Abstract:

The experiment on the pullingconnecting of short elements of immersed tunnels consists of 3 stages, i.e., short element pulling stage, GINA compression stage and short element pushing stage. The magnitude of the friction forces at the bottom of the short elements and the actual compression of GINA are measured in the pullingconnecting experiment. The experiment results indicate that the actual friction forces during the moving of the short elements are much larger than the values calculated on basis of the conventional friction coefficients and that the friction forces at the bottom of the short elements may result in uneven compression of GINA.

Key words: immersed tunnel, short element, pullingconnecting experiment, element pulling, GINA compression, element pushing