Using simulation to plan tunnel construction

Tunneling's linearity causes planning complications: at any point, the actions that can be taken are determined by previous accomplishments. These constraints mean that tunneling projects require careful preparation for success. Current planning tools do not address the breadth and scope of the variables affecting tunneling and are not easily updatable. This paper contributes a real-world case study of the practical use of scenario-based simulation analysis for project planning and decision support in a CA$22 million utility tunneling project in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. An integrated simulation-based solution for tunnel planning and decision support was created by using modular development and a high level architecture (HLA)-inspired communications framework. This is a demonstration of a generic yet flexible project modeling approach that may be of interest to both practitioners and researchers; it incorporates the modeling powers of simulation, appeals to a practicing tunneling engineer, and facilitates rapid scenario-based planning with swift development. The simulation was built in Simphony.NET and used to explore planning alternatives and for decision support during the project execution.