Evaluation of Seismic Performance for Tunnel Retrofit Project

A seismic retrofit program at Yerba Buena Island Tunnel is presented as a case history. The studies include evaluations of portal stability under earthquake excitation and performance of the tunnel liner as a result of seismic induced deformation. Due to different potential failure modes at the two portal areas, two separate evaluation techniques were utilized. Key block theory in conjunction with a Newmark type analysis was used to assess movements of a potential failure wedge at the west portal slope, while discontinuous deformation analysis was utilized at the east portal slope to evaluate a rotational mode of failure. To assess the performance of the liner subjected to design earthquakes, a two-step analysis procedure was adopted. The first step was to compute seismic induced deformations of the tunnel subjected to seismic wave propagation through the island rock without the presence of the liner. The second step, not reported in this paper, involved imposing the deformations of the tunnel onto the structural liner through spring elements that accounted for interaction between the liner and the surrounding rock. From the studies, performance of the existing tunnel supports was found to be acceptable.