, or simply known as geotechnical BIM. This [...] Read more.
Unforeseen ground conditions are some of the main contributors to construction cost over-runs and late completion. Recent research trends have witnessed the scopes of building information modeling (BIM) technology being extended to subsoil and substructure constructions, or simply known as geotechnical BIM. This paper aimed to explore the procedures of developing 3D subsoil models through two case studies in Malaysia. The geotechnical BIM processes were performed by commercial software, AutoCAD Civil 3D 2017, with the extension of the Geotechnical Module. The modeling procedures can be divided into three main stages, namely data collection, data interpretation, and data visualization. The subsoil models were successfully developed at different levels of detailing to serve for different applications. The results showed that the 3D subsoil modeling required huge modeling and computational efforts, particularly when dealing with tropical residual soil profiles in Malaysia that are highly intricate. Thus, an adequate soil strata generalization was required to simplify the generated subsoil model. Data collection and management was identified as one of the main challenges of promoting geotechnical BIM in Malaysia at a macro-scale. Despite the challenges, successful implementation of the geotechnical building information in the present case studies were proved to be capable of promoting interoperability of soil data, which is an essential element in sustainable construction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Underground Infrastructure Engineering)
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37 pages, 17902 KiB  
Article
Cost Overruns in Tunnelling Projects: Investigating the Impact of Geological and Geotechnical Uncertainty Using Case Studies
by Chrysothemis Paraskevopoulou and Georgios Boutsis
Infrastructures 2020, 5(9), 73; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/infrastructures5090073 - 08 Sep 2020
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 9024
Abstract
Tunnelling projects seldom meet the initial budget requirements. Commonly, these types of projects suffer from cost overruns, which subsequently lead to project delivery delays mainly due to unsuccessful ground investigation as specified in the literature. The presented work scrutinises the effect of ground [...] Read more.
Tunnelling projects seldom meet the initial budget requirements. Commonly, these types of projects suffer from cost overruns, which subsequently lead to project delivery delays mainly due to unsuccessful ground investigation as specified in the literature. The presented work scrutinises the effect of ground investigation in cost overruns. More specifically, various cost figures (total cost, construction cost, tunnel cost) are analysed for two case studies i) the Channel tunnel in the UK and ii) the Olmos Tunnel in Peru. Clayton’s relation between ground investigation and the construction cost is utilised and further investigated. In the Channel tunnel, the main problems faced led to a cost overrun of 78% for the total cost, 66% for the construction cost and 77% for the tunnelling cost. In the Olmos tunnel, two main geological scenarios are analysed and the construction cost overrun is calculated at 9.6% and 6.7%. Drawing on the conclusions, this research work proves that ground investigation can be one of the major factors influencing the tunnel cost. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Underground Infrastructure Engineering)
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20 pages, 4419 KiB  
Technical Note
Comparative Assessment of Environmental Impacts from Open-Cut Pipeline Replacement and Trenchless Cured-in-Place Pipe Renewal Method for Sanitary Sewers
by Vinayak Kaushal and Mohammad Najafi
Infrastructures 2020, 5(6), 48; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/infrastructures5060048 - 15 Jun 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 6100
Abstract
An environmental impact assessment (EIA) involves the evaluation of information about pipe raw materials, processes, and product manufacturing to obtain the associated emissions and ecological impacts. Open-cut (OC) pipeline replacement involves digging a trench along the length of the proposed pipeline, placing the [...] Read more.
An environmental impact assessment (EIA) involves the evaluation of information about pipe raw materials, processes, and product manufacturing to obtain the associated emissions and ecological impacts. Open-cut (OC) pipeline replacement involves digging a trench along the length of the proposed pipeline, placing the pipe in the trench on suitable bedding materials, and then embedding and backfilling. The trenchless cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) method involves a liquid thermoset resin saturated material that is inserted into the existing pipeline by hydrostatic or air inversion or by mechanically pulling-in and inflating. The liner material is cured-in-place using hot water or steam or light cured using ultraviolet light, resulting in the CIPP product. The objectives of this paper are: (1) to present a literature review on the progress acquired over the years in understanding the environmental impacts from the OC and CIPP methods, (2) to analyze and compare the environmental impacts for small diameter sanitary sewers (SDSS) using USEPA’s tool for the reduction and assessment of chemical and other environmental impacts (TRACI) methodology from the SimaPro software, and (3) to identify the factors that influence the environment for the OC and CIPP methods. Published papers were identified that reported the environmental impacts from the OC and CIPP methods over a period from 1989 through to 2020. An actual case study based on the City of Pasadena, California, river basin was used to carry out an environmental analysis for small diameter OC and CIPP methods. The literature review suggests that the material production phase consumes a large amount of energy and is a major contributor of environmental impacts. Higher environmental impacts from the OC method are a result of longer project durations and more equipment requirements compared to the CIPP. The assessment results show that, on average, CIPP renewal caused 68% less environmental impact, 75% less impact on human health, and 62% less resource depletion as compared to the OC replacement for SDSS. The liner, felt, and resin influenced the environment the most for CIPP as compared to the OC method, where the power consumption of construction equipment and the pipe material had the greatest environmental impacts. It can be concluded that the comparison of the environmental impacts from pipeline renewal and replacement is an important element when considering a sustainable underground infrastructure development. The pipe material and outside diameter should be considered during the installation phase by OC and CIPP methods to allow a detailed evaluation and comparison of their sustainability impacts. This study can be further developed for analyzing the environmental impacts and associated costs of the OC and CIPP methods for sanitary sewers with different project and site conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Underground Infrastructure Engineering)
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