[Illustration: FIG. 110.--Sketch Showing Construction of Masonry Lining,
Quicksand Method.]
=Masonry.=--As soon as the upper part of the section has been opened the
roof arch is built with its feet resting on planks laid on the
unexcavated material below. This arch is built exactly as in the regular
Belgian method previously described, using the same forms of centers and
the same methods throughout, except that the poling-boards of the
strutting are usually left remaining above the arch masonry. To prevent
the possibility of water percolating through the arch masonry, many
engineers also advise the plastering of the extrados of the arch with a
layer of cement mortar. This plastering is designed to lead the water
along the haunches of the arch and down behind the side walls. In
constructing the masonry below the roof arch the invert is built first,
contrary to the regular Belgian method, and the side walls are carried
up on each side from the invert masonry. Seepage holes are left in the
invert masonry, and also in the side walls just above the intrados of
the invert. At the center of the invert a culvert or drain is
constructed, as shown by Fig. 110, inside the invert masonry. This
culvert is commonly made with an elliptical section with its major axis
horizontal, and having openings at frequent intervals at its top. The
thickness of the lining masonry required in quicksand is shown by Table
II.
=Removing the Seepage Water.=--After the tunnel is completed the water
which seeps in through the weep-holes left in the masonry passes out of
the tunnel, following the direction of the descending grades. During
construction, however, special means will have to be provided for
removing the water from the excavation, their character depending upon
the method of excavation and upon the grades of the tunnel bottom. When
the excavation is carried on from the entrances only, unless the tunnel
has a descending grade from the center toward each end, the tunnel floor
in one heading will be below the level of the entrance, or, in other
words, the descending grade will be toward the point where work is going
on, while at the opposite entrance the grade will be descending from the
work. In the latter case the removal of the seepage water is easily
accomplished by means of a drainage channel along the bottom of the
excavation. In the former case the water which drains toward the front
is collected in a sump, and if there is not too great a difference in
level between this sump and the entrance, a siphon may be used to remove
it. Where the siphon cannot be used, pumps are installed to remove the
water. When the tunnel is excavated by shafts the condition of one high
and one low front, as compared with the level at the shaft, is had at
each shaft. Generally, therefore, a sump is constructed at the bottom of
the shaft; the culvert from the high front drains directly to the shaft
sump, while the water from the low-front sump is either siphoned or
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