MADRID TRADITIONAL METHOD | BTSYM
BELGIAN METHOD - IN MADRID METRO
Robert Sizer and Cláudio Dias of Ayesa delivered the September 2022 evening lecture on the Belgian Tunneling Method and its use in the Madrid Metro’ to the Young Members section of the British Tunnelling Society (BTSYM). Their meeting report covers the content of their presentation along with some additional information and details of how the approach has developed into the Madrid Traditional Method (MTM)
Ayesa is a global provider of technology and engineering services with more than 55 years of experience and headquarters in Seville, Spain. The company has participated in the design and engineering of more than 480km (300 miles) of tunnel construction projects, with a focus on metro projects. Some of Ayesa’s recent tunnel projects include: Lines
2 and 4 of Lima metro, in Peru; and, in Spain, Line 5 of the Madrid metro, Line 8 of Barcelona metro, and Lines 1 and 2 of Malaga metro. This article looks at an aspect of some design and
construction work using the ‘The Belgian Method’, adapted for local conditions and practices, on parts of Madrid metro. The adaption gave rise to ‘The Madrid Traditional Method’, that under certain conditions could be applied elsewhere, including in London Clay.
MADRID METRO The Madrid metro began operating in October 1919. To date it consists of 12 lines, 294km (183 miles) of tracks, 302 stations. In its centennial year, in 2019 it transported a total of 680 million journeys (pre-Covid figures). In its beginning, Madrid metro started with the
construction of Line 1, which was 3.5km (2.2 miles) long and had eight stations, connecting Cuatro Caminos, in the North, with Sol, in the city centre.
Construction of the original Line 1 included a distance of 1.5km by the Belgian Method, and also 2km of cut & cover. Chamberí, one of the original stations of the Madrid
metro network, was decommissioned in 1966 due to network upgrades (larger trains and stations were needed) and then reopened as a museum in 2008. The station was restored, and it is now possible to visit its original architectural features, such as the handmade tiles advertisements (see Figure 1), which would advertise local businesses in the area surrounding the station. The first description of the Belgian Method is found in
the construction of Line 1 in 1917. The Belgian Method consists of using a curved top
heading, which is constructed using temporary works (shoring) to support the excavation of the top heading, as shown in Figure 2. In recent tunneling upgrade works to the original Line
1, it was observed that originally bricks were used for the top heading line, stone masonry for the walls, and unreinforced concrete for the invert slab. This early use of the Belgian Method was affected by the World War I, which caused a shortage of materials, so that concrete was only used for the invert slab. Later applications of the Belgian Method in the metro
included use of unreinforced concrete for the entire cross-section profile.
Above, figure 1: Platform of Chamberí museum station on Madrid metro PHOTO CREDIT: METRO DE MADRID Summer 2023 | 41
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