Compared with single or twin tunnels, the pressure arch effect of deeply buried, symmetrically distributed triple tunnels are more complex and less studied. In this paper, the arching responses are in-situ measured in the deeply buried, symmetrically distributed triple tunnels of Badaling Great Wall station. Numerical research is subsequently conducted to investigate the formation and development of the pressure arch of triple tunnels. Then, the influencing law of buried depth on pressure arch behavior is systematically studied. Based on monitoring data, the rock pressure distribution is asymmetric about the axis of the triple tunnels, and the arching response of the middle tunnels is more significant than that of the left and right tunnels. According to numerical analysis, a combined large pressure arch may be easily formed across the triple tunnels. The pre-arching and double-arching effects are also numerically observed during triple tunnel excavations. The inner boundary of the pressure arch of the middle tunnel is 14.0 m, nearly two times higher than those of the left and right tunnels. This simulation result indicates that the mechanical state of the middle tunnel is the least desirable. Moreover, the critical arching depth of closely spaced tunnels is 1.75 times that of a single tunnel. Compared with a single tunnel, the support of triple tunnels should be additionally strengthened.

Spalling failure is a typical failure phenomenon after excavation and unloading of a deep, hard brittle rock mass, which seriously threatens the safe construction of deep roadways (tunnels) and other projects. From the engineering viewpoint, it is essential to accurately evaluate the range and depth of surrounding rock spalling failure. From the perspective of the laboratory and engineering site, the strength and formation mechanism of hard rock spalling failure were statistically summarized and analyzed. Under uniaxial and low confining pressure conditions, when the load reached the rock damage stress, cracks in the rock penetrated to form a failure plane approximately parallel to the axial loading direction, and the strength of rock mass spalling was much smaller than that of intact rock spalling. A triaxial compression test was conducted to analyze the dilatation axial strain and dilatation lateral strain characteristics of gneiss. The results showed that dilatation axial strain gradually increased with the increase of confining pressure, whereas dilatation lateral strain was almost unchanged. Therefore, a safety factor (FS) based on dilatation lateral strain was developed. Through comparison with other strain-based spalling criteria, the establishment and physical meaning of the method were described in detail. In addition, FS was applied to analyze the deep roadway of the Hongtoushan Copper Mine in China and the Rm415 test tunnel in Canada. The results showed that the spalling criterion could accurately indicate the range and depth of the surrounding rock spalling failure, which verified the rationality and applicability of the new spalling criterion. Thus, FS can be utilized as a new theory and analysis tool for the assessment and prevention of spalling failure in deep hard rock roadways.