Complex Underground Structures Research Articles

Forward Modeling Analysis of Cross-hole Resistivity Tomography (ERT) Using Unstructured Grids

The cross-hole electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) method has advantages in obtaining deep geological information and can accurately image complex underground structures. However, it is usually difficult to fit complex boundaries using structured grids in the modeling process. The accuracy of forward modeling is affected by the meshing of the model. The unstructured grids may describe the irregular complex model more effectively. Therefore, we study cross-hole ERT forward modeling, using unstructured grids to analyze the forward characteristics of complex underground structures. The effectiveness of the unstructured grids in cross-hole ERT has been revealed in this work.

Unmanned aerial vehicle navigation in underground structure inspection: A review

Many years after construction, a number of existing old tunnels and underground structures are deteriorating with time as evidenced by cracks, large deformations, water leakage and so forth, which usually require regular site inspections to record their structural deterioration by taking high‐pixel, high‐overlap images along miles of a tunnel network. For complex underground structures (e.g., long tunnels and large caves), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) may be adaptive in acquiring images at multiple heights and angles with low operational costs. So far, UAV underground structural health monitoring has become mature for open‐air surveying with rapid developments in robotic software and hardware. However, the UAV image acquisition for underground working conditions still faces a number of key challenges. This paper aims to provide an overview of UAV navigation techniques in confined dark spaces for geotechnical engineers, geologists, drone developers and other interdisciplinary researchers & professionals in the structural health monitoring field. It specifies the challenges for UAV application in underground space, mainly including lack of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals, poor lighting conditions, weak features and obstacle avoidance and then followed by strategic solutions. For example, in light of poor GNSS signals, the fusion of multi‐sensors (e.g., laser imaging, detection and ranging (LiDAR) and multi‐cameras) can enhance localization accuracy in low‐luminance underground conditions. To address obstacle avoidance, computer vision (CV)‐based navigation algorithms (e.g., deep reinforced learning [DRL]) enable effective navigation in complex 3D spaces, but their adaptability is limited by arithmetic power and pre‐training needs. The review of relevant previous studies concludes that further development for UAVs in underground space inspection may focus on operation in large‐scale geometric inspection environments, obstacle avoidance, features and semantic recognition.

Study on the Control Parameter of the Complex Underground Space Engineering Based on the Complementary Energy Principle with Mixed Variables

The control parameter of the complex underground space structure with the Track Panel Tunnel and wall columns was studied. An analysis method of the control parameter was established based on the complementary energy principle with mixed variables. The general analytical solution of the structure under the trapezoidal load was obtained. Then, the correctness of the solution was verified by two-dimensional finite element simulation. The three-dimensional global model is built to analyze models with different story heights, the distance of two adjacent wall columns, and the thickness of the earth covering; the consequences prove the assumptions’ rationality and the engineering applicability of the analytical solution. The sensitive region of the control parameter is found through the analytical solution, which is meaningful in determining the reasonable stiffness ratio of column and beam for structural design optimization with cost savings. It can be the reference for complex underground space engineering designs.

Research on seismic analysis methods of large and complex underground pipe structures in hard rock sites

In order to study the seismic design methods of large and complex underground pipe structures (LCUP) in hard rock sites, firstly, the structural characteristics of LCUP and the calculation principles of four typical seismic analysis methods were carefully sorted out. Secondly, based on different seismic analysis methods, the deformation and internal force response of three representative pipes were studied in detail, and the calculation accuracy and error causes of each seismic analysis method were analyzed. Finally, the advantages, disadvantages and applicability of the seismic analysis methods on typical pipes were systematically explained, and the technical route for seismic design of LCUP was proposed. The results showed that both the reaction displacement method and the reaction acceleration method can effectively analyze the seismic performance of standard section structures. The three-dimensional time-history analysis method was comprehensive and highly accurate for seismic analysis of complex spatial cross-node structures. The rigid connections of different pipes leaded to serious discontinuities in stiffness at the intersection, and the deformation and bending moment distributions were highly concentrated at the height away from the intersection. The influence range of the intersection was about three times the width of the intersection, and LCUP was classified according to this influence range. For standard section structures, seismic analysis should be carried out using the reaction acceleration method or reaction displacement method, while for spatial cross-node structures, three-dimensional time-history analysis should be used for seismic analysis. This scientific seismic design method achieved multiple optimal balances of seismic safety, analysis accuracy, efficiency and economy in the seismic analysis of large and complex underground structures. A theoretical basis and useful reference for the scientific design, accurate prediction and seismic safety evaluation of seismic response of LCUP were provided in this paper.

3D joint inversion of airborne ZTEM and ground MT data using the finite element method with unstructured tetrahedral grids

As an airborne electromagnetic method induced by natural sources, the Z-axis tipper electromagnetic (ZTEM) system can primarily recover near-surface shallow structures, due to band-limited frequencies (usually 30–720 Hz) of the airborne survey and high sample rate acquisition along the terrain. In contrast, traditional ground magnetotellurics (MT) allows better recovery of deep structures as the data acquired are typical of large site intervals (usually higher than 1 km) and lower frequencies (usually lower than 400 Hz). High-resolution MT surveys allow for shallow small and deep large anomalies to be adequately interpreted but need large site intervals and broadband frequency range, which are seldom used as they are quite costly and laborious. ZTEM data are tippers that relate local vertical to orthogonal horizontal fields, measured at a reference station on the ground. As the 1D structures produce zero vertical magnetic fields, ZTEM is not sensitive to background resistivity. Thus, in general, ZTEM can only reveal relative resistivities and not real resistivities. A combination of the ZTEM and MT methods can be an effective technique, alleviating the shortcomings of the individual methods. At present, complex underground structures and topography introduce difficulties for data inversion and interpretation, as conventional ZTEM and MT forward modeling are generally used on structured grids with limited accuracy. To effectively recover complex underground structures with topography, we developed a 3D framework for joint MT and ZTEM inversion with unstructured tetrahedral grids. The finite element method is used for the forward problem because of its flexibility with unstructured tetrahedral meshes. The limited-memory quasi-Newton algorithm (L-BFGS) for optimization is used to solve the joint inverse problem, which saves memory and computational time by avoiding the explicit calculation of the Hessian matrix. To validate our joint inversion algorithm, we run numerical experiments on two synthetic models. The first synthetic model uses two conductive anomalous bodies of different sizes and depths. At the same time, a simple quadrangular is used for comparing the inversions with and without topography. In contrast, the second synthetic model represents a realistic topography with two different conductivities and the same depth. Both single-domain and joint inversions of the ZTEM and MT data are carried out for the two synthetic models to demonstrate the complementary advantages of joint inversion, while the second model is also used to test the adaptability of the joint inversion to complex topography. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the finite element method with unstructured tetrahedral grids and the L-BFGS method for joint MT and ZTEM inversion. In addition, the inversion results prove that joint MT and ZTEM inversion can recover deep structures from the MT data and small near-surface structures from the ZTEM data by alleviating the weaknesses of the individual methods.

Seismic Response of a Two-Story Three-Span Subway Structural Model under High-Accelerated Geotechnical Centrifuge Shaking Table Test

The seismic response of underground structures such as subway stations is critical. However, the complex underground structure experiments under a dynamic centrifuge shaking table are significantly limited. This study conducts a shaking table test of a two-story three-span underground structure under 50 g gravitational centrifuge acceleration to investigate soil–structure interaction effects (SSI). The test is performed on a sand soil-structural model using a laminar shear box with depths of 2.5 m, and the input motion is a Parkfield wave. The experimental results indicate that the central column of the two-story three-span underground structure is the weak component during the earthquake. In addition, the numerical simulations of the soil–structure system are carried out to study the effect of buried depth and foundation soil type on the seismic response of the underground structures. The experimental and numerical results proved that the performed centrifuge test can reproduce the key seismic response characteristics of the SSI in the prototype underground structure and provided guidelines to design a similar underground structure in the future development of the urban subway systems.

Geotechnical modelling and subsurface analysis of complex underground structures using PLAXIS 3D

In this study, analysis of complicated underground structure of Horemheb tomb (KV57) at Luxor, Egypt by using the software PLAXIS 3D is adopted and the deformation that occurs in the body of the underground structure after applied the failure load detected; the failure loads are obtained from the series of laboratory tests. Then, the structure is modelled by using finite element code to perform accurate three-dimensional analysis of deformation and stability in complex geotechnical engineering and rock mechanics. These underground monumental structures have been analyzed by finite element method FEM to obtain the deformation that accrued into the structure and so beneath of the surface and calculated the effective stress, shear stress and horizontal displacements. In order to modeling requires the soil parameters obtained from laboratorial tests. In the analysis elastic–plastic Mohr–Coulomb model is used as material model. It involves five parameters namely, Young’s Modulus (E) and poison’s ratio (ν) for soil elasticity, friction angle (φ) and cohesion (c) for soil plasticity. To set up the boundary condition, the standard fixities option is used. As a result a full fixity at the base and free condition at the horizontal side of geometry are generated. Numerical Engineering analysis for Horemheb tomb (KV57) in the valley of kings at the west bank of Luxor was carried out through the following four main steps: (1) Evaluation of surrounding rocks (marl limestone and marl shale) by experimental research and Roclab program to obtain the Hoek Brown and Mohr- Coulomb fit classification criterion and rock mass standards in particular the global strength and deformation coefficient. Also to specify the main characteristics of the Esna Shale using different methods such as swelling test, swelling potential, swelling pressure, in addition, discussion of the role of the expansive Esna Shale in the deterioration of archaeological buildings and sites. (2) Quantitative and qualitative estimates of the relevant factors affecting the stability of the tomb, especially overloading, fixed, geographic, and dynamic. (3) Integrated 3D geotechnical modeling of the cemetery environment for stress and displacement analysis and identification of volumetric strains and plastic points using advanced symbols and programs such as PLAXIS 3D. (4) The rapeutic and retrofit policies and techniques and the fixed monitoring and control systems needed to strengthen and stabilize the cemetery, where the rock mass classification refers to the rock mass where KV57 is excavated and it is poor rocks. The mechanical behavior of the rocks is simulated by assuming a foundational model to soften the elastic stress of the flexible plastic that captures fragile failure and the mechanisms of progressive substrate failure. In addition, rock pillar treatments and ground support strategies are discussed. This article represents the second phase of the numerical analysis of KV57 using PLAXIS 3D.

An unsupervised learning approach to deblend seismic data from denser shot coverage surveys

SUMMARY The simultaneous source data obtained by simultaneous source acquisition contain crosstalk noise and cannot be directly used in conventional data processing procedures. Therefore, it is necessary to deblend the blended wavefield to obtain the conventionally acquired single-shot recordings. In this study, we propose an iterative inversion method based on the unsupervised deep neural network (UDNN) to deblend the simultaneous source data from a denser shot coverage survey (DSCS). In the common receiver gather (CRG), the coherent effective signals in the blended data of the primary and secondary sources are similar. We exploit the excellent nonlinear optimization capability of the U-net network to extract similar coherent signals from the blended data of the primary and secondary sources by minimizing the total loss function. The proposed UDNN method does not need to use the raw unblended data as label data, which solves the problem of missing label data and is suitable for deblending the simultaneous source data in different work areas with complex underground structures. One synthetic data and one field data examples are used to prove that the proposed method can suppress crosstalk noise and protect weak effective signals effectively, and achieve good effectiveness for the separation of simultaneous source data.

О МОДЕЛИРОВАНИИ ГЕОМЕХАНИЧЕСКОГО ПОВЕДЕНИЯ ПОДКРЕПЛЕННЫХ МАССИВОВ ГОРНЫХ ПОРОД В ОКРЕСТНОСТИ ПОДЗЕМНЫХ СООРУЖЕНИЙ

The paper presents a method of modelling the mechanical behavior of supported rock mass, in the vicinity of complex underground structures. The method is based on calculations of the effective mechanical properties of the bolted rock mass. The algorithm is based on the effective properties of a bolted rock unit that are obtained by conducting a series of numerical experiments. These experiments allow to define the values of correction factors, which, in turn, determine the difference in mechanical behavior of supported and non-supported rock mass. Such approach makes it possible to calculate the stress-strain state of complex space underground structures precisely without direct considering of the roof bolting elements. The application of the proposed method is demonstrated on the example of an applied problem of the strength assessment of geotechnical system “underground equipment chamber — enclosing potash rock mass”. The results of the research have a wide range of applications since they can significantly simplify and speed up the process of strength and stability calculations of bolted underground structures and make the results more accurate.

Modeling GPR Wave Propagation in Complex Underground Structures Using Conformal ADI-FDTD Algorithm

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is a shallow geophysical method for detecting and locating subsurface targets. The GPR image echo characteristics of complex underground structures can be obtained by carrying out GPR forward modeling research. The traditional finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method has low efficiency and accuracy. The alternating direction implicit FDTD (ADI-FDTD) algorithm surmounts the stability limitations of the traditional FDTD method, making it possible to select a larger time step for higher computational efficiency. For circular underground structures, a pseudowave produced by the ladder approximation method can be corrected using the surface conformal technique. This paper proposes a high-efficiency and high-accuracy GPR forward modeling method that combines the ADI-FDTD algorithm and surface conformal technology. The performance of the conformal ADI-FDTD algorithm is verified by a simple two-layer model. Based on the proposed algorithm, the GPR image features of three complex underground structure models are obtained. Finally, a field experiment is used to support the accuracy and usefulness of the conformal ADI-FDTD algorithm. The numerical simulation results and experimental results show that the conformal ADI-FDTD algorithm reduces the pseudodiffraction wave caused by the ladder approximation method and can significantly improve the computing efficiency for complex underground structure models.

NIKE BLUETRACK: Blue Force Tracking in GNSS-Denied Environments Based on the Fusion of UWB, IMUs and 3D Models.

Blue force tracking represents an essential task in the field of military applications. A blue force tracking system provides the location information of their own forces on a map to commanders. For the command post, this results in more efficient operation control with increasing safety. In underground structures (e.g., tunnels or subways), the localisation is challenging due to the lack of GNSS signals. This paper presents a localisation system for military or emergency forces tailored to usage in complex underground structures. In a particle filter, position changes from a dual foot-mounted INS are fused with opportunistic UWB ranges and data from a 3D tunnel model to derive position information. A concept to deal with the absence of UWB infrastructure or 3D tunnel models is illustrated. Recurrent neural network methodologies are applied to cope with different motion types of the operators. The evaluation of the positioning algorithm took place in a street tunnel. If a fully installed infrastructure was available, positioning errors under one metre were reached. The results also showed that the INS can bridge UWB outages. A particle-filter-based approach to UWB anchor mapping is presented, and the first simulation results showed its viability.

Impact of Ambiguity of Physical Properties of Three-Dimensional Crustal Structure Model on Coseismic Slip and Interseismic Slip Deficit in the Nankai Trough Region

Since huge earthquakes are expected along plate subduction zones such as the Japan Trench and Nankai Trough, the estimation of coseismic slip and interseismic slip deficit is essential for immediate response and preliminary measures to reduce damage. Recently, analysis considering the complex topography and underground structure of the plate subduction zone has been performed for improving the estimation performance. However, the three-dimensional (3D) crustal structural model needs to be improved continuously. In this paper, we obtained Green’s functions for 3D crustal structural models with ambiguity by 3D crustal deformation analysis, and the coseismic slip and interseismic slip deficit were estimated. Here we enabled the calculation of many Green’s functions with different physical properties of the 3D crustal structure by utilizing a GPU-based 3D crustal deformation analysis method that significantly reduces the analysis cost. The physical properties on the upper plate’s side, which are located above the plate boundary fault, were changed. We found no significant difference in the estimation performance, except for the upper crust, which most of the fault slip area is in contact with, in the case of coseismic slip estimation. In contrast, the coseismic slip estimation when the properties of the upper crust was changed had a significant error, and a negative slip was estimated at the deep part of the plate boundary where no slip was originally given.

The 2009 Ms 6.0 earthquake in Yao'an, Yunnan Province: Source constraints using relocated aftershocks and InSAR

An Ms 6.0 earthquake occurred in Yao'an County, Yunnan Province, on 9 June 2009. According to the results of relocated aftershocks, we find that the distribution of aftershocks has differences in the strike direction and depth in local areas. Therefore, the fault is divided into two segments. Combined with the surface deformation information obtained from InSAR Data as the constraint condition of the slip model, we inverse the three-dimensional coseismic slip distribution of the seismogenic fault of the Yao'an earthquake and discussed the influence of the Yao'an earthquake on the surrounding faults and the rupture direction of the event. The main research results are as follows: 1) we quickly obtain reasonable fault parameters, model, and slip distributions through relocated aftershocks and InSAR data, and the results obtained after inversion are consistent with the results of the geological structure and scholars' research. At the same time, the abnormal deep slip is found, which proves that there is a complex structure underground in the Yao'an area. 2) The results of static Coulomb stress change show that the aftershocks are basically distributed in the area where the static Coulomb stress increases. Faults with a relatively significant increase of Coulomb stress include the northwest section of Honghai Fault, the middle of Chenghai Fault, the middle of Hongge Fault, the middle of Nanhua-Chuxiong Fault, and the north of Yuanmou Fault. The future seismic risk of these faults should be considered. 3) The main direction of the Yao'an earthquake rupture is controlled by regional stress, and the abnormal rupture direction is affected by the complex underground structure.

3-D Inversion of Z-Axis Tipper Electromagnetic Data Using Finite-Element Method With Unstructured Tetrahedral Grids

<inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$Z$ </tex-math></inline-formula> -axis tipper electromagnetic (ZTEM) technique is an airborne electromagnetic method that detects anomalies in the deep earth that are induced by natural sources. Conventional ZTEM forward modeling is generally conducted using structured grids that have limited accuracy and cannot be used to invert complex underground structures and topography. However, unstructured grids can accurately model complex underground structures with fewer cells. Therefore, to effectively model and recover the complex underground structures, we developed a 3-D framework with unstructured tetrahedral grids for ZTEM forward modeling and inversions. The forward problem was formulated using the finite-element method with unstructured tetrahedral grids. To solve the inverse problem, we used a limited-memory quasi-Newton algorithm (L-BFGS) with a parallel direct solver for optimization in order to avoid the explicit calculation of the Hessian matrix and save the memory and computational time. To validate our forward and inversion algorithms, we conducted numerical experiments on three synthetic models and inverted a survey dataset acquired for a tunnel project in Tibet, China. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our unstructured finite-element and L-BFGS method for modeling and inverting ZTEM data.

3D Unstructured Spectral Element Method for Frequency-Domain Airborne EM Forward Modeling Based on Coulomb Gauge

In this article, to solve the frequency-domain airborne electromagnetic (EM) modeling problem, we express the electric and magnetic field by the vector magnetic potential and the scalar electric potential and derive the governing equation using the Galerkin weighted residual method under the Coulomb gauge. To avoid the strong singularity of the solution near the transmitting source, we directly solve the relatively slow-changing secondary potential. By introducing the spectral element method (SEM) based on unstructured tetrahedral grids, in which the EM field in each element is characterized by high-order Proriol–Koornwinder–Dubiner (PKD) orthogonal polynomials, we can obtain stable and accurate numerical solutions. By establishing the mapping relationship between the physical domain, the right-angled tetrahedral reference domain, and the orthogonal hexahedral domain, we can easily accomplish the element matrix analysis and calculation. The numerical examples show that, when the SEM is used to simulate the airborne EM response, a high accuracy can be obtained even if a very coarse grid is used. Furthermore, since the tetrahedral grids can easily model the complex boundaries, the SEM based on unstructured grids has significant advantages for simulating complex underground structures.

Highly specialized geophysical methods for undergroud construction works – Semmering Base Tunnel, a practice report

AbstractThe use of geophysical methods for the planning of complex underground structures such as deep tunnels has made significant progress in the last two decades. The realization of large underground construction projects in complex geological environments has led to an increase of geophysical exploration during excavation activities, drilling, and geological documentation. The aim is to continuously update and improve the geological model in order to identify and mitigate potential risks. Flexible planning of geophysical measurements and their fast and efficient implementation are required to minimize the impact on ongoing construction works.During construction of the Semmering Base Tunnel geophysical measurements were and are used to supplement exploratory drillings and tunnel documentation. This paper presents results from the construction lots SBT1.1 (Gloggnitz) and SBT3.1 (Grautschenhof) with an emphasis on carbonate prediction, and from the Göstritz cavern where sudden water ingress required an update of the geologic model. For each assignment a tailored‐made geophysical methodology was designed and applied.

Case study: Improving the quality of the seismic reflection image for a Fujian mineral exploration data set with offset-domain common-image gathers

Seismic reflection is a proven and effective method commonly used during exploration of deep mineral deposits in Fujian, China. In seismic data processing, rugged depth migration based on wave-equation migration can play a key role in handling surface fluctuations and complex underground structures. Because wave-equation migration in the shot domain cannot output offset-domain common-image gathers in a straightforward way, the use of traditional tools for updating the velocity model and improving image quality can be quite challenging. To overcome this problem, we have used the attribute migration method. This works by sorting the migrated stack results for every single-shot gather into the offset gathers. The value of the offset that corresponds to each image point is obtained from the ratio of the original migration results to the offset-modulated shot-data migration results. A Gaussian function is proposed to map every image point to a certain range of offsets. This helps improve the signal-to-noise ratio, which is especially important in handling low-quality seismic data obtained during mineral exploration. Residual velocity analysis is applied to these gathers to update the velocity model and improve the image quality. The offset-domain common-image gathers are also used directly for real mineral exploration seismic data with rugged depth migration. After several iterations of migration and updating the velocity, our procedure achieves an image quality better than the one obtained with the initial velocity model. The results can help with the interpretation of thrust faults and deep deposit exploration.

3D inversion of large-scale frequency-domain airborne electromagnetic data using unstructured local mesh

Airborne electromagnetic (AEM) methods have been more and more widely used in mineral exploration, environmental and engineering studies, and ground water investigation. However, compared with ground-based electromagnetic (EM) methods, such as magnetotelluric or controlled-source EM, AEM methods generally produce large amounts of data, which leads to very costly 3D EM inversions. We have developed a new 3D AEM inversion scheme based on the finite-element method and unstructured tetrahedral local meshes. This is different from the traditional local mesh method in that the traditional method uses regular cuboids for 3D AEM inversions, whereas our scheme uses irregular tetrahedral meshes that can easily accommodate the topography and complex underground structure. Moreover, because we create our local mesh by extracting from part of the global model mesh, the relationship between the local and global meshes is straightforward, so we can easily create a projection of the Jacobian matrix between global and local meshes and rapidly construct the global Jacobian matrix for 3D EM inversions. After formulating the boundary value problem based on the finite-element method, we verify the accuracy of our modeling algorithm by checking against the semianalytical solution for a homogeneous half-space model, and we test our inversion algorithm by running inversions on synthetic and survey data collected over Vesterålen, Norway. The numerical experiments demonstrate that our method can model the AEM responses at high accuracy and recover the subsurface main resistivity structures from synthetic and field data.

Three-dimensional seismic performance analysis of large and complex underground pipe trench structure

The existed 1D (dimensional) and 2D seismic analysis methods couldn't met the seismic research requirements of large and complex underground pipe trench structure (LCUP). In order to solve the problem that the seismic performance analysis of LCUP requires high 3D modeling ability and calculation equipment, an integrated seismic analysis method of "overall structure + key nodes" was proposed in this paper. Firstly, according to the research purpose, the seismic analysis strategy of LCUP was proposed, and the main factors influencing the seismic time history analysis of LCUP were analyzed one by one, and a series of accurate analysis parameters and simplified assumptions were obtained. Secondly, the 3D seismic analysis model of LCUP was established, including the overall pipe trench model and the local key nodes model, and the material parameters, boundary conditions, ground motion and calculation conditions of the model were determined. Finally, 3D seismic time history analysis was carried out for the whole structure and key joints, and the seismic performance evaluation based on mechanics and deformation was carried out. The seismic performance of the LCUP met the design requirements. The results showed that the method didn't only meet the requirements of seismic analysis accuracy and depth for complex underground space structure, but also significantly reduced the time of seismic analysis and improves the research efficiency. This research method will provide a useful reference for the seismic research of similar large complex underground structures.

Logistic challenges at contract SBT 1.1 – Intermediate construction access Göstritz

AbstractBase tunnels usually require temporary intermediate construction accesses in order to be able to carry out the tunnelling work in a timely, economical and logistical reasonable scope. Intermediate construction accesses in the form of shafts lead to particular logistical challenges in supplying the tunnel headings. At contract SBT 1.1‐Tunnel Gloggnitz as the eastern section of the Semmering Base Tunnel, the shafts of the intermediate construction access Göstritz cannot be sunk from the surface for topographical reasons but are instead developed by an access tunnel. This fact requires the construction of complex underground structures and logistical interfaces to supply the four tunnel headings, beginning from the building site facilities, via the access tunnel, through the shafts to the tunnel face. In addition to the ongoing supply of all kinds of support measures, the excavated material is mucked by means of fully automatic belt and shaft conveyor systems. To ensure the permanent safety of the crew on‐site, the highest demands and resilience are placed on the transport systems through the two 250 m deep shafts, the ventilation and the mountain water drainage systems of up to 500 l/s. The article describes the experience and ongoing optimization of the logistics concept as well as innovative new developments that are applied in this special tunnel project.