INNOVATIVE CONTINUOUS SLIPFORMING FOR ICBM DEEP BASING TUNNEL LINING

DEEP BASING FACILITIES MUST BE CONSTRUCTED TO RESIST HIGH LOADS FROM REPEATED NEAR SURFACE HIGH YIELD BLASTS. THE BASE LINING STRUCTURE MUST EXHIBIT BOTH COMPLIANCE AND TOUGHNESS TO MAINTAIN ITS INTEGRITY. CURRENT CAST-IN-PLACE AND PRECAST LINING SYSTEMS COUPLED WITH THE INSTALLATION OF A SEPARATE, ENERGY ABSORBING BACKPACKING LAYER ARE EXPENSIVE TO INSTALL, ARE LABOR INTENSIVE AND ARE NOT LIKELY TO ACHIEVE THE 25 FT/HR ADVANCE RATE GOAL. A NEW LINING SYSTEM WILL BE DEVELOPED TO OVERCOME THE DEFICIENCIES OF CURRENT TECHNOLOGY. THE PROPOSED SYSTEM IS A NEW SLIPFORMING APPROACH WHICH WILL BE ABLE TO CONTINUOUS LINE TUNNELS WITH A TWO LAYER COMPOSITE LINING DIRECTLY BEHIND A TUNNEL BORING MACHINE AT ADVANCED RATES OF AT LEAST 25 FT/HR.THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSED PHASE I EFFORT IS TO DEVELOP SPECIFICATIONS FOR KEY COMPONENTS AND TO GENERATE A CONCEPTUAL DESIGN FOR THE SLIPFORMING SYSTEM. A KEY POTENTIAL PROBLEM WITH THE PROPOSED SYSTEM, THE DISTRIBUTION AND PLACEMENT OF THE THICKER OUTER LINING LAYER, WILL ALSO BE EVALUATED.