Utility tunnels assessment applied to the Agua Branca urban development area, in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Urban infrastructure networks are usually deployed and managed in an isolated form, and are rarely considered as a whole. As a consequence, the available urban underground space is increasingly reduced, resulting in congestion and disruption. This article analyses and discusses alternative ways of organizing infrastructure networks in the urban subsurface, considering utility tunnels compared to ordinary independent trenches. Utility tunnels gather several urban infrastructure networks in a single underground structure. The analysis was based on the application of selected parameters to the Agua Branca urban development area, located in Sao Paulo, Brazil. According to physical and urban planning criteria, utility tunnels represent a structured system for the occupation of the urban subsoil and surface, considering efficiency, organization and safety. From an economic perspective, technical galleries have a high initial cost of deployment, making them unattractive when analysed only under this criterion. On the other hand, from a life cycle perspective, they represent an attractive solution due to their lower operation costs and the impacts involved in maintaining and expanding urban networks.