Determination of Optimal Transportation System in Excavation of Metro Tunnels

The aim of this study is to select the optimal transport system in urban metro mechanized excavation projects. For this purpose, three options have been examined: complete railway systems, hybrid conveyor - railway systems, and hybrid conveyor-rubber wheel vehicles (or Multi-Service vehicle MSV) systems. Different criteria investigated for comparing the options include: economic, safety & environmental, technical and operational management criteria. For each of these main-criteria, one or more sub-criteria are considered. In order to evaluate the economic sub-criteria, the costs and the benefits of each option are analyzed. The interviews with professional experts are used to prioritize criteria and sub-criteria. Expert opinions are analyzed using a multi-criteria technique called "procedure similar to the ideal option» based on fuzzy logic. Analytical results show that the hybrid conveyor-rubber wheel vehicles (MSV) system has highest rating compared to the other systems. Using the results of this study, we will be able to minimize the various transportation financial and non-financial costs for metro tunnel excavation.