Analysis of support requirements for a tunnel portal in weak rock: A case study from Turkey

In this paper, engineering geological properties of the entrance portal section of Konakönü Tunnel, located on Black Sea Coastal Highway, Turkey, is studied. Moderately weathered basaltic and andesitic tuffs orderly to be driven by the entrance portal section. Tunnel portal design in weak rock presents some special challenges to the designers, since misjudgements in the design of tunnel can lead to very costly failures. The entrance portal was analyzed by empirical and numerical methods. Both field and laboratory studies were carried out during this study. Field studies involved geological mapping, detailed discontinuity surveying and sampling. Laboratory tests were carried out to determine the physico-mechanical and elastical properties of rock units. For this purpose, tunnel stability analyses were performed at the entrance portal section. The RMR (rock mass rating), Q (rock mass quality), RMi (rock mass index), NATM (new Austrian tunnelling method) and GSI (geological strength index) systems were employed for empirical rock mass quality determination and preliminary tunnel portal support design. The parameters calculated by the empirical methods were used as input parameters for the FEM (finite element method) analysis. The results from the two methods were compared and preliminary support designs were carried out. This comparison suggests that for more reliable support design, empirical and finite element methods should be combined.