ABSTRACT
The Betuweroute shield driven tunnels cross or tangent to major infrastructure and industrial areas in the Netherlands. The ground conditions react most sensitive to changes of every description. Incidents and difficulties during tunnelling represent consequently a risk for the tunnel structure and its surroundings. The concept of risk describes the possibility that negative consequences arise in a certain situation or activity. In a narrower sense, risk is defined as the magnitude of damage multiplied by the probability of occurrence. The aim of risk management is thus to limit the magnitude of damage and to reduce the probability of occurrence in order to control the project within its objectives. With the shield driven tunnel projects of the Betuweroute risk management was executed with extensive risk analysis in the preliminary design and tendering phase and risk control by assaying the design and supervising the construction of the tunnel projects.
