Submerged Floating Tunnel

Introduction:-

 A submerged floating tunnel, also known as submerged floating tube bridge, suspended tunnel, or Archimedes bridge, is a design for a tunnel that floats in water, supported by its buoyancy, self-weight, and constraint forces resulted from cable system and thus submerged to a certain depth underwater. It is a tube-like structure made of steel and concrete placed deep underwater to avoid water traffic and weather. It is designed to accommodate road or rail traffic.


                    

Construction:- 

The concept of submerged floating tunnels is based on well-known technology applied to floating bridges and offshore structures, but the construction is mostly similar to that of immersed tunnels. Huge tunnel sections are prefabricated in a dry dock and the sections are moved to the site. The sections are then sealed, sunk into place while being sealed, and, when the sections are fixed to each other, the seals are broken. The tunnel is made of 4 layers-: outermost layer is made of aluminium to resists corrosion, inner two layers made of foam to float the tunnel easily and the innermost layer is made of concrete which gives strength

Benifits. 

1. Submerged floating tubes allow construction of a tunnel in extremely deep water, where conventional bridges or tunnels are technically difficult or prohibitively expensive 
2. They would be able to deal with seismic disturbances and weather events easily, as they have some degree of freedom in regards to movement, and their structural performance is independent of length.
3. Construction process has less harmful effects to aquatic life.
4. It reserves the landscape for other purposes.
5. It reduces air pollution as all the emissions collected at one end of the tunnel.
6. Reduces noise emission and consumes less energy.

Conclusion:- 

Despite all these benefits SFTs have some drawbacks. Swell, vortex shedding and slowly varying internal waves due to layers of different salinity present a hazard of significant dynamic oscillations. Also, some common accidental situations have to be solved including fire, sinking ships, falling anchors as well as sudden massive water ingress into the tube. However research is going on for its improvement and definitely, the submerged floating tunnel will set up new developments in transportation engineering. Benefits can be obtained like less energy consumption, air pollution and reduced noise emission. Also, this may the best way of transportation to the islands. The SFT will usher in a new era of transportation technology. 


WRITTEN BY: Biswajit Sahoo & Pradeep Kumar Behera

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Venice Tide Barrier System - MOSE Project

Image
Introduction: The city Venice located on the east coast of Italy, is a world-famous tourist spot. It was hit by several floods and massive waves from the Adriatic Sea in the past few decades. Many experts claim that the water level in the sea is rising day by day. In 1966, it became a significant concern as the tides rose to an enormous height of more than 7 feet above the seawater level. This project consists of 78 gigantic steel panels across the three inlets that allow water to surge from the Adriatic Sea into the Venice lagoon. The MOSE System: The Venice city lagoon has three main water inlets at Malamocco, Chioggia, and Lido. To protect the city from flooding, the government planned to temporarily close these three water inlets. In 2003, the approval for MOSE, an Italian acronym for Experimental Electromechanical Module, was passed to construct an artificial barrier that would protect the city from any future floods. Its fundamental idea was to engage a series of oscillating infl
Read more

Lasers: A Revolution in Highway Engineerin

Image
Introduction: - The advancement of new technology has been taking place since the beginning of human history. However, it has been exceptionally fast and changing the engineering world in recent decades at a record pace. One such technology, lasers, is used in highway engineering for various purposes like road profiling, pavement surface redirection, bridge deflection, speed checkers, accident spot analysis etc. These laser techniques have greater accuracy as everything is automated with faster data collection and less human involvement. Applications: - Road Profiling The profile of a path is calculated around some in-existent line or point which is permanent. Besides the rutting and the other issues, the profile of a path which is taken along a lateral line shows over the altitude and crown of the route outline. The longitudinal profile displays the ruggedness, hardness, and grade of the material. It is used for tracking the status of a pavement management system road network (PMS) ne
Read more

Placement Talks with Ayush Prasad Kasar

Image
Mr. AYUSH PRASAD KASAR     Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason so few engage in it.  ~ Henry Ford     Getting an “on-campus” core job may seem like a “next to impossible” task for many, but it may not be the reality for a true aspiring individual. CEST club in association with ICE UK- NIT Rourkela chapter brings you an encouraging conversation with Mr.  Ayush  (from the batch of 2021) who has been a “near to perfect” example of patience, hard work and dedication.  Due to his perseverance and continuous efforts, he   got placed in  GAIL. His journey may become the blue print for all those who are aiming to be placed on-campus in core engineering companies.       Enlighten us about your life before joining NIT Rourkela.     I was born in  Rajnandgaon  in Chhattisgarh. I did my schooling from Nursery to the fifth standard in Bal  Bharti  Public School. Due to my parent’s continuous effort to help me in my studies from the beginning, I  secured good marks in
Read more