Analysis of emergency modes in deep subway station tunnel driving during estimation of displacements in undermined rock mass

The article discusses issues concerned with the estimation of harmful impact exerted by construction of the Teatralnaya Station of the Saint-Petersburg Subway on the building of the Mariinsky Theater’s Historic Stage under conditions of potential large deformations during driving of a tension station on the east side of the Teatralnaya Station tunnel. That problem was analyzed in the context of safety of the theater building under impact of mining operations at the final phase of underground construction, when the building was already considerably damaged and the tunneling was temporarily stopped at the largest stations of the subway for the analysis of deformations and for the ultimate decision-making on tunneling with a view to elimination of fatal consequences for the theater building. The main reason for the analysis of the emergency modes was given by the data of special field observations over rock mass, which showed very large displacements in rock mass above the arch of the middle station tunnel. The research included: the analysis of the construction technology for the large-section rooms on the east side of the test station with a view to revealing possible risks of large deformations; the multivariate numerical modeling of the stress–strain behavior of rock mass during tunneling; and the study of field data from observations of displacements in boreholes and on ground surface. Based on the research results, it is concluded on the very low probability of large deformations in rock mass and on ground surface in the current geological conditions of tunneling at the Teatralnaya Station, and the recommendations are offered for upgrading project exploration operations for the predictive estimation of movements in rock mass and for the deformation monitoring.

Volokhov E. M., Kireeva V. I., Britvin I. A., Voloshina E. A. Analysis of emergency modes in deep subway station tunnel driving during estimation of displacements in undermined rock mass. MIAB. Mining Inf. Anal. Bull. 2025;(5):28-49. [In Russ]. DOI: 10. 25018/0236_1493_2025_5_0_28.

E.M. Volokhov¹, Cand. Sci. (Eng.), Associate Professor, e-mail: volohov@spmi.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0003-4430-4172,
V.I. Kireeva, Cand. Sci. (Eng.), Independent Researcher, e-mail: chacter@mail.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-9758-5871,
I.A. Britvin¹, Graduate Student, e-mail: britvini25@yandex.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-1561-0835,
E.A. Voloshina¹, Cand. Sci. (Eng.), Associate Professor, e-mail: pravdina_ea@pers.spmi.ru, ORCID ID: 0009-0002-4510-7138,
¹ Empress Catherine II Saint-Petersburg Mining University, 199106, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

I.A. Britvin, e-mail: britvini25@yandex.ru.

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