Geological risk: Collapse of the Pinheiros Metro Station, São Paulo, Brazil
G. R. Sadowski, MSc,
MSc, DSc,
DSc, PhD, Prof. private consultant & University of São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Brazil
AFTER
BEFORE 1.INTRODUCTION
In January 2007, the city of São Paulo was surprised by a sudden collapse, of a major
underground cavern during construction (20 m x 40 m x ca 10 m), at the Pinheiros Metro
GEOLOGICAL SITUATION Station, (Figure 1) which took the lives of seven people. The collapse happened so fast
that there was not enough time to sound the necessary alarms. This abrupt disaster was
associated with the coincidence of 5 important statistically independent
geological/geomechanical features not previously identified during the two phases of
detailed investigations.
The collapsed cavern was the eastern one of two stations both symmetrically disposed
at the side of a shaft of 40m in diameter, followed by the double trackway tunnels which
had already been successfully excavated. The stations were being excavated by drill
and blast method, in a sequence of three steps, the crown and two benches. The
eastern station was planned to be 47 m long built along a span of 19.5m, a crown 6,5 m
height and benches 4m height each . Its support at the tunnel crown consisted of steel
forepoles, steel arches and 35cm thick shotcrete reinforced with steel fibers, and at the
first bench, by 15cm-thick shotcrete and wire mesh.
Instrumentation included convergence readings at 5 points in 4 cross sections in the
station, settlement gauges and piezometers.
Expansive Meta The failure took place just prior to the final stages of excavation of the first bench.
2.GEOLOGY
ultrabasite
The collapsed site was found to be in the domain of influence of the subvertical
Caucaia transcurrent shear zone - a regionally important structure. The geological
structure of this shear zone is usually mylonitic, with intercalations of banded
3.RISK EVALUATION biotite and granite gneisses with a sinuous dominantly subvertical mylonitic
Weathered expansive ultrabasic> not identified along the 5.1. km x 20 m² foliation bearing a slightly dipping lineation. This foliation was previously
of assumed to be slightly oblique to the Station axis. In relation to the attitude of the
geological profile by ca. 150 investigation drillholes. lineation a system of longitudinal, transverse, subhorizontal and oblique pervasive
joints was clearly defined. The whole rockmass was strongly affected by a very
Projection of ultrabasic ~80 m² (intermittent “boudinated” ). irregular /steep profile of structurally conditioned deep tropical weathering (more
Probability of determination: P = (1-q) where chance of not finding the then 30m), which locally affected the tunnel further below its base.
geological rock body >(q) = (1 - 80/5100 x 20)150 = 89 % or P1 = 11 % of
finding it.
Probabilities of three other mutually independent events which
contributed to the collapse are:
P2 - probability of hitting a 20 cm thick continuous biotite band = 20 %
P3 - probability of having an inverted foliation wedge above the crown =
50 %
P4 - probability of hitting a not previously mapped leaking water pipe in a
large city = 80 %.
RISK MATRIX
4. BASIC RECCOMENDATION
The probability of finding such layers by usual techniques of investigation
is extremely low and its possible conjuction with other simultaneous
intervening events has to be considered through multiplication instead of
summation of risk. This also has to take in consideration the place of
features along the structure such as in geomechanical key areas of the
middle of the tunnel Lateral support of the tunnel
excavation. Consequently, during the use of the Observational Method by
constant update of geological observations collected at the excavation
front the search for geological features has to be emphasized along the
tunnel walls, outside the immediate tunnel face where stress
concentrations may be very critical to the stability.
Acknowledgement: The author thanks Consorcio Via Amarela to allow publiction
of the data.
