Review Reports - Modification of Peck Formula to Predict Surface Settlement of Tunnel Construction in Water-Rich Sandy Cobble Strata and Its Program Implementation

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

In this manuscript, the authors used the linear regression to predict the land subsidence induced by shield tunneling in the water-rich sandy gravel stratum. Linear regression and measured data were employed in this study to investigate the land subsidence induced by shield tunneling when crossing the water-rich sandy gravel stratum from Longmen station to Longmen Avenue station of Luoyang Metro Line 2. Overall, the manuscript is not well written. I am afraid that I cannot recommend this manuscript with the present form.

I have the following concerns about this manuscript. The authors may consider them in the revision.

(1) The proposed linear regression models seems working well with the selected site. However, the application of the propose regression method is very limited. One specific site id not insufficient to demonstrte the capacity of the proposed meothod. I woudl suggest the authors slect addition two or three different sites to further test the proposed technique.

(2) The predicted peak value is too far from the measurment, according to Figure 3.

(3) New scientific contirbution of this manuscript is not obvious. The authors may need to further address.

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 1 Comments

Point 1: The proposed linear regression models seems working well with the selected site. However, the application of the propose regression method is very limited. One specific site id not insufficient to demonstrte the capacity of the proposed meothod. I woudl suggest the authors slect addition two or three different sites to further test the proposed technique.

Response 1:

Thank you for your suggestion. It has been modified as required in the manuscript. The authors have revised section 2.4 of the paper. The paper covers a total of 3 metro construction intervals and 138 sets of data from Mudan Dadao Station ,Guanlin Dadao Station to Luoyang Longmen Station of Metro Line 2.

The part is marked in red.

Point 2: The predicted peak value is too far from the measurment, according to Figure 3.

Response 2:

Thank you for your suggestion.It is mentioned in the paper that the predicted values of the original Peck formula are large in relation to the measured values, so corrections are needed for the surface predictions in the particular geological conditions of the water-rich sandy cobble strata. Also the fitted values for Section 3 in Figure 3 are incorrectly plotted and do not match the calculations in Figure 2, which have been corrected by the authors.

The part is marked in red.

Point 3: New scientific contirbution of this manuscript is not obvious. The authors may need to further address.

Response 3:

Thank you for your suggestion.A large number of monitoring data of ground settlement induced by tunnel construction is tedious to calculate. In this paper，a program is developed based on Python，which is convenient to realize the back-analysis calculation of Peck formula parameters quickly．A cloud database was also established to provide further parameter reference and data sharing services for future surface subsidence predictions.This is one of New scientific contirbution of this papaer.

The authors have revised the Introduction and Conclusions sections of the manuscript as required. The authors have updated the Introduction section with the latest research advances and evaluated the existing research. The need for and innovation of the research content of this paper has been highlighted and described.

The part is marked in red.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

This paper focuses on the prediction of surface settlement caused during tunnel shield construction in water-rich gravel strata, which is of practical value because there are few comprehensive studies on surface settlement in water-rich gravel strata. In this paper, the PECK formula is modified and the maximum ground settlement correction factor α and the settlement trough width correction factor β are introduced to predict the surface settlement under this particular formation, and the findings show that the method is more consistent with the actual value of surface settlement than the traditional PECK formula. From this perspective, this paper contributes a more realistic engineering method for predicting the surface settlement caused by the tunnel shield process in this particular stratigraphic environment, and the proposed scheme is better than the current state of the art. However, there are still some issues that must be addressed before it can be considered for publication.

(1) The description of the "Introduction" section needs to be improved, some of the contents are redundant and some are lacking, and some relevant research background may need to be added. A systematic description of the theoretical progress of the PECK formula, the application of the PECK formula in predicting shield-induced surface settlement, and the progress and background of the research on shield-induced surface settlement in special water-rich strata could be added.

(2) The second part of the manuscript, "Linear Regression Analysis based on Peck Formula", is lacking in the detailed introduction of the theory of PECK formula. It is suggested to add a comprehensive introduction to the development and research of this theory, and to add the theoretical progress of this theory in the special water-rich strata, which is more suitable for the content of this manuscript.

(3) In the third part of the article, "Materials and Methods", the theory of the modification of the PECK formula needs to be described in detail, which will enable the fourth part of the article to provide theoretical support for the process of the modification of the PECK formula.

(4) The fourth part of the article, "Program Implementation and Parameter Optimization of Peck Formula Modification", describes more about the operation of the program and does not explain enough about the PECK formula modification and improvement work performed.

(5) The conclusion at the end of the article needs to be more refined, with a more convincing conclusion of the study based on the main research in the manuscript.

(6) There is a formatting error in the article, in the heading of line 117 in the manuscript, which needs to be corrected in a timely manner.

(7) In conclusion, the manuscript is innovative and interesting and can be published after revision.

Author Response

Point 1: The description of the "Introduction" section needs to be improved, some of the contents are redundant and some are lacking, and some relevant research background may need to be added. A systematic description of the theoretical progress of the PECK formula, the application of the PECK formula in predicting shield-induced surface settlement, and the progress and background of the research on shield-induced surface settlement in special water-rich strata could be added.

Response 1:

Thank you for your suggestion. The authors have revised the Introduction and Conclusions sections of the manuscript as required. The authors have updated the Introduction section with the latest research advances and evaluated the existing research. The need for and innovation of the research content of this paper has been highlighted and described.International reference is added to REFERENCES in the article.

The part is marked in red.

Point 2: The second part of the manuscript, "Linear Regression Analysis based on Peck Formula", is lacking in the detailed introduction of the theory of PECK formula. It is suggested to add a comprehensive introduction to the development and research of this theory, and to add the theoretical progress of this theory in the special water-rich strata, which is more suitable for the content of this manuscript.

Response 2:

Thank you for your suggestion.The authors have added the theoretical development of the PECK formula and the theoretical study of water-rich strata to the second and third paragraphs of the Introduction.

The part is marked in red.

Point 3: In the third part of the article, "Materials and Methods", the theory of the modification of the PECK formula needs to be described in detail, which will enable the fourth part of the article to provide theoretical support for the process of the modification of the PECK formula.

Response 3:

Thank you for your suggestion.The second and third parts of the paper have been combined and revised to better describe the development of the theory of the PECK formula and the corrections made in this paper. In addition the authors have revised the Introduction section of the manuscript to provide a detailed description of the research and development of the theory of the PECK formula.

The part is marked in red.

Point 4: The fourth part of the article, "Program Implementation and Parameter Optimization of Peck Formula Modification", describes more about the operation of the program and does not explain enough about the PECK formula modification and improvement work performed.

Response 4:

Thank you for your suggestion.The authors have modified Figure 4. and have added Figure 6 to further illustrate it.

The part is marked in red.

Point 5: The conclusion at the end of the article needs to be more refined, with a more convincing conclusion of the study based on the main research in the manuscript.

Response 5:

Thank you for your suggestion.

The authors have revised the Conclusion section of the paper. The need for and innovation of the research content of this paper has been highlighted and described.

The part is marked in red.

Point 6: There is a formatting error in the article, in the heading of line 117 in the manuscript, which needs to be corrected in a timely manner.

Response 6:

Thank you for your suggestion.It has been modified as required in the manuscript.

The part is marked in red.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Dear editor,

I have reviewed the manuscript entitled “Prediction and Program Implementation of Land Subsidence Induced by Shield Tunneling in Water-rich Sandy Gravel Stratum Based on Linear Regression and Measured Data”, in which a maximum land subsidence correction coefficient α and the settlement trough width correction coefficient β were introduced to modify the Peck formula. Although the idea is of interesting, the structure and scientific discussions of the current version of the manuscript are to be improved for publication. Anyway, there are some comments which may be helpful for authors:

1) It is better to change the manuscript’s title by a clearer subject.

2) There are some spelling and grammatical errors, which dictate an in-depth review.

3) The literature survey needs to be improved by other up-to-date researches.

4) Some figures need a suitable reference.

5) The theory and methodology sections are not comprehensive, and need more discussions based on the reliable references.

6) It is suggested to improve the flow chart in Fig. 4 or present a pseudo code for better understanding the modeling process.

7) How could you optimize your simulations?

8) Did the authors evaluate the validity of their obtained results?

Kind regards,

S. Mahdevari

Author Response

Point 1: It is better to change the manuscript’s title by a clearer subject.

Response 1:

Thank you for your suggestion. The manuscript’s title has been changed as required in the manuscript. “Modification of Peck Formula to Predict Surface Settlement of Tunnel Construction in Water-Rich Sandy Cobble Strata and Its Program Implementation”.

The part is marked in red.

Point 2: There are some spelling and grammatical errors, which dictate an in-depth review.

Response 2:

Thank you for your suggestion. It has been modified as required in the manuscript.

The part is marked in red.

Point 3: The literature survey needs to be improved by other up-to-date researches.

Response 3:

Thank you for your suggestion. The authors have updated the Introduction section with the latest research advances and evaluated the existing research. The need for and innovation of the research content of this paper has been highlighted and described.International reference is added to REFERENCES in the article.

The part is marked in red.

Point 4: Some figures need a suitable reference.

Response 4:

Thank you for your suggestion.The authors have cited Figure 1.

The part is marked in red.

Point 5: The theory and methodology sections are not comprehensive, and need more discussions based on the reliable references.

Response 5:

The part is marked in red.

Point 6: It is suggested to improve the flow chart in Fig. 4 or present a pseudo code for better understanding the modeling process.

Response 6:

Thank you for your suggestion.The authors have modified Figure 4. and have added Figure 6 to further illustrate it.

The part is marked in red.

Point 7: How could you optimize your simulations?

Response 7:

Thank you for your suggestion.The authors have modified Figure 4. and have added Figure 6 to further illustrate it.The authors have revised section 3.3 and section 3.4 of the paper.

A large number of monitoring data of ground settlement induced by tunnel construction is tedious to calculate. In this paper，a program is developed based on Python，which is convenient to realize the back-analysis calculation of Peck formula parameters quickly．A cloud database was also established to provide further parameter reference and data sharing services for future surface subsidence predictions.This is one of optimize simulations of this papaer.

The part is marked in red.

Point 8: Did the authors evaluate the validity of their obtained results?

Response 8:

Thank you for your suggestion.It has been modified as required in the manuscript. The authors have revised section 2.4 of the paper. The paper covers a total of 3 metro construction intervals and 138 sets of data from Mudan Dadao Station ,Guanlin Dadao Station to Luoyang Longmen Station of Metro Line 2.The sample size of the calculated data has been greatly expanded, proving the reliability of the study results.

The part is marked in red.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors have addressed my comment from the first review. I recommend R1 version.