To look at a map of Europe is to see a disconnected landmass. Sometimes described as a ‘peninsula of peninsulas’, the world’s second smallest continent is naturally divided. Even from the centre, it is not always easy to travel to the extremes. Take the Alps for example, since ancient times, they have proven to be…
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There are up to 600 disused railway tunnels dotted around the British countryside. Some of these find new life as pedestrian tunnels or storage facilities. This week we are examining the Catesby Tunnel in Northamptonshire, which was perfect for a particularly unusual revamp. Photo credit: Ian Rob / Catesby Tunnel-North Portal Resources For more information on the…
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Frustrated with the costs of tunnelling and Hyperloop’s resulting lack of viability, Elon Musk threw down the gauntlet to the tunnelling industry and asked if it could innovate to bring advance rates up to the speed of a snail. In this episode we speak to one of the entrants of the ‘Not a Boring Competition’,…
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This week’s episode looks at the long-term expansion plans for the Second Avenue Subway in New York City, as it moves to the final planning phase. The project was first proposed nearly 100 years ago, are the 2020s the decade it is finally going to get off the ground? Photo credit: MTA
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For The Tunnelling Podcast’s first “spotlight” episode on waterproofing, we’re looking at the tunnel seals supplied by Trelleborg’s marine and infrastructure operation for the Fehmarnbelt tunnel, the world’s longest immersed tunnel for both vehicles and trains.
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Whatever happened to the Whittaker TBM once deployed in Folkstone Warren, in Kent? This week we look at the intriguing history of this 100 year old machine… Guest Dr Oliver Carpenter, Curator of Infrastructure and Built Environment, The Science Museum Photo credit: The Science Museum
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A few years ago, two men met to discuss an idea they’d had for a tidal energy project. The idea called for an array of tunnels, rather than the more traditional lagoons. But essentially as the tide comes in and goes out, you can draw the energy off it. It was a fantastic idea, but…
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In this week’s tunnelling episode we look at the challenges Texas faces to its water supply and how the recently awarded Section 19 Long Tunnel Crossing, a critical part of the Integrated Pipeline Project, will help bring much-needed water to North Texas.
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Singapore’s Land Transport Authority has reached the half-way mark for completing its Circle Line Stage 6, which closes the Circle Line loop by connecting HarbourFront to Marina Bay stations. We take a look at the recently completed tunnelling works for CCL6.
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This week we are taking you to Virginia and looking at The Big Walker and East River Mountain Tunnels, which burrow through the Appalachian Mountains and cross the border between two states. This impressive project completed 50 years ago, and was the most expensive construction job that West Virginia Department of Highways and Virginia Department…
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If the Ancient Egyptians had made use of nuclear fuel, their engineers would have needed to find a solution to store the waste not just to today, but far into the future. Fortunately, modern engineers are up to the task. The most advanced project for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel is ‘Onkalo’ in Finland. …
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A career spent in the evolving field of ventilation has yielded a number of insights to Mosen’s Fathi Tarada. In this episode we tell the story of how the Bahrain oil industry is to thank for a man fighting to bring tunnelling closer to Net Zero, how new ventilation technologies could influence tunnel design, and…
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High Speed 2 is the UK’s latest transport megaproject. Billed as the largest ever investment in the country’s rail, its first phase will link London in the south via 230km of high-speed rail with Birmingham in the West Midlands. With a focus on innovation and new technologies available, the project is determined to avoid the…
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Faced with a need to free surface space for their expanding town, and a reliance on the local quarry for foundation material, the people the town of Drammen in Norway came up with a unique solution. A spiral tunnel would provide all of the granite they needed, would allow them to close the quarry, and…
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Vienna, the capital city of Austria is also known worldwide as The City of Music and this musical metropolis is fine tuning the way that it constructs underground. In order to expand its metro system it has turned to the use of hydraulic props to hold back the pressure from the earth during construction of…
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Brisbane has an Achilles heel. But luckily, it is one that engineers are on the verge of correcting. As the capital of Queensland, a resource-rich state in Australia’s northeast, it is a vital hub for the economy and the movement of people around the country. The problem lies with the iconic river that bears the…
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The San Fernando Earthquake of 9 February 1971 caught experts completely off-guard. The event galvanised a generation of engineers, and improvements are still being made today that can be traced back to that one day. One recognisable figure from the tunnelling industry today, was still in education at the time. He had earned his bachelor’s…
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Every good superhero universe has its origins story. Hagerbach’s begins with Rudolf Amberg, looking to innovate and find new efficiency savings for his iron mine. So began a 50-year journey from testing equipment and explosives, to fire and tunnel safety simulations, and ever more creative uses for underground space. Ultimately the mining industry in Switzerland…
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Mechanisation is the most reliable way to ensure the safety of workers in any construction underground. In this episode we look at the growth in mechanised methodologies for shaft-sinking And this technology has its origins in the 1970s, but it is one that has seen a surge in interest over the last two decades… and…
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