ABSTRACT
Metropolitan Expressway Company Limited is now constructing the Central Circular Route of the Metropolitan Expressway with a total length of approximately 47 km outside the Inner Circular Route, approximately 8 km in radius from the city center. The goal is to alleviate traffic congestion by diverting or dispersing traffic passing through the city center and thereby form a well-balanced circular traffic network. Sections of approximately 26 km, about 60%, of the Central Circular Route have been completed and are currently in service. The remaining 20-km sections consist of the Shinjuku Route on the west side and the Shinagawa Route on the south side. In the Shinjuku Route with a length of approximately 11 km, construction is being carried out rapidly mainly with the shield tunneling method to perform construction work smoothly under heavily congested roads and minimize adverse effects of construction on residents in surrounding areas. Shields of large cross section with a diameter of more than 10 m are used in all of the eight sections where shield tunneling takes place. Figure 1 provides an outline of the project.
