Principles of the Tunnel Face Support in Shield Tunnelling – Historical Perspective and Present Day

Synopsis:

The construction of tunnels using a shield, as an independent discipline within underground engineering, is entering its third century of existence this year. It has now been two hundred years since the first tunneling shield—designed by Marc Brunel—came into being and was deployed for the excavation of the Thames Tunnel. Since that pioneering achievement, the technology has transformed from a simple protective steel envelope into sophisticated mechanical systems. What tunneling shields have retained in common over the past two centuries, however, is the need to determine how the tunnel face will be supported in the given geological environment. How the various methods of face support developed, and especially how the approaches to them have changed, is the subject of the following article.

 

2026 Underground Construction Prague Conference Proceedings
May 25 – 27, 2026, Prague, Czech Republic (Hybsky, P., Gall, V., Valdivia, A., Griesbach, P.)
Copyright holds the Czech Tunnelling Association ITA-AITES and GUARANT International spol. s r. o.