Jacobs Associates to provide design services for Philadelphia tunnel improvements
15 June 2012Consulting engineers Jacobs Associates will provide tunnel engineering design and construction services to improve a pedestrian tunnel for The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, the company revealed earlier this month.
The authority is improving Villanova Station, an important stop on its regional commuter rail line. Work includes new high-level platforms and a new, larger pedestrian tunnel that runs beneath the tracks.
The pedestrian tunnel improvements will include a new and larger ADA accessible tunnel, which will be approximately 20m long with minimum 3m by 2.4 m rectangular finished internal dimensions.
The tunneling method selected for the pedestrian tunnel will be dependent on the ground conditions, determined through geotechnical exploration.
Several methods of tunnel construction will be considered during the design phase, including: Hand mining using a circular shield; traditional hand mining of the arch tunnel section; pipe canopy presupport and hand mining of the arch tunnel section; New Austrian Tunneling Method; and jacked culvert box.
