UNDERGROUND ENGINEERING FOR
SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT
Committee on Underground Engineering
for Sustainable Development
Committee on Geological and Geotechnical Engineering
Board on Earth Sciences and Resources
Division on Earth and Life Studies
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. CMMI-0946245. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations contained in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute their endorsement by the U.S. government.
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-27824-9
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-27824-4
ISBN: 0-309-27827-9
Library of Congress Control Number: 2013932381
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Cover: Cover design by Michele de la Menardiere. Top left is a screw conveyor (used to remove material excavated from a tunnel) of the world’s largest tunnel boring machine being constructed for tunnelling beneath downtown Seattle. Top right is the inside of an underground utilidor in Amsterdam; courtesy of H. Admiraal. Middle left is a laser scanned image of a building foundation under construction; courtesy of Y. Hashash. Bottom is a train departing from a Washington, D.C. underground Metro station.
Copyright 2013 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
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Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine
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The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Charles M. Vest is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
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COMMITTEE ON UNDERGROUND GEOENGINEERING FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
PAUL H. GILBERT (Chair), Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc. (retired), Edmonds, Washington
SAMUEL T. ARIARATNAM, Arizona State University, Tempe
NANCY RUTLEDGE CONNERY, Independent Consultant, Brunswick, Maine
GARY ENGLISH, Seattle Fire Department, Washington
CONRAD W. FELICE, HNTB Corporation, Bellevue, Washington
YOUSSEF HASHASH, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois
CHRIS T. HENDRICKSON, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
PRISCILLA P. NELSON, New Jersey Institute of Technology, West Orange
RAYMOND L. STERLING, Louisiana Technical University (retired), Minneapolis, Minnesota
GEORGE J. TAMARO, Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers, Bristol, Rhode Island
FULVIO TONON, University of Texas at Austin, Texas
National Research Council Staff
SAMMANTHA L. MAGSINO, Study Director
MIRSADA KARALIC-LONCAREVIC, Senior Program Associate
NICHOLAS D. ROGERS, Financial and Research Associate
COURTNEY R. GIBBS, Program Associate
JASON R. ORTEGO, Research Associate (until June 2012)
CHANDA T. IJAMES, Senior Program Assistant
COMMITTEE ON GEOLOGICAL AND GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
EDWARD KAVAZANJIAN, JR (Chair), Arizona State University, Tempe
JOHN T. CHRISTIAN, Consulting Engineer, Burlington, Massachusetts
PATRICIA J. CULLIGAN, Columbia University, New York, New York
DEBORAH J. GOODINGS, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia
MURRAY W. HITZMAN, Colorado School of Mines, Golden
JAMES R. RICE, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
National Research Council Staff
SAMMANTHA L. MAGSINO, Senior Program Officer
CHANDA T. IJAMES, Senior Program Assistant
BOARD ON EARTH SCIENCES AND RESOURCES
CORALE L. BRIERLEY (Chair), Brierley Consultancy, LLC, Denver, Colorado
SUSAN L. CUTTER, University of South Carolina, Columbia
WILLIAM L. GRAF, University of South Carolina, Columbia
MURRAY W. HITZMAN, Colorado School of Mines, Golden
EDWARD KAVAZANJIAN, JR, Arizona State University, Tempe
ANN S. MAEST, Stratus Consulting, Boulder, Colorado
DAVID R. MAIDMENT, University of Texas, Austin
ROBERT MCMASTER, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
M. MEGHAN MILLER, UNAVCO, Inc., Boulder, Colorado
ISABEL P. MONTAÑEZ, University of California, Davis
CLAUDIA INÉS MORA, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico
BRIJ M. MOUDGIL, University of Florida, Gainesville
CLAYTON R. NICHOLS, Idaho Operations Office (retired), Ocean Park, Washington
HENRY N. POLLACK, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
DAVID T. SANDWELL, University of California, San Diego
PETER M. SHEARER, University of California, San Diego
REGINAL SPILLER, Azimuth Investments, LLC, Houston, Texas
GENE WHITNEY, Independent Consultant, Washington, D.C.
National Research Council Staff
ELIZABETH A. EIDE, Director
ANNE M. LINN, Senior Program Officer
SAMMANTHA L. MAGSINO, Senior Program Officer
MARK D. LANGE, Program Officer
NICHOLAS D. ROGERS, Financial and Research Associate
COURTNEY R. GIBBS, Program Associate
ERIC J. EDKIN, Senior Program Assistant
CHANDA T. IJAMES, Senior Program Assistant
Underground infrastructure presents unique challenges for engineers because usable underground space is limited in its extent and is not easily observed or accessible. The safety, health, and welfare of the public at large are among the civil engineer’s primary concerns while designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating physical infrastructure, including underground infrastructure. Underground engineers must rely on the skills and expert knowledge of all members of an interdisciplinary team to carry out their respective professional obligations within their scopes, budgets, and schedules.
A concept has recently been making its way into infrastructure systems requirements to be satisfied by the engineer: sustainability. There are numerous definitions of sustainability, but this report refers to sustainability as the ability to obtain and use resources to meet current needs and improve standards of living without compromising the ability of those in the future to do the same. Sustainable urban development includes the selective use of materials and resources and consideration of cost effectiveness, functionality, safety, aesthetics, and longevity. The concept of sustainability changes the scale of many engineering projects. Engineering for sustainability means that engineers will need to move beyond traditional practice and consider their projects as part of a far larger physical and social system. They will need to think about the functionality and behaviors of their projects over long time periods—perhaps well beyond the project’s service life. This is especially true of underground infrastructure, the impacts of which on society can be widespread and beneficial, but the failure of which can be devastating, and the remnants of which—post-useful service life—can affect society and the use of the underground for centuries into the future.
The committee was provided a detailed statement of task intended to define
the role of underground engineering and works in sustainable urban development, as well as to provide direction for a future research track that supports such engineering. The broad and complex nature of the task necessitated only high-level consideration of its numerous points. The committee determined that simply responding one by one to each of the bulleted items in the statement of task would not fully respond to the intent of the task as described by the study sponsors. Instead, the committee tackled each bullet through discussions of the definition of sustainability, the evolution of underground use, potential contributions of the underground to sustainable urban development, health and safety in the underground, technological challenges of underground engineering, and research and training needed to increase capacity for underground engineering that supports sustainable development.
The direction of committee deliberations and the report were informed through multiple discussions with the study sponsors. Dr. Richard Fragaszy of the National Science Foundation provided numerous important insights regarding the concept of sustainability. Dr. Jonathon Porter of the Federal Highway Administration also spoke with the committee to describe his agency’s expectations regarding the committee task, and answered the committee’s questions with care. Committee deliberations and writings were also informed through excellent presentations during open sessions of committee meetings by Mr. Gordon Feller, Cisco Systems; Dr. Edward Garboczi, National Institute for Standards and Technology; Mr. Michael Grahek, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power; Mr. F. G. Wyman Jones, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority; Mr. Richard Little, Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, University of Southern California; Dr. Harvey Parker, Harvey Parker and Associates, Inc; Mr. Kevin Peterson, Peterson Design; Dr. Helen Reeves, British Geological Survey; Mr. Henry A. Russel, Parsons Brinkerhoff, Inc.; Dr. Benedict Schwegler, Jr., Walt Disney Imagineering Research and Development; and Dr. Raymond Sterling, Louisiana Technical University. Numerous others also contributed to the committee process through less formal discussions with individual committee members and National Research Council (NRC) staff. Although there are too many to list here, the committee owes a debt to each of these people.
The committee is also grateful to the numerous NRC staff that provided direction, assistance in text development, and logistical and research support over the duration of the project. Their contributions to this process kept us moving forward, focused on the statement of task, well fed, and well informed. Our NRC study director, Sammantha Magsino, was particularly valuable to the committee in turning the many original text drafts on a range of topics from each committee member into coherent and consistent sections, chapters, and finally the report.
The study process has made it clear to the committee that the underground engineering needed to develop urban sustainability will require engineers in professional practice to rethink how they have traditionally delivered their work products. It will also require those in research and education to consider new multidisciplinary
approaches to improving technologies and increasing capacities. Engineering the underground permanently changes the underground—a valuable, and irreplaceable resource. It is the ethical responsibility of all making those changes to anticipate and understand the impacts of those changes to the larger physical and social infrastructures over time to avoid harming future generations, and, in fact, to help those future generations to thrive.
Adding to or changing the systems of systems that comprise urban infrastructure will demand that underground engineers become more multidisciplinary in their approaches and that they more comprehensively communicate and rely on the expertise of engineering scientists, planners, architects, and other professionals from all contributing disciplines. This report presents a foundation for how this professional transition can be made, and it presents a framework for new education, training, and research strategies to prepare engineers and all their colleagues for the future.
Paul H. Gilbert, P.E., NAE
Chair
This report has been reviewed in draft form by persons chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of the independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards of objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We thank the following individuals for their participation in the review of this report:
Arthur Bendelius, A & G Consultants Inc., Fayetteville, Georgia
Brenda Bolhke, Independent Consultant, Great Falls, Virginia
Joseph P. Colaco, CBM Engineers, Houston, Texas
Louise K. Comfort, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Herbert H. Einstein, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
Derek Elsworth, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
Marc Pisano, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Charles Fairhurst, Itasca Consulting Group, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota. Appointed by the National Research Council, he was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review
Defining Underground Infrastructure
A Brief History of Underground Occupation
Potential Benefits and Challenges Associated with Developing Underground Space
Human Factors Affecting Underground Development
2 THE EVOLUTION OF AND FACTORS AFFECTING UNDERGROUND DEVELOPMENT
Expansion of the Underground in the Past Century
Engineering the Underground for Sustainability
Policy, Economic, and Human Behavioral Drivers that Influence Decision Making
Cross-Systems Interdependencies
Consequences of Incomplete Planning
Planning and Governance for Sustainability
3 CONTRIBUTIONS OF UNDERGROUND ENGINEERING TO SUSTAINABLE AND RESILIENT URBAN DEVELOPMENT
The Broad View: The Urban Setting as a System of Systems
Hazards, Security, and Resilience of Urban Areas
4 HEALTH AND SAFETY UNDERGROUND
Managing Safety through Regulation
International Underground Tunnel Safety Codes
Increasing Comfort and Maximizing Safety
5 LIFECYCLE SUSTAINABILITY, COSTS, AND BENEFITS OF UNDERGROUND INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
Lifecycle Sustainability Assessment
Lifecycle Economic Benefits and Costs
Lifecycle Environmental Benefits and Costs
Research Needs for Lifecycle Costs and Benefits
6 INNOVATIVE UNDERGROUND TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Technologies for Underground Site Characterization
Technologies for Underground Construction
Technologies for Effective Asset Management
Technologies That Promote Sustainability and Resilience
7 INSTITUTIONAL, EDUCATIONAL, RESEARCH, AND WORKFORCE CAPACITY