ABSTRACT
With the increasing focus on climate changes and sustainability in general, we as civil engineers, have an even greater responsibility to develop innovative sustainable solutions for the projects we are involved in. It is well-known that a significant proportion of the global carbon footprint comes from the production of cement and steel. Historically, the tunnelling industry relies heavily on these two materials to build safe and durable underground structures. Bored tunnels often benefit from highly repetitive construction procedures and the mass production of identical tunnel lining segments, with precision moldings offering excellent build quality and durability. The drawback of this efficient construction process is the fact that any inefficiencies in the design of a segment can be ‘locked in’ and repeated over vast sections. The aim of this paper is to explore how to construct significantly more sustainable lining in the future with small changes to the well-known procedure.
