VISVESVARAYA TECHNOLOGICALUNIVERSITY

BELAGAVI – 590018

TECHNICAL SEMINAR REPORT

On

“SUBMERGED FLOATING TUNNELS”

Technical seminar Report submitted to Visvesvaraya Technological University

during the year 2020-2021 in the partial fulfilment for the award of the degree
of

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING CIVIL

By

V DARSHAN GOWDA-4RA17CV110

Under the Guidance of

Mrs. Madhu K M
Assistant professor

Department of Civil Engineering

RAJEEV INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

HASSAN - 573 201
 RAJEEV INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Hassan – 573 201

Department of Civil Engineering

CERTIFICATE

Certified that project work entitled “SUBMERGED FLOATING TUNNEL”

is carried out V DARSHAN GOWDA, 4RA17CV110 bonafide students of
Rajeev Institute of Technology, Hassan in partial fulfilment for the award of
Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering of the Visvesvaraya
Technological University, Belagavi during the year 2020-2021. It is certified
that all corrections/suggestions indicated in Internal Assessment have been
incorporated in the Report deposited in the departmental library. The project
report has been approved as it satisfies the academic requirements in respect of
project prescribed for the said Degree.

Mrs. Madhu K M PROJECTCOORDINATOR

Assistance professor and Dept. of Civil Engineering

Guide of department RIT, Hassan

Mr. SUJAYKUMAR Dr. A.N.RAMKRISHNA

Professor and Head of the Principal of the RIT

Dept. of Civil Engineering

Examiners Name: Signature with Date

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Apart from my effort, the success of this technical seminar work depends largely on the
encouragement and guidelines of many. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the people
who have been instrumental in the successful completion of this technical seminar.
I express immense gratitude to my guide Mrs. Madhu K M, Assistant Professor, Department of
Civil Engineering, Rajeev Institute of Technology, Hassan for having extended her priceless
technical expertise. I also thank her for his patient thoughtful guidance and also for his most
generous support and encouragement towards the development of the technical seminar.
I also express immense gratitude to technical seminar Coordinator Dr. Kiran S P, Assistant
Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Rajeev Institute of Technology, Hassan for him
encouragement and support for carrying the technical seminar.
I express my sincere thanks to Mr. Sujay S, Assistant Professor and Head, Department of Civil
Engineering, Rajeev Institute of Technology, Hassan for his valuable encouragement and support in
carrying out the technical seminar by providing all the facilities.
I also convey my sincere thanks and gratitude to Mr. A N Ramakrishna, Principal, Rajeev Institute
of Technology, Hassan for his kind encouragement.

I would also like to express my gratitude and indebtedness to Dr. V Rajeev, President,
Rajeev Education Trust, Hassan, for providing us an excellent infrastructure which made
learning enjoyable.

I extend my heartfelt thanks to all the faculty members, teaching and non-teaching staff of
Department, my batch mates and friends who have helped in this work directly or indirectly

V Darshan Gowda
4RA17CV110
 ABSTRACT
Several crossings with a variety of different conditions under which a Submerged Floating
Tunnel, SFT or Archimedes Bridge, may be used. However, swell, vortex shedding and
slowly varying internal waves due to layers of different salinity presented a hazard of
significant dynamic oscillations. In addition to the challenge of these various conditions
some common accidental situations have to be solved f or all applications including f ire ,
sinking ships, falling anchors as well as sudden massive water ingress into the tube.
Combining with the characteristics of submerged floating tunnel (SFT) and surrounding
environment, it is of great theoretical and practical significance to develop research in the
areas of potential risk and impact factors, risk index system, risk level of SFT. Risk
management work flow of SFT was given. Then we focused on discussing the potential
risks of SFT in investment, design, and environmental condition during planning and
feasibility study stage.

Some measures and suggestions in risk control strategy were given. Based on the design
technology of immersed tunnel, bridge and tunnel engineering, combining the current
relevant design codes segment is presented according to safety, applicability, economy, Fine
appearance and environmental protection.

The selection of tube cross section type, structural analysis, design load, waterproofing
and resistant corrosion, tube joint design and tunnel ventilation of submerged floating
tunnel etc. Are described and explored by comprehensively considering the design load,
flow resistance performance, durability and other factors of submerged floating tunnel.
 CONTENT
Certificate ii
Acknowledgment iii
Abstract iv
Content v
List of Figure vi
1.Introduction 1
2. Submerged Floating Tunnels 2-5
2.1 Basic Principle 2
2.2 Structural Components 3
2.3 Proposal Project 5
3. Design, Construction and Operation 6-12
3.1 SFT Design Over view and Issue 6
3.2 Design Construction 7
3.3 Construction 9
3.4 Operation and Maintenance 11
3.6 Safety 12
4. Competitive Features of SFT and Benefits 12-14
5. About Submerged Floating Tunnel 15-17
5.1 Areas for Improving SFT 15
5.2 Challenges to be faced 15
5.3 Risk control of SFT 17
6. Case study of SFT of Transatlantic Tunnel 18-21
6.1 Components of Transatlantic Tunnel 18
6.2 Challenges to be Faced 21
7. Conclusion 22
 LIST OF FIGURES

Fig.NO Particles Pg.No

2.1 A simple crossection of SFT 2
2.2 A typical crossection of SFT 2
2.2.3 SFT with pontoons 3
2.2.4 SFT with columns 4
2.2.5 SFT with tethers 4
2.2.6 SFT unsupported 4
3.1 Type of installation of site 10
3.2 Increment launching 10
4.1 SFT crossing nay be increasable 13
4.2 Parking service areas 19
6.1 Location of transatlantic tunnel 18
6.1.1 Shell 18
6.1.2 Sea anchors 18
6.1.3 Service port 19
6.1.4 Maglev Train 19
6.1.5 Components of transatlantic tunnel 20
 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Tunnels in water are by no means new in civil engineering. Since about 1900, more
than 100 immersed tunnels have been constructed. Bridges are the most common structures
used for crossing water bodies. In some cases immersed tunnels also used which run beneath
the sea or river bed. But when the bed is too rocky, too deep or too undulating, submerged
floating tunnels are used.

The submerged floating tunnel, SFT, also named as Archimedes Bridge, is a concept
going back at least 150 years and probably even further back. Historic records show that a
rather complete understanding of this idea was brought forward by Sir James Reed, UK in
1886 and later in 1924 by Try gve Olsen Dale, Norway.
The Submerged Floating Tunnel concept was first conceived at the beginning of the
century, but no actual project was undertaken until recently. As the needs of society for
regional growth and the protection of the environment have assumed increased importance
in this wider context, the submerged floating tunnel offers new opportunities. The
submerged floating tunnel is an innovative concept for crossing waterways, utilizing the law
of buoyancy to support the structure at a moderate and convenient depth .The Submerged
floating Tunnel is a tube like structure made of Steel and Concrete utilizing the law of
buoyancy. It is supported on columns or held in place by tethers attached to the sea floor or
by pontoons floating on the surface. The Submerged floating tunnel utilizes lakes and
waterways to carry traffic under water and on to the other side, where it can be conveniently
linked to the rural network or to the underground infrastructure of modern cities.

REASON FOR CHOOSING FLOATING TUNNEL

Floating tunnel is the totally new concept and never used before even for very small
length. It can be observed that the depth of bed varies from place to place on a great extent.
The maximum depth is up to 8 km. The average depth is 3.3 km. The two alternatives are
available for constructions are bridge above water level or tunnel below ground level. Since
the depth is up to 8 km it is impossible to construct concrete columns of such height for a
bridge. And also the pressure below 8km
From sea surface is nearly about 500 times than atmospheric pressure so one cannot
survive in such a high pressure zone. So the immersed tunnels also cannot be used.
Therefore, floating tunnel is finalized which is at a depth 30m from the sea level, where
there is no problem of high pressure. This is sufficient for any big ship to pass over it
without any obstruction.
 CHAPTER 2

SUBMERGED FLOATING TUNNELS CONCEPT

The SFT is a new transportation concept for crossing straits, lakes or waterways in
general. It is basically a tube like structure floating at some depth in the water, where the
tube is large enough to accommodate road and/or rail traffic. As with any structure floating
in water, it must be moored or fixed against excessive movements.

Fig. 2.1 a simple cross section of SFT Fig. 2.2 a typical cross section of SFT

2.1BASIC PRINCIPLE
SFT is a buoyant structure which moves in water. The relation between buoyancy
and self weight is very important, since it controls the static behaviour of the tunnel and to
some extent, also the response to dynamic forces. Minimum internal dimension often result
in a near optimum design. There are two ways in which SFT can be floated. That is positive
and negative buoyancy.
 Positive buoyancy: In this the SFT is fixed in position by anchoring either by
means of tension legs to the bottom or by means of pontoons on the surface. Here SFT is
mainly 30 metres below the water surface.
 Negative buoyancy: Here the foundations would be piers or columns to the
sea or lake. This method is limited to 100 meters water depth.
 SFT is subjected to all environmental actions typical in the water
environment: wave, current, vibration of water level, earthquake, corrosion, ice and marine
growth. It should be designed to with stand all actions, operational and accidental loads,
with enough strength and stiffness. Transverse stiffness is provided by bottom anchoring. In
principle, SFT can be considered for all waterway crossings, in practice they are of major
interest especially where gentle gradients and low environment impact are important.
2.2 STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS

Submerged floating tunnel consists of many structural components. These

components should provide strength and stiffness against the various forces acting under the
water surface. The three basic structural components are:
 Tube
 Anchoring
 Shore connections

2.2.1 Tube
It should accommodate the traffic lanes and the equipments. External shape can be
circular, elliptical or polygonal. It may be constructed of steel or concrete. Corrosion
protection is the main issue. Tube is composed of elements of length varying from one
hundred meters to half a kilometre.

2.2.2 Anchoring

There are basically four types of anchoring:

 SFT with pontoons
 SFT supported on columns
 SFT with tethers to the bottom
 SFT unanchored

 SFT with pontoons:

It is independent of water depth, the system is sensitive to wind, waves, currents and
possible ships collision. Design should be such that if one pontoon is lost, then also the
structure will survive

Fig. 2.2.3 SFT with pontoons

 SFT supported on columns:

It is an “underwater bridge” with foundations on the bottom, in principle the columns

are in compression but they may also be a tension type alternative. Water depth will play an
important role in this case and a few hundred meters depth is considered a limit at the
present time. However, much deeper foundations are at present under investigation.
 Fig. 2.2.4 SFT with columns
 SFT with tethers to the bottom:
It is based on tethers being in tension in all future situations, no slack in these tethers
may be accepted in any future load cases. The present practical depths for this type of
crossing may be several hundred meters, whether the tethers are vertical or a combination of
vertical and inclined.

Fig. 2.2.5 SFT with tethers

 SFT unanchored:
It is interesting as it has no anchoring at all except at landfalls and is then
independent of depth. There is obviously a limit to the length but only further development
will answer this. Perhaps an alternative for light traffic should be designed, possibly a 100 or
200 meter long.

Fig. 2.2.6 SFT unsupported

2.3 PROPOSED PROJECTS
In recent years, as the development of offshore engineering makes available
appropriate technology for actual SFT construction, interest in SFT has been growing,
especially in Norway, Italy and Japan and a number of projects have been developed, up to
quite an advanced state.
Probably the most advanced project is, presently that of the Hogs fjord crossing,
carried out by the Norwegian Public Road Administration. The crossing is 1400 metres long,
with 150 metres maximum water depth. The tunnel will be placed about 25 metres below the
water surface and will be circular in shape with 9.5 m inner diameter, in order to
accommodate a two lane road.
A more difficult and demanding project has been developed for Messina Straits
where severe environmental conditions occur, along with a high seismic risk. The crossing is
about 3000m long with 350 m maximum depth. Due to high traffic loading, the connection
requires a four lane road and two railway lines. The project is still far from the construction
stage, to some extent, due to the very challenging problems arising from the extremely
adverse environment.

Table 2.3: Proposed projects

 CHAPTER 3

DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION

This chapter contains a brief overview of the main topics related to SFT design,
construction, operation and maintenance.

3.1 SFT DESIGN OVERVIEW

The procedures for design of a SFT go through the following main steps:
 Site characterization and definition of operational targets
 Definition of design criteria and loading conditions
 Choice of overall dimension
 Static and dynamic analysis
 Structural safety analysis
 Environmental impact studies
 Detailed design
 Specification of construction and installation procedures
 Specification of operation procedures and maintenance

DESIGN ISSUES
For design of an SFT the following basic considerations should be taken into
account:
 The cross-section must give sufficient space for traffic, evacuation, ventilation, ballast,
inspection, maintenance and repair works.
 The alignment must be such that there is no interference with ship traffic passing above
the tunnel.
 The joints should have no less strength or integrity than the tube between the joints
 The structure must have a ductile behaviour in the potential failure modes
 The anchoring system should be redundant
 The tunnel must not be unduly susceptible to local damage
 The structural details must be simple & designed to avoid undue stress concentrations
 The tunnel must behave in a satisfactory manner with regard to deformations, settlements
and vibration
 The tunnel must have a satisfactory safety against fatigue
 The tunnel should be designed such that the water inflow rate is so limited that people
have time to safe evacuation in case of massive water ingress
 Tether lengths must be adjustable to compensate for e.g. possible settlements
 It must be possible to repair or replace parts of the structure that are considered to have a
shorter service life than the tunnel tube itself. Such parts can be tethers and other
anchoring systems, bearings and moveable joints.
3.2 DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
3.2.1 Site Characterization and Operational Targets

Since SFT design is strongly dependent on location, a careful characterization of the

site and detailed definitions of the operational targets are required, prior to any design
development. Operational targets are mainly related to the transportation needs to be
satisfied by the connection. These are expressed in terms of traffic volume, and on this basis
transportation design (rail, road, number of lanes, and type of traffic) of the connection is
performed. Site characterization involves:
 Geographical characteristics of the area
 Geological and geotechnical investigation
 Characterization of the water environment.
 Characterisation of the seismic hazard.
 Investigation of all relevant features (ship traffic, marine operation)
 Data collection for environmental impact assessment.
 Detection of all other constraints to SFT design (land use, water uses).

3.2.2 Design Methods

Like every other structure, SFT must be designed on the basis of expected and
possible combination of loading cases. The allowable design methods and general criteria
are mainly determined by national codes. Today the designs methods are often related to
those used in the offshore industry, and are commonly based on the semi probabilistic limit
state approach, using partial safety coefficients on both loads and strength of materials.
Limit States
The semi-probabilistic approach divides the design into the following design limit states:
 SLS (Service Limit State):The SLS conditions are set to ensure that the structure
meets practical criteria with regards to deflection, crack, widths, factor of safety,
acceleration etc.
 ULS (Ultimate Limit State): The ULS conditions are set to confirm that the
structure has the necessary margin of strength to survive factored load and load
combinations, with the factor being set to provide an acceptable risk of failure. The factor
must be sufficient to ensure that the structure is capable of continuing to operate
satisfactorily after an unfactored event. The accepted risk level differs among countries.
 PLS (Progressive Collapse Limit State): the PLS conditions are designed to
preserve human lives in the event of certain loads or load combinations at very low
probability of occurrence. In this case even if the structure may be severely damaged, loss
of lives is still not acceptable. These conditions are often defined at a probability level of
approximately 10^-4 per annum.
 FLS (Fatigue Limit State): The FLS is required to account for the fact that some
materials lose strength due to repeated loading. By computing the accumulated damage in
the material and consequently checking the computed life of the structure against the
operational life, the sensitivity of certain components of structure can be established. The
safety factor of 3 to 10 between computed life and required operational life is often
adopted depending on the consequences of failure and the opportunities for repair of the
components.
3.2.3 Loading Conditions

 Permanent Loads
The permanent loads acting on a SFT are the weight of the various structural and
non-structural components, the water buoyancy and the hydrostatic pressure.
 Functional Loads
Functional loads are related to the development of the functions for which the SFT is
designed for, therefore these loads are associated with the passage of cars, trucks, trains
and/or pedestrians, according to the destination of use of the SFT.
 Hydrodynamic Loads
Hydrodynamic actions due to the water-structure interaction in presence of waves
and currents often represent the most important and onerous environmental actions for a
SFT.
 Currents
1. Currents in waterways can be of the following types:
 Wind generated currents: water motion is originated by the energy transferred to the
water by the wind blowing over the water surface.
 Tidal currents: horizontal water motion resulting from the rise and fall of the water
level due to tides (a vertical motion).
2. Waves
 Water waves differ from currents because they are characterized by an oscillating
motion of the water particles and can be of two types:
 Wind generated waves: surface waves occurring on the free surface of waterways,
due to the wind blowing over a vast enough stretch of fluid surface.
 Internal waves: water particles are kept in motion by the force of gravity acting on
small differences in density. A density difference can exist between two fluids or
between different parts of the same fluid because of a difference in temperature,
salinity, or concentration of suspended sediment.
 Earthquake
Strong ground motion occurring to seismic events propagate in the structure by means
of the tunnel shore connections and of the SFT anchoring system. However some specific
issues have to be considered in the design phase, such as, for instance, the configuration of
the shore connections or the behaviour of shorter anchoring elements located close to the
shores. More generally, it is necessary to assure that every structural component safely
withstands extreme seismic events and that functional performances are met in case of
more frequent earthquakes. One safe way of dealing with this challenge is to design the
tube and its supports such that the lower fundamental Eigen periods are safely below the
periods of these forces. This however may have a big cost penalty since it generally would
require a relatively large number of anchoring points, either through tethers or as pontoons.
If it had been possible to design reliable artificial damping systems that could limit the
resonance phenomena to tolerable levels, the number of such anchoring points and then
also the cost could probably be significantly reduced.
  Accidental
Loads Accidental actions mainly include:
 Collisions due to dropping objects, sinking ships or impacts with submarines.
 Flooding.
 Rockslides
 Fire.
 Leakage

3.2.4 Load Applications

The magnitudes of applied loads and the associated acceptable structural behavior
are defined in terms of their probability of occurrence. For example if the structure has a
design period of 2000 years, the following levels where adopted:
 Return period equal to 50 years: Serviceability behaviour of both the main structure
and the secondary components without any damage or need for inspection after the event.
 Return period equal to 400 years: Serviceability behaviour of the main structure and
local damage (plastic behaviour) for the secondary components. Limited damage, if any
must be reparable without any interruption in the use of tunnel.
 Return period equal to 2000 years: This was defined as plastic behaviour with the
complete exploitation of ductility resources of all the structural components. This would be
analysed today as PLS. Damage, but not collapse of the main structure is accepted.
Damage and collapse are accepted in the secondary component.

3.3 CONSTRUCTION
The construction of an SFT includes two basic concepts namely, Construction in
elements and Incremental launching.

3.3.1 Construction in Elements

The construction in element appears to be more usual in the ongoing projects. The
construction procedures developed up to now, mainly refer to SFT placed at sea. SFT in
internal water bodies, local conditions, as well as problems are likely to require installation
with smaller vessels. SFT elements are constructed in a dock and then towed to the SFT site.
Basically there is no constraint to the element length, especially if permanent pressurising is
used, the element length is mainly controlled by the features of the construction facility.
At the site the elements are ballasted and lowered to the desired depth, where they
are coupled with the elements already in place, by means of specially designed joints. At
each joint location, a set of tethers is pre-installed and coupled in a horse shoe shaped
support. The element is lowered under the support while temporarily pulling the support
aside.
After the element has been fitted to the predetermined tether support system, it is de-
ballasted, causing the load to transfer from installation barge to the tether system. During
this process, the length of the tethers is adjusted at the support shoe to prevent unacceptable
deflection of tethers, the position of new element and the previous elements. The
adjustments can be made by remote control or by diver ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle)
assistance.
 Final connection between the tunnel and the tethers depends on the location of the
connection, i.e., whether they are external or within special chambers added to the tunnel. It
also depends on whether the preference is to connect the tethers first to the anchor points on
the bed or to the elements before it is lowered.

Fig.3.1 Type of installation at site

3.3.2 Incremental Construction and Launching

As a construction alternative, incremental launching requires that the construction

takes place at one of the abutments; this implies that conditions for a large construction
facility exist at the site. The tube is constructed in consecutive sections on an inclined skid
way in the abutment. After the construction of one section is completed, the tube is moved
forward into the water, by one section length through the gate in the abutment. A temporary
support system must be provide to keep under control the part of the tube already in water,
until the opposite shore is reached and final supports can be installed.

Fig.3.2 Incremental Launching

A combination of these two outline construction methods has also been considered.
In this case elements are constructed in a dock and then towed to a specially push-out
facility, located at one of the abutments.
 3.4 OPERATION AND MAINTANENCE
Operation conditions for SFT will not be known until the first structure of this type
has been constructed. In fact all well developed projects include a very extensive monitoring
of the tunnel behaviour, in order to control SFT performance and to acquire valuable
experience for future design. Parameters to be monitored include:
 Environmental parameters: current, wave, temperature, water density, etc;
 Structural parameters: stress, strain, static and dynamic response
 Material behaviour: cracking, corrosion marine growth
 Parameters related to environmental impact (inside and outside the tunnel)
However a set of crucial issues, besides monitoring, related to operation and maintenance
includes:
 Traffic control
 Corrosion protection
 Surveys and inspection
 Repair
Traffic control is aimed at ensuring that the crossing SFT fulfils the design
assumptions, both in quality and quantity. While control of traffic flows, in order to avoid
any traffic congestion in the SFT, can be easily achieved, with the same techniques applied
for land based tunnel, more skill is required to prevent access to the SFT for such type of
goods (explosives), that must be avoided for safety reasons.
One of the most uncertain issues to the long term behaviour of SFT, compared to
other civil engineering structures, is the performance of corrosion protection systems and
related corrosion control inspections. Experience from ship and offshore structures can be
applied, as starting point to define standards and procedures for surveys and inspection.
Structural behaviour in damaged condition is a crucial for SFT repair. SFT design has to
consider that damage can occur, during its lifetime, both to the tube and to the anchoring
systems.

Fig3.4 Maintenance of SFT

3.5 SAFETY
Since the concept of an SFT is still innovative, acceptable risk levels may initially
need to be higher than for comparable projects because new safety issues are raised. Safety
requirements should therefore be quantified to determine acceptable risk levels compared
with the expected benefits during the working life of an SFT.
SFT safety criteria may be viewed in two ways:
 As normal rail or road tunnel, emphasizing structural safety.
 As the comprehensive transportation system, emphasizing operational safety.

3.5.1 Critical Structural Components

In order to make a safety assessment those components of a tunnel that are critical to
life safety or the environment in the event of collapse, need to be identified, i.e.:
 Tendons or tether system.
 Terminal structures.
 Connection system between tunnel modules.
 Anchorages and foundations.
 Outer and inner shells.
Critical design conditions should include:
a) Extreme design environmental conditions.
b) Operational accidental conditions.
c) Damaged conditions due to deterioration or collapse of some of the above
mentioned primary components.

3.5.2 Ship Collision

All of the feasibility studies for SFTs must focus attention on the accidental loading
caused by the collision of ship or a submarine. The safety of an SFT is based on avoiding
collision with vessels large enough to damage the structure seriously, as has happened many
times to various bridges. Collision of surface vessels can be easily avoided as the SFT can
be positioned at virtually any depth beneath the water surface.
In the cases where there is heavy surface traffic the probability of a sinking ship at
that particular location, and subsequent consequences must be considered. The energy
associated with the impact of a sinking object against the structure must be absorbed by
local or global deformation. The magnitude of absorption will depends on the type of ship.
Another form of accidental loading, which is probably more frequent but less
sensitive is the impact of fishing equipment. This type of impact can largely be avoided by
adherence of marine regulations.
A traffic regulation system has to be provided for submarine traffic. If necessary
measures must be taken to ensure that both the tunnel and its support system can be
monitored by the submarine navigational equipment. A warning system may be used to
ensure the safety of the traffic in the SFT itself.
 CHAPTER 4

COMPETITIVE FEATURES OF SFT

AND BENEFITS
 Invisible
Crossing waterways, whether being from main land to islands in the sea or maybe
more important crossing and inland lake, perhaps the one we are at now will in many cases
meet protests both from tourist interests and also from the public in general. Lakes of special
beauty or perhaps historical value should be preserved for the future, the crossing of such
areas and lakes with SFT may make this possible. An illustration of this may be seen in
fig.5.

 Length only from shore to shore

Fig.5 also illustrates that the actual SFT structure is only as long as the distance
between the shores. If desired the SFT may be connected directly to tunnels and then be
completely out of sight for any desired distance.

Fig. 4.1 SFT crossing may be invisible

 An alternative to ferry
If a crossing is very deep and wide, many of the traditional types of bridges,
immersed or undersea tunnels may be both technically and economically prohibitive and if a
fixed link is wanted an SFT may be the only alternative. Another feature with the SFT is the
lower energy use for crossing, driving cars on a fixed link will normally use considerably
less energy than ferry operations.

 Very Low Gradient

An SFT crossing may have a very gentle gradient or being nearly horizontal giving
considerable savings in energy used by traffic. Crossings with undersea tunnels or bridges
will frequently mean longer structures with consequently higher costs and this may offset
the higher cost per meter for an alternative SFT.

 Access to underground service parking space at end

As SFT may continue in tunnels having crossed the waterway, it is possible to
arrange parking places or service areas under ground and provide access to the surface by
lifts directly into cities or recreational areas as the case may be. These possibilities may be
one of big advantage in future, in fact for all types of tunnel.
 Fig. 4.2 Parking and service areas

 Constructed away from densely populated areas

One very interesting feature with SFT is that the actual construction may be done
away from the densely or highly populated areas, a feature also for immersed tunnel
construction. After the sections of the tunnel are finished they may be towed to the actual
site and there joined together and installed at the desired depth. In some instances the whole
length of the SFT may be assembled at the construction site and the complete structure
towed to the actual site and installed. This would ensure minimum disturbances to the local
area and perhaps the whole operation may only take months instead of years.
 Easy removal at end of life
SFT is in most cases a floating structure as a whole and may therefore be towed
away to some place where parts of the SFT may be reused. Some possibilities of reuse or
recycling SFT. Sections of a tunnel may be used for many purposes, depending on its size
and condition. One obvious possibility is for various types of storage facilities, whether in
the sea or on dry land, a section of tunnel
 Minimize the traffic congestion
 No impact on the landscape and no interference to sea surface activities.
 Better control of air pollution by providing proper ventilation system.
 SFT cost per unit length is approximately constant, while, for bridges, it significantly
increases with the span length.
 CHAPTER 5

ABOUT SUBMERGED FLOATING TUNNEL

5.1 AREAS FOR IMPROVING SFT COMPETITIVENESS
In an effort to establish the present status of SFT and suggest areas for strengthening
the competitiveness a short discussion of some possibilities are presented.
 The basic SFT design should be presented in a simple and understandable way to
everybody; the importance of clear and good drawings cannot be overemphasized, clear
3-D presentations may be more important than pages of text.
 There are quite a number of structures similar to SFT around the world; especially
immersed tunnels have many similarities with SFT. A large part of immersed tunnel
technology is used for SFT construction and one of the important centres for immersed
and floating tunnels may be found in the International Tunnelling and Underground
Space Association, ITA. Working Group 11 is dealing with Immersed and Floating
tunnels and this is a forum for people interested in SFT and new members are very
welcome at the yearly meetings. The structures similar to SFT should be published in
SFT literature and reports. This would inform the engineering community about the
present experience with these structures and also be a valuable reference of the behaviour
of these structures in practice.
 Some of the more complex technical elements and procedures should be explained, for
instance the construction methods of the tunnel, towing procedures, installation,
anchoring methods and so on. This would familiarize the public with this structure and
make it more acceptable to be used for great benefit to both local and regional areas.
 The structure itself should be studied for technical simplification in all areas. The
simpler and clearer the methods and procedures, the greater the probability for a good
end result.
 The structure should be robust and have some reserve capacity in all important areas;
refinery should come at a later stage when experience is gathered.

5.2 CHALLENGES TO BE FACED

Because submerged in the water, SFT as a new type of structure, is confronting with
different public safety risks during its construction and operation compared with common
bridges. SFT is also facing many challenges because there is still no mature specification or
criterion for the relevant design and construction technology of SFT. Therefore,
systematically risk analysis and assessment are needed according to local environment and
structural characters.

The natural hazard risks of SFT are as follows:

 Typhoon: The water waves caused by the typhoon make just tiny effects on SFT
because SFT is usually placed at 10m or more than 10m under water surface, and the
wave force is decreasing exponentially with depth. Although typhoon action on SFT
structure is tiny, we should also consider secondary disasters caused by typhoon, such
as landslide and slope failure.
  Earthquake: The main effect of earthquake to SFT includes forced
vibrations caused by subsoil’s vertical and horizontal shake. These may lead to local
damages in SFT such as foundation damage and anchor cable failure, which can
threaten the whole SFT structure in its underwater environment. So earthquake will
bring about big losses once it happens.
 Landslide: Landslide would have great impact on the connection between tube and
land.

The operation risks for SFT are following:

 Fire: Just like tunnels, SFT also has many similar problems such as long distance,
humidity, poor ventilation and so on. The air pollution caused by vehicles is very
serious in SFT. When fire happens in the SFT, the heavy smoke and heat caused by
burning are hard to discharge and finally threat trapped persons’ life. Meanwhile, it
also increases the safety risk if there are no special escape ways in the structure.
 Traffic accident: SFT is an enclosure space under water; it would be very difficult to
take rescue work when traffic accident occurs. It may cause great casualties and
economic losses. What’s more, traffic accident would also trigger other problems,
such as fire and dangerous goods leakage.
 Water leak: Waterproofing is also the key point for safety of SFT, because water leak
could lead to the public a tremendous psychological fear. Once the leakage occurs, the
great pressure water would make leakage further increase. The reliability of
waterproof is very important. Connection of tube and construction detail of waterproof
should be carefully treated.
 Overload: The risk of overload is relatively small, but overloading can lead to
structural damage.
 Environmental impact
 Cost: Due to lots of material and machinery involved in project, estimated cost may be
high.
 No Stoppage: It is very difficult to stop the train travelling on such a high speed.

The construction risks of SFT can be separated into foundation construction, tube
construction, anchor cable construction and ancillary facility construction. When
constructing SFT structure, first, the tube section should be prefabricated at the boatyards
near the construction site, and then sealed at both ends by bulkhead. Next; the section can be
towed to assigned position by tugboat. The anchor cable installation and deep water pile
foundation construction should have in advance been carried out. Once the segment is at
assigned position, the floating crane fixed by four wire ropes which are anchored at the
lakebed controls the segment of SFT and lets it down to the present position by special
buoyancy balance system. After the sinking, this segment can be connected to previous one.
Finally, the bulkhead is removed and waterproof at the connection should be done, and the
other ancillary facilities are installed.
5.3 RISK CONTROL OF SFT
The meaning of risk control is to minimize the risk loss through prior treatment and
process control according to the result of risk assessment. The risk control measures can also
be taken by three aspects as follows:
 Corresponding to the natural hazard risk of SFT, we should put forward reinforcement
and protection methods against hazard under the construction of SFT to improve
capacity of disaster prevention. In the one hand, we should establish the system of
hazard monitoring and hazard early warning as well as hazard database of SFT project
site, which includes hazard’s type, duration, destructive degree and repair measures. On
the other hand, the mechanism research of structure damage caused by hazard,
nonlinear elastic-plastic analysis by using computer simulation technology and some
control technologies and methods of SFT should be carried out.
 Corresponding to the operational risk of SFT, not only should we improve the SFT
disaster prevention and relief system, but also ensure SFT facility integrity including
smooth line shape, explicit traffic indicator sign and adequate ventilation as well as
lighting system. Meanwhile, we may also research the influence of longitudinal
ventilation on working fire and smoke emission. The comprehensive set emergency
evacuation system are considered and designed, such as special evacuation channel.
 Corresponding to the constructional risk of SFT, we should consider the combined
action between structure and environment in each construction stage. The control
section’s structure parameters during the construction of SFT, such as strains and
stresses should be monitored in time in order to guide construction and guarantee the
constructional reliability of SFT structure.
 CHAPTER 6

CASE STUDY ON A SFT: TRANSATLANTIC TUNNEL

A Transatlantic tunnel is a theoretical submerged floating tunnel which would span
the Atlantic Ocean between North America and Europe. The transatlantic tunnel would be
built of 54000 prefabricated sections connected by watertight and vacuum-tight gaskets.
Each section of tunnel is to be attached to tethers which are to be affixed to an anchor at the
sea floor, which is, in some places almost 8 km deep. The tunnel would hover at about 45
meter below the sea surface, ideal to avoid ships and still minimize pressure and also to
sway a bit under pressure. A high-speed train could theoretically run from New York to
London in 54 minutes. But the train would have to go at a speed of 8000 km/h through a
5000 km long tunnel, which is itself floating in the Atlantic Ocean. To reach this speed,
almost a perfect vacuum would have to be maintained in the tunnel and the train would have
to be magnetically levitated. There will be 3 rails. Two are bidirectional and one reserve, to
be used during accidents and repairs.

Fig. 6.1 Location of Transatlantic Tunnel

6.1 COMPONENTS OF TRANSATLANTIC TUNNEL

Transatlantic tunnel consists of many components. The main components of this
Tunnel are listed below.
 Gasket/shell
 Sea anchors
 Utility conduits and service port
 Vacuum pumps
 Maglev train
 Guide ways
6.1.1 Gasket/Shell

As the tunnel is situated at a depth of 30m, it should be perfectly water tight and
secondly it should resist the salty sea water and thirdly it should be withstand against
hydrostatic forces coming on it. It is made of 4 layers. Outermost layer is constructed of
aluminium to resist the salty sea water. Second and third layer is made of the foam to float
the tunnel easily in water. Fourth layer is of concrete which gives strength to the tunnel. As
the length of tunnel is very large, it is not possible to construct the tunnel at situ. Therefore it
is made up of 54000 precast units. These units are casted on shore and transported to place
where they have to fix the units with two large floating platforms. A diagram of shell is
given in fig.

Fig. 6.1.1 Shell

6.1.2 Sea Anchors

As the tunnel is in the Atlantic Ocean, it should have to face high current velocity in
Atlantic Ocean. The tunnel should not deflect much with water current. Therefore it
anchored to the sea bed with the help of steel anchors. The procedure is as follows: First,
ropes are attached to a block and this block is inserted in sea bed water come out from top
and forms a hydro-statics seal which holds the block firmly in sea bed. A diagram of sea
anchor is given in Fig.

Fig. 6.1.2 Sea Anchor

6.1.3 Service Port

The tunnel is powered by electrically which should be available for entire length of
tunnel. These electrical wires are carried out through utility conduits. The two service ports
are provided in tunnel, one above and other below the track conduit. These are provided for
communication and access for repair works.

Fig. 6.1.3 Service port

6.1.4 Vacuum Pump

The train is running with such a thrilling speed of 5000 mph in the tunnel. The air
resistance is too high on such a high speed. Therefore to reduce it and increase the speed of
train, vacuum is created in tunnel. But creating vacuum in such a long tunnel is very difficult
task. With available equipments, 100 propellers of most powerful booing jet are require to
evacuate the air continuously for 15 days. The vacuum pumps are installed throughout the
length of tunnel to maintain the vacuum in it.

6.1.5 Maglev Train

These are magnetically elevated trains. These trains do not run over the track but
floats slightly above the track. Thus we can achieve practically zero attractive resistance
between train and track. Further this train will pass though vacuum, which increase the
speed of train. The sensation of flying at 400mph with no engine noise or vibration will
make the journey through the tunnel a unique experience. Special rotating and pivoting seats
are provided to further reduce the effect of gravitational force. A diagram of train is given in
Fig.

Fig. 6.1.4 Maglev Train

Figure showing the various components of transatlantic tunnel

Fig. 6.1.5 Components of Transatlantic Tunnel

6.2 CHALLENGES TO BE FACED

 Cost: - Due to lots of material and machinery involved in project, estimated cost is
nearly 1.2 Thousand core dollars.
 Fire: - It is difficult to rescue people if fire will break out in train and also to face the
problems due 4. No Stoppage: - It is very difficult to the smoke of fire.
 Collision: - If in case of collision of two trains took place, it is very difficult to rescue
the people.
 No Stoppage: - It is very difficult to stop the train travelling on such a high speed.
 CHAPTER 7
CONCLUSION
This paper is an attempt to give a simple overview of SFT as a structure. Basic
principles, structure, design features, advantages are discussed, but not in great detail, the
intension has been to highlight some of the characteristics of this promising structure for the
future. The submerged floating tunnel will set up new trends in transportation engineering
and which shows with the advances in technology that will reduce the time required for
travelling and make the transportation more effective by hiding the traffic under water by
which the beauty of landscape is maintained and valuable land is available for other
purposes. Benefits can be obtained with respect to less energy consumption, air pollution
and reduced noise emission. For wide and deep crossings the submerged floating tunnel
maybe the only feasible fix link, replacing present day’s ferries and providing local
communities with new opportunities for improved communication and regional
development. The added knowledge from all the presentations in this symposium should be
the best reason to go ahead with SFT or Archimedes Bridge and soon produce a full scale
project in competition with all the other alternatives. But in some instances, SFT has no real
competition; it is the only possibility for fixed link
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