A study and evaluation on SMART Project, Malaysia

Abstract

A tunnel is a passage way that carries people or vehicles to cross a destination that have obstruction or to shorten the travelling time. Tunnels in the olden days are used for mainly mining works. In the recent years as technology evolve with time, tunnels construction had become more commonly used transport routes in places that alternative solution such as roads or bridges impossible to be built or the costing is higher since there are obstruction to be accounted for in order to built the necessary routes. Tunnels are also used as rails links, vehicles and also as canals for water diversion. Most tunnels are built through a hill or mountain and underground below cities, roads, ocean or rivers. The constructions of tunnels are very complex because it involves precise and accurate planning. Tunnel construction depends mainly on geological study of the sub-surface before determining the type of construction method and costing involves. This is because the type of soil formation will determine the structural needs, types of machineries, suitability for that particular location to construct the tunnel and also the environmental impact on the society and the natural surrounding especially the sub-surface of the soils (e.g. underground streams and the stability of the soil). Tunnels are constructed all around in the world as the method of construction is getting more advances and this allows the tunnels that are impossible to build are now done. This thesis is mainly a study on the SMART Tunnel Project that is under construction in Malaysia. This tunnel is very unique because this is one of a kind tunnel in the world that combines the wet and dry system. The tunnel is used as a pathway to transport vehicle and also a channel for stormwater diversion from the city of Kuala Lumpur. The system is very unique as the tunnel is built using two Slurry Shield TBM machines that allows the drilling and tunnel lining work to be done continuously without setbacks. The machine also eliminates the hazard of tunnel stability during construction and also the ground water drawdown that cause sink holes. The entire thesis is about the tunnel construction method, technology used, tunnel design, purpose and efficiency of the tunnel.