Soulanges Canal Tunnel, Autoroute 30, Montreal, Canada
Andrew Cushing, P.Eng., M.Eng.
Associate Geotechnical and Tunnelling Engineer at Arup
The historic Soulanges Canal sits several metres above ground level, contained within two parallel earth embankments. As part of the Autoroute 30 project, an 80 meter long four lane tunnel was constructed beneath the canal using a concrete cut and cover box structure founded on Champlain Clay, which is normally consolidated and compressible. A floating foundation solution was developed by balancing the weight of the structure with the excavation of a significant thickness of clay. The requirement to reconstruct the canal embankments without inducing excessive differential settlement was achieved by incorporating expanded polystyrene lightweight fill within the embankments immediately adjacent to the sides of the tunnel. To ensure water tightness of the canal embankments, a combination of mineral liner, geocomposite, and HDPE liner was used to cover the newly constructed embankments.
Contractor: Nouvelle Autoroute 30 (Acciona-Dragados J.V.)
Associate Geotechnical and Tunnelling Engineer at Arup
5 年ACCIONA?-?Dragados Canada, Inc.?Joint Venture
Chargé de projet Ville de Montréal
5 年It was a great project! Good to see those great pictures too.
Technical Sales Manager | Directeur technico-commercial - - - chez / at BMQ - Div. Lafarge
5 年Great article Andrew Cushing, P.Eng.! Fascinating and clear!
Director | Civil Engineer | Major Projects | Roads Civils and Aviation | Arup
5 年It was a challenging design to complete!
President, Cofounder GKM Consultants
5 年Very good Andy. It happens that this was one of the first geotechnical projects GKM Consultants entertained. As you run by, you can still see some GEOKON loggers connected to vibrating wire piezometers on each side the embankments.