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From a comment on the article: "The normal way to excavate bedrock is dynamite. This would probably not be feasible on this site. But at this rate, from the ph

From a comment on the article: "The normal way to excavate bedrock is dynamite. This would probably not be feasible on this site. But at this rate, from the photo, they are going to be jackhammering for another three years to reach thirty seven and a half feet. I’ve read that in London the Uber rich do these basement pool - theatre complexes all the time under their town houses, but probably digging out dirt. The neighbors should get their council persons involved to pressure DOB to put a blanket prohibition on what is clearly an untenable method of excavation. A Bedrock Amendment: if the site isn’t big or isolated enough for blasting, bedrock is the limit."[0] In London, lavish basements have become trendy[1], but they don't have to deal with bedrock so close to the surface. The Guardian article only mentions the noise once. [0]https://nyti.ms/2D2qPOp#permid=31403929 https://nyti.ms/2D2qPOp#permid=31403929 [1]https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/may/07/pool-basement-wealth-super-rich-digging-down-london https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/may/07/pool-basement-...

joshvm 8y ago
I recommend listening to Clive James' wonderful Point of View segment from Radio 4 (2009): https://soundcloud.com/pointofview-clivejames/london-underground https://soundcloud.com/pointofview-clivejames/london-undergr... It's only about 10 minutes. Very tongue in cheek, but people really are doing this.
dharmon 8y ago
I shudder thinking about the moisture issues you'd have to constantly battle. Basements are bad enough by themselves, but with a pool down there too?!
- dustindiamond 8y ago
  ERV. Also, keeping it covered, greatly decreases the rate of evaporation.
maxxxxx 8y ago
Three years would be insane for the neighbors. And there is a good chance that the super rich owner will never be there during construction.
- SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
  They probably won't be there afterwards, either. Just adding some theoretical value to yet another vacant property in their portfolio.
logfromblammo 8y ago
Fracking has solved the problem. The answer is right-angle drilling, plus the wet diamond-belt saw already used in quarries since 1984. Drill many holes at the boundary, to the desired depth. Right-angle drill to connect the bottoms of the holes. Pull the saw through the holes to cut the sides of the block-columns. Now grab one block-column, lift it with a crane, and use the saw to make horizontal cuts at appropriate intervals to make rock blocks. Ship the blocks upstate, and use them to construct a mausoleum pyramid on your country estate. ~Or send them to your dwarven workshops to make mugs, tables, doors, and thrones.~ A rich of sufficient moxie would also cut new "local bedrock" countertops out of their own basement-quarry and tell all the other riches they know about how great it is to eat off of what used to be the floor of their very own basement, before they cut it out to make two sub-basements. Jackhammering makes gravel. Quarrying makes usable blocks.
- wool_gather 8y ago
  Maybe I don't understand the "right angle drill" but how do you position this at the bottom of the depth you're excavating, while you're trying to excavate?
  - logfromblammo 8y ago
    Drill vertically to the desired depth. At the bottom of that hole, drill horizontally. I think the idea is that rather than rotating a power-transfer shaft with a drill bit fixed on the end, you just rotate the drill bit with a "mud motor" and circulate the power-transfer fluid with a pump on the surface. The end of the hole can then proceed in any direction, and the only thing you need to feed down the hole is hydraulic pressure and more length of high-pressure hoses and perhaps data wires to control the bit assembly. You only need a straight line if you're using the torque on a rigid shaft to transfer power. If you can get the mud-powered drill bit assembly to fit within the bore of the vertical hole, you can drill in any direction you want from the bottom of it. It drills in that direction, and pulls itself into the hole it is boring. This is only necessary because the stone saw is essentially a cable with high tensile strength coated in tiny bits of diamond. In order to cut, you have to pull the circulating cable through the rock. It's like slicing cheese by putting the cheese on top of a wire and lifting the wire up, rather than by pushing down on it with a knife. Vertical cuts in the rock extend upward from the length of the horizontal drill holes. You are then left with square pillars separated by straight kerf-width grooves. Now you set anchors in the top of a pillar, and use your crane to apply upward force to counteract the weight of the pillar down to the bottom. Send some decent bearings down to the bottom of the holes, and thread your saw cable down one vertical shaft, around a well-anchored bearing, around three horizontal shafts, around another bearing, and back up an adjacent vertical shaft. Cut through the bottom of the pillar. Stop pulling before you ruin your bearings. At this point, use the crane to lift the pillar enough to get a lifting jack under it. Now you can work at the surface. Push the pillar up from below with the jack, and cut off the anchor block. Push up more, and cut off height at regular intervals. Some of your blocks will have a quarter of a drill hole on their edges, or anchor bolt holes in them, but most will be as perfect as lasers can make them.

joshvm 8y ago

I recommend listening to Clive James' wonderful Point of View segment from Radio 4 (2009): https://soundcloud.com/pointofview-clivejames/london-underground https://soundcloud.com/pointofview-clivejames/london-undergr... It's only about 10 minutes. Very tongue in cheek, but people really are doing this.

dharmon 8y ago

I shudder thinking about the moisture issues you'd have to constantly battle. Basements are bad enough by themselves, but with a pool down there too?!

dustindiamond 8y ago
ERV. Also, keeping it covered, greatly decreases the rate of evaporation.

maxxxxx 8y ago

Three years would be insane for the neighbors. And there is a good chance that the super rich owner will never be there during construction.

SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
They probably won't be there afterwards, either. Just adding some theoretical value to yet another vacant property in their portfolio.

logfromblammo 8y ago

Fracking has solved the problem. The answer is right-angle drilling, plus the wet diamond-belt saw already used in quarries since 1984. Drill many holes at the boundary, to the desired depth. Right-angle drill to connect the bottoms of the holes. Pull the saw through the holes to cut the sides of the block-columns. Now grab one block-column, lift it with a crane, and use the saw to make horizontal cuts at appropriate intervals to make rock blocks. Ship the blocks upstate, and use them to construct a mausoleum pyramid on your country estate. ~Or send them to your dwarven workshops to make mugs, tables, doors, and thrones.~ A rich of sufficient moxie would also cut new "local bedrock" countertops out of their own basement-quarry and tell all the other riches they know about how great it is to eat off of what used to be the floor of their very own basement, before they cut it out to make two sub-basements. Jackhammering makes gravel. Quarrying makes usable blocks.

wool_gather 8y ago
Maybe I don't understand the "right angle drill" but how do you position this at the bottom of the depth you're excavating, while you're trying to excavate?
- logfromblammo 8y ago
  Drill vertically to the desired depth. At the bottom of that hole, drill horizontally. I think the idea is that rather than rotating a power-transfer shaft with a drill bit fixed on the end, you just rotate the drill bit with a "mud motor" and circulate the power-transfer fluid with a pump on the surface. The end of the hole can then proceed in any direction, and the only thing you need to feed down the hole is hydraulic pressure and more length of high-pressure hoses and perhaps data wires to control the bit assembly. You only need a straight line if you're using the torque on a rigid shaft to transfer power. If you can get the mud-powered drill bit assembly to fit within the bore of the vertical hole, you can drill in any direction you want from the bottom of it. It drills in that direction, and pulls itself into the hole it is boring. This is only necessary because the stone saw is essentially a cable with high tensile strength coated in tiny bits of diamond. In order to cut, you have to pull the circulating cable through the rock. It's like slicing cheese by putting the cheese on top of a wire and lifting the wire up, rather than by pushing down on it with a knife. Vertical cuts in the rock extend upward from the length of the horizontal drill holes. You are then left with square pillars separated by straight kerf-width grooves. Now you set anchors in the top of a pillar, and use your crane to apply upward force to counteract the weight of the pillar down to the bottom. Send some decent bearings down to the bottom of the holes, and thread your saw cable down one vertical shaft, around a well-anchored bearing, around three horizontal shafts, around another bearing, and back up an adjacent vertical shaft. Cut through the bottom of the pillar. Stop pulling before you ruin your bearings. At this point, use the crane to lift the pillar enough to get a lifting jack under it. Now you can work at the surface. Push the pillar up from below with the jack, and cut off the anchor block. Push up more, and cut off height at regular intervals. Some of your blocks will have a quarter of a drill hole on their edges, or anchor bolt holes in them, but most will be as perfect as lasers can make them.