Innovative contract and compensation model in mechanised tunnelling – Calculation of the deviating construction time based on digital excavation and process data

Abstract

The handling of a tunnel construction project poses great challenges for all those involved. Variables that cannot be clearly quantified can arise during the entire process of the project. The subsoil in tunnelling is one of these parameters which is difficult to forecast. The geological and hydrogeological conditions must be assessed during the planning phase with the help of exploratory measures and from the experience from projects that have already been built.During the execution work, deviations from the documents on which the target determination is based occur in almost all underground construction projects. These changes can either cause a change in the construction process and/or lead to a different construction time in relation to the calculated duration.Based on this initial situation, the development of an innovative contract and remuneration model for machine tunnelling appears to be important. The main focus of the model is to generate a transparent and comprehensible method of how the remuneration‐worthy portion can be calculated in the case of a different construction time in mechanised tunnelling. In order to ensure this transparency and traceability of the system to be developed, the data records that can be digitally recorded during the tunnelling work are used as a fundamental basis for the created model.