Microtunneling: Productivity Analysis Using Simulation: Fid-Bau Portal

Microtunneling: Productivity Analysis Using Simulation

Nido, Alberto A. / Abraham, Dulcy M.

In response to recent EPA administrative orders regarding combined sewer overflows (CSOs), many municipalities and districts have initiated relief sanitary sewer construction projects. Many of these sewer projects have required the use of trenchless methods, such as microtunneling for pipeline installation, primarily to reduce disruption in densely residential or commercial areas. This paper is based on a case study of one such sewer construction project, namely the Holes Creek Tunnel Project, in Dayton, Ohio. It discusses the planning and design of the different operations involved in the project. This paper also describes the use of computer simulation as a vehicle to understand productivity issues related to the microtunneling process. Computer simulation facilitates the identification of uncertainty associated with the prediction of underground soil conditions, which could be viewed as the main obstacle when using microtunneling. The operations are modeled using the CYCLONE methodology and simulated using PROSIDYC. The impacts of differing soil conditions on the performance of the jacking system of the microtunneling machine are also investigated.