Tunnelcorp is capable of installing box culverts for utilisation on stormwater systems, combined pedestrian / bicycle access ways and vehicular traffic tunnels.
Box Culverts can be jacked under surface infrastructure using similar techniques to pipe jacking. Box culvert installation can be utilised for:
- Pedestrian underpass
- Pedestrian / Cycleway underpasses
- Trafficable tunnels
- Stormwater systems
Government Authorities have announced an ambitious rollout plan to construct urban cycleways throughout Australia. Inevitably these cycleways will encounter immovable objects such as roads and railways that have to be traversed. Tunnelcorp can jack box culvert sections under obstructions without interruption to road or rail traffic.
Pre-cast or cast on site box culverts are jacked into position using high capacity hydraulic rams pushing from the launch side. Tunnelcorp operates a Herrenknecht 1600 tonne 4 ram jacking system with 3.2m stroke on the hydraulic rams.
Tunnelcorp’s 1600 tonne jacking system is used to install either pre cast box sections or cast in situ culverts using various types of excavation equipment at the cutting face. The cutting shield is monitored by two laser stations and hydraulic steering rams provide all directional steering. In some applications “bond breaker” roof systems relieve the adhesion to the material above ensuring the surface structures are not distorted by the structure being jacked forward.
In September 2013 Tunnelcorp completed a project where a 8m wide x 4.8m high box culvert was installed 52m under the Main Northern rail line in Gladstone. Tunnelcorp constructed a 6,000 tonne jacking system to push the 2,300 tonnes of concrete culvert and installed the culvert within the +/-100mm tolerance.
