3 ms·
A boring machine that spits out "cinderblocks". I like creative engineering solutions. I live near the coast and the cost for underwater tunnels is outrageous.
by frankharv 9y ago
A boring machine that spits out "cinderblocks".
I like creative engineering solutions.
I live near the coast and the cost for underwater tunnels is outrageous.
- Theodores 9y agoI don't see why it can't eject massively wide core sections of rock with a few cinderblocks as a side portion. If the tunnel is 10 metres diameter then instead of churning that rock to 'cinderblocks', a big long cylinder of 'rock' 9 metres in diameter or so could come out, broken up into chunks that are 50 meters or so long. at the far end of this tunnelling effort could be a harbour under construction with the massive core sections being used to create things like the harbour walls. Imaginably this could be possible with some 'swarm' of 'Boring' robots that could adapt the tunnel size as they go, maybe also moving the 'massive chunks' out of the tunnel too. Maybe each robot could fit in the back of a pickup truck and be fully electric.
- Xylakant 9y agoDo you have a rough idea of how much such a cylinder weights? It has a volume of about 3200 cubic meters. Soil has a density of somewhere between 2 and 3.3 metric tons per cubic meter depending on the type of soil. So you’re talking about handling and lifting blocks of anywhere between 6 000 and 10 000 tons apiece. And that still assumes that the cylinder is made of solid rock that doesn’t break apart.