An apparatus for driving a tunnel, the apparatus having a knife shield composed of a circular array of elongate knife implements supported by a frame and attachable to a drive frame which can be moved to cause the implements to penetrate into a working face in order to excavate material therefrom. To the rear of the knife shield there is an advanceable temporary lining composed of tube sections arranged end-to-end and designed to support the newly-formed tunnel. This advanceable lining extends into a rear shield composed of a rearwardly extending portion of the implements lined with plank members. A tubular revetment has a flange which abuts the advanceable lining at the side remote from the knife shield and fluid concrete is inserted around the periphery of the revetment to form a permanent tunnel lining, separated from the advanceable lining by the flange. The advanceable lining and the revetment are moved up from time to time as the driving progresses.
A drive shield for use in tunnelling operations includes a generally cylindrical cutting edge supported by a frame. A knife shield is telescoped together with the cutting edge, the knife shield having a plurality of elongate members (or planks). Each of the planks is extensible relative to the cutting edge in the direction of tunnel advance. In use, all the planks are advanced relative to the cutting edge which is then advanced in a follow-up sequence.
Apparatus for driving tunnels or the like employs a drive shield known per se, with drive members supported and guided on a frame. Rear extension members are linked to the drive members, preferably through units permitting relative displacement therebetween and these rear members form a rear shield for receiving supports and reinforcements for a permanent lining for the tunnel. A concrete spraying nozzle or the like applies a strip of concrete to the tunnel wall each time a rear member is shifted in the advancing direction. In this way a series of strips, preferably shape locked together at their ends, can be built up stage by stage to create the lining.
Apparatus for constructing an underground tunnel employs a drive shield composed of elongate drifting cutters disposed side-by-side in a circular configuration around a support frame. Hydraulic rams serve to advance the cutters and to shift up the frame when all the cutters have been advanced. The cutters have rear end portions which engage on a follow-up ring behind the drive shield. A platform is supported by the frame within the shield and carries some form of working appliance for detaching and removing the debris material. The platform also carries a rotatable concrete spraying device which serves to seal and secure the tunnel wall exposed when the follow-up ring is shifted up to the shield.
Disclosed is a continuous tunneling and lining machine. The machine is capable of simultaneously boring and lining a tunnel through a solid medium. The machine comprises four major components including: (1) an excavation system; (2) a debris removal system; (3) a lining system; and (4) a liner material retrieval system. The excavation system comprises a rotary excavator that excavates the tunnel bore. The lining system mixes liner materials at the bulkhead and pumps the mixed material into slipform. The slipform comprises an inner form, an outer form and a wall connecting the inner and outer form and at least one mandrel. The mandrels form cast in place passageways to accommodate liner component retrieval and excavation debris removal. The debris removal system pumps excavation debris through the excavated area into the mandrels and out the cast in place passageways. Finally, the liner material system comprises a plurality of pumps that pump individual liner component materials through the cast in place passageway, through the pipe mandrels and to the lining system. There the material components are mixed and pumped into the liner.
