ITAtech Design Guidance for Precast Fibre Rein forced Concrete Segments

The ITAtech Subactivity group on fibre reinforcement for precast concrete segments intends to publish its guideline at the end of 2015. This paper is intended to present the salient features of the guideline for what is an increasingly popular but at times poorly understood technology. Fibre reinforcement offers many advantages over traditional bar reinforcement of tunnel lining segments. Not only can it save cost and materials (for example, with typical dosages of steel fibres being less than half or even one third of the weight of steel bars) but this also leads to a reduction in the carbon footprint of the lining. However, the lack of a generally accepted design method had hindered the spread of this technology from countries such as the UK which fibre reinforcement has largely supplanted bars in segments. This guideline addresses design, specification, testing and sustainability. A range of case studies is presented to illustrate how FRC (fibre reinforced concrete) can be used in different ground conditions for different types and sizes of tunnels.