Innovative Infrastructure Pipeline Construction Technology: Pipe Jacking System

Abstract: The use of small-diameter tunnelling and microtunnelling in Japan has been extremely limited to date (Matsumoto, 1997). However, in order to protect worker safety during construction, as well as for environmental and cost reasons, efficient small-diameter shallow tunnelling methods have recently become increasingly important with regard to engineering outside of plants, such as for water supplies, electricity, telecommunications, and gas. The effects of the above engineering projects in overcrowded urban areas are significant and often result in substantial traffic delays and associated loss of travel time. Clearly, the solution to these utility placement problems, if the full impact of trench excavation is to be avoided, is trenchless technology (McFeat and Herath, 1994). In particular, for construction work near existing facilities, an underground tunnel that is excavated by pipe jacking is increasingly being used in order to avoid the above-mentioned problems. Pipe jacking has been firmly established as a special method for the non-disruptive construction of underground pipelines for sewage systems (Cole, 1977). Pipe jacking, in its traditional form, has been used occasionally for short railways, roads, rivers, and other projects (Hunt, 1978). In brief, pipe jacking involves pushing or thrusting a drivage machine through concrete pipes ahead of jacks. This method utilizes mud slurry, which is formed around the pipes, in order to stabilize the surrounding soil (Shimada et al., 2004). This paper discusses the application of the construction method for infrastructure using pipe jacking in Japan. Moreover, some examples of this method for pipe renewal systems are shown in this paper