FR2482186A1 - DEVICE FOR COLLECTING WATER FILING INTO TUNNEL BY JOINT OR CRACK - Google Patents

Abstract

TO TREAT A LEAK IN THE RIGHT OF A JOINT 1 BETWEEN CONCRETE ELEMENTS OF A TUNNEL, A BLEED 2 IS MADE MUCH WIDER THAN THE JOINT (OR THE CRACK) AND THE BLEED IS CLOSED, EXCEPT FOR AN ORIFICE WATER DISCHARGE, BY A NEOPRENE RUBBER SHEET 3 WHICH IS ATTACHED TIGHTLY TO THE WALL OF THE TUNNEL AND WHICH HAS A WATERPROOF CLOSURE F. THIS ALLOWS THE SHEET 3 TO BE OPENED AND THE DEPOSITS PERIODICALLY REMOVED SLUDGE WHICH MAY OBSTRUCT BLEED 2 AND ARE MALODORANT. THE INVENTION IS IN PARTICULAR APPLICABLE TO RAILWAY TUNNELS AND OTHERS IN MOUNTAINS AND UNDER THE SEA.

Description

The present invention relates to a device for collecting or sensing

  water that leaks into a tunnel through a leak at a joint between elements of coating or

  concrete tunnel wall or right of a crack.

  A tunnel must not only be strong and durable, it must also be waterproof. Whether it is an underground tunnel or an underwater tunnel or under the sea, a leakage causes water infiltration, which presents various dangers, especially if the tunnel contains bare electrical conductors like those needed in an electrified rail tunnel. Water seepage usually occurs at the joints between the concrete elements of the liner or tunnel body or by cracks caused for a reason or

  another in these concrete elements.

  According to a conventional method of treating a leak by a joint or a crack, the leakage zone of the seal or crack is widened and widened, so as to form in the concrete a groove at the bottom of which is the part leaking from the joint or crack, and is fixed on the inner side of the tunnel a plate that closes the bleeding tight except for a water discharge port at the lowest point of the kerf. This method is suitable for preventing the uncontrolled fall or flow of infiltration water into the tunnel but it has the disadvantage that mud accumulates over time in the groove, which risks clogging it and in addition releases bad smell, especially in a

underwater tunnel.

  The object of the invention is to create a device of this type which makes it possible to easily remove the mud and grime deposited.

  in bleeding if necessary.

  According to the invention, a device for collecting water which infiltrates a tunnel by a leak at the right of a joint or crack of concrete tunnel elements, including a bleeding (or cavity) practiced in the concrete in the leakage zone and having a greater width than the joint or crack, as well as a covering which closes the groove with the exception

248 2 1 8 6

  It is characterized in that the covering is formed by means of a watertight sheet provided with a watertight closure and sealed to the wall. inside the tunnel, 3 in such a way that one can easily access the bleeding,

  for cleaning, for example, by opening the closure.

  Other features and advantages of the invention

  will be clearer from the following description of a

  non-limitative embodiment of the invention, as well as the appended drawings, in which:

  FIG. 1 is a front view of a longitudinal part

  dinal of a device according to the invention comprising a plurality of aligned cover sheets closing a groove which follows a joint between two concrete tunnel elements; - Figure 2 is a cross section on a larger scale of this device; and FIGS. 3 and 4 are similar cross sections showing variants for fixing the sheets

recovery.

  In the drawings, 1 denotes a joint between two concrete elements of a tunnel t and 2 denotes a groove made in the inner wall of the tunnel to the right of the joint 1 and having a width much larger than the joint. 3 is a waterproof sheet> Neoprene rubber water, having a watertight F closure at a suitable place. The sheet 3 is sealingly attached to the water and over the groove 2 to the inner wall of the tunnel t. The groove 2 can be put in communication with the interior space of the tunnnel by the opening of the closure F. To put in place d_ The sheet 3, two stacks of joinrs 4

  in the form of bands are glued paraillement low di-tarnce-

  on the wall of the tunnel, on both sides of the groove 2L by an adhesive 5. A caulking product Si is disposed between the two stackings of strips 4 on each side of the groove and the sheet 3 is then placed on the two elastic supports thus formed and fixed to the tunnel t by anchor bolts 7. The leak in the seal i is thus sealed, if Uion

2 4 821 8 6

  does not take into account a communication (not shown) of the groove 2 with a system of evacuation of the water infiltrating the tunnel. The water coming from the ground situated above the tunnel and entering through the leakage of the seal 1 into the groove 2 thus flows towards the lower part thereof or falls first on the sheet 3, according to the location of the leak and the orientation of the joint 1, to be evacuated out of the tunnel. The water which has infiltrated can not therefore flow uncontrollably into the tunnel and

present a danger.

  After a while, mud and grime will generally accumulate in the groove 2 and deposited on the walls of the latter and the sheet or sheets 3, which may block the evacuation of water and also produces a release of bad odors. It is therefore recommended to periodically open the waterproof sheet 3 and clean the

bleeding 2 and this leaf.

  Although the closure F is oriented in this example-

  along the length of the sheet 3, that is to say along the circumference of the tunnel t, the invention is not limited to this

  provision, the closure can also be arranged transversally

sideways or in tiers.

  Figures 3 and 4 show two variants for fixing

sheet 3 to the tunnel.

  In FIG. 3, a U-block 8 made of rubber or synthetic resin is glued watertightly by the free ends of its branches, on each side of the groove 2 on the tunnel wall t and the sheet 3 , with its closure F, is placed on the two blocks 8 and securely fixed to the tunnel by bolts

anchor 7.

  In the variant of FIG. 4, a groove 9 is

  dug on either side of the groove 2 in the tunnel wall.

  A block of rubber or synthetic resin is disposed with

  interposition of a caulking product 11 in each groove 9.

  The sheet 3 is placed on the blocks 10 and fixed to the tunnel by

  anchor bolts 7 which pass through the sheet and the blocks.

  It is obvious that the implementation of the invention as it has just been described is applicable in a similar way to the treatment

  leakage through a crack in the concrete instead of through a joint.

  It follows from the foregoing that the device according to the invention for capturing the water of a leak and evacuate it along a determined path to prevent its uncontrolled fall and flow is applicable to different kinds of tunnels and tunnels, railway and / or road tunnels in the mountains, under the rivers and under the seas, and

  construction of works or only thereafter.

Claims (3)

R E V E N D I C A T I 0 N S   1. A device for collecting water which leaks into a tunnel by a leak at the right of a joint or crack of concrete tunnel elements, including a groove (or cavity) made in the concrete in the leakage zone and having a greater width than the joint or crack, as well as a covering which closes the   bleeding with the exception of a communication with an evacuation   characterized in that the covering is formed of at least one watertight sheet (3) provided with a watertight closure (F) and fixed in a watertight manner to the inner wall of the tunnel (t), so that the bleeding (2) can easily be accessed for cleaning, for example opening the closure (f).   2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that   that the sheet (3) is Neoprene rubber.   3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the sheet (3) is fixed to the tunnel wall (t) by anchor bolts (7) and with interposition, on both sides of the bleeding (2), or around a cavity, elastic elements (4, 8, 10) glued or otherwise fixed to the tunnel wall and optionally combined with a caulking product (6, 11).