New Tunneling Information System and its Application to Road Tunnel Construction Sites in Korea

Ground and rock mass considered in tunnelling have characteristics such as uncertainty, heterogeneity and structural complexity because they have been formed undergoing various geological events for a long period. So, it is difficult for engineers to predict behaviors of rock mass in tunneling. In the paper the authors describe the development of an integrated expert system prototype for site investigation, design and construction in tunnelling and introduce the case applying this system to the tunnel construction site under construction. Geostructure Research Group in Korea Institute of Construction Technology (KICT) has developed the system during the past 4 years. The system mainly consists of several modules which is related to the design, construction and management of tunnelling. The test site, Neung-dong tunnel is located in Ulsan, Korea. The geology map shows it may confront big fault zone whose width is over kilometres. With the networking system of ITIS, various information of face mapping, monitoring and other construction task can be transmitted into the database and GIS Server at real time. And necessary analyses can be carried out with the modules equipped in the system.