ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a number of empirical and semi-empirical methods for tunnels excavated in soil. The chapter is organized around four sections. The first one provides a summary of the empirical methods that have been used to estimate the loads on the support of tunnels excavated in soil. It is included for historical reasons only since they are no longer used in practice. The second section includes a short description of shield-based methods, which are the methods generally used for the construction of tunnels in soil. The third section contains a number of methods to estimate the deformations induced by tunneling in soil materials. The last section offers a number of recommendations regarding the use of the methods discussed in the chapter.
