Gigantic Rock Eating Machine | Evolution in Excavation
Before the first passenger could travel through the Gotthard Base Tunnel, the engineers needed to excavate over 20 million tonnes of rock. For this herculean task the tunnel boring machine, also known as a “mole”, needed a serious technology upgrade. 4 football fields long with a cutter head spanning 10 metres, this specialised metal monster can munch its way through 40 metres of rock a day. On a good day it rips 6,000 tonnes of rock out of the mountain, then amazingly puts the rock straight back in. A quarter of the material carved from the mountain is recycled and turned into concrete, shotcrete is sprayed onto the tunnel walls to keep the tunnel open, or spread on the floor to prepare the bed for the train tracks.
The tunnel boring machine is a gigantic rock-eating factory, the ultimate tunnelling tool, even when it comes up against some of the toughest rocks on the planet!
Clip from the “Big Bigger Biggest” documentary series exploring the engineering breakthroughs that have enabled us to develop some of the largest structures in existence.
Watch the complete documentary here - Coming soon!
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My sources tell me that the Americans have nuclear power tunnel boring units working 24/7 going back to the 1950s. 😊
🤫shh... what they don't know won't hurt them
@@MrMaster2262 Why, who doesn't know already. It's common knowledge that even the Chicoms, Chinese Communist have run tunnels longer than the Great Wall including under the Great Wall.
Your source is a cretin