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Funnily enough, my father is at the 11th international symposium on “Ground Freezing” in London at this very moment. Most of the time you have to freeze the gro

by ttyyzz 3y ago

Funnily enough, my father is at the 11th international symposium on “Ground Freezing” in London at this very moment. Most of the time you have to freeze the ground before you can drill. He has been working in specialist civil engineering for many years and builds tunnels all over the world. He has told me many exciting and hard-to-believe stories about tunnel construction and tunnel boring machines. E.g. during the work on the Eurotunnel. Here the British tunnel boring machine was diverted into the rock near half the length of the tunnel and left there. It was cheaper than somehow taking it out again. Anyways, since my dad is always very stressed due to his job, I am happy to have gained a foothold in IT and not tunnel boring :D

Gare 3y ago
> E.g. during the work on the Eurotunnel. Here the British tunnel boring machine was diverted into the rock near half the length of the tunnel and left there. It was cheaper than somehow taking it out again. AFAIK it was not just the cost, but the problem of two TBMs (British and French) meeting head to head. The british were driven out of the way so that the French ones could proceed.
- benj111 3y ago
  I wonder how many political meetings were had, to decide who got out of the way of who. Or maybe it was the toss of a coin? But then a franc or a pound?
rurounijones 3y ago
> E.g. during the work on the Eurotunnel. Here the British tunnel boring machine was diverted into the rock near half the length of the tunnel and left there. It was cheaper than somehow taking it out again. Dara O`Briain has a hilarious stand-up about this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFglJ3DyqK0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFglJ3DyqK0
pjc50 3y ago
Burying TBMs is not uncommon. The HS2 ones are being buried for an indefinite period due to UK government flipflopping. https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/hs2-will-bury-two-tunnel-boring-machines-at-old-oak-common-64929/ https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/hs2-will-bury-two-tunne... There's one in New York. https://untappedcities.com/2017/02/09/the-200-ton-tunnel-boring-machine-buried-below-park-avenue-used-for-east-side-access/ https://untappedcities.com/2017/02/09/the-200-ton-tunnel-bor...
kortilla 3y ago
You could have added a boring pun to this boring comment.
- ant6n 3y ago
  But that would be boring.

by ttyyzz 3y ago

Gare 3y ago

> E.g. during the work on the Eurotunnel. Here the British tunnel boring machine was diverted into the rock near half the length of the tunnel and left there. It was cheaper than somehow taking it out again. AFAIK it was not just the cost, but the problem of two TBMs (British and French) meeting head to head. The british were driven out of the way so that the French ones could proceed.

benj111 3y ago
I wonder how many political meetings were had, to decide who got out of the way of who. Or maybe it was the toss of a coin? But then a franc or a pound?

rurounijones 3y ago

> E.g. during the work on the Eurotunnel. Here the British tunnel boring machine was diverted into the rock near half the length of the tunnel and left there. It was cheaper than somehow taking it out again. Dara O`Briain has a hilarious stand-up about this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFglJ3DyqK0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFglJ3DyqK0

pjc50 3y ago

Burying TBMs is not uncommon. The HS2 ones are being buried for an indefinite period due to UK government flipflopping. https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/hs2-will-bury-two-tunnel-boring-machines-at-old-oak-common-64929/ https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/hs2-will-bury-two-tunne... There's one in New York. https://untappedcities.com/2017/02/09/the-200-ton-tunnel-boring-machine-buried-below-park-avenue-used-for-east-side-access/ https://untappedcities.com/2017/02/09/the-200-ton-tunnel-bor...

kortilla 3y ago

You could have added a boring pun to this boring comment.

ant6n 3y ago
But that would be boring.