March 2022

Volume 74    Issue 3

Utilizing the TBM, Big Tex for the Dallas Mill Creek drainage relief tunnel

Mining Engineering , 2022, Vol. 74, No. 3, pp. 100-100
Smith, Paul; Brooks, Milton; Tran, Quan; Silva, Eudomar

The Dallas Mill Creek Drainage Relief Tunnel is an 8.4 km (5 mile) tunnel that will provide 100-year flood protection for impacted neighborhoods in the east Dallas area. “Big Tex” is a main beam gripper tunnel boring machine (TBM) capable of changing diameters in mid-tunnel to excavate 2.83 km (9,290 ft) of 11.45 m (37.58 ft) diameter tunnel and 5.21 km (17,095 LF) of 9.93 m (32.58 ft) diameter tunnel. Construction began in April 2018 and is anticipated to be completed in 2024. This article will discuss the challenges and lessons learned during assembly, reassembly, start-up and mining with Big Tex.
 

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