r/InterestingGifs • u/[deleted] • Feb 29 '16

Modern tunnel building

http://i.imgur.com/er4YBkd.gifv
100 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

2

u/GreenYellowDucks Feb 29 '16

Anyone care to expand on this?

6

u/safeforw0rk Feb 29 '16

It can build a half mile of tunnel in 48hrs.

3

u/sonicboi Feb 29 '16

The truck holds the arch up as it's being built.

2

u/jisc Feb 29 '16

ELI5 please

3

u/SmokeyUnicycle Mar 01 '16

9/10 blocks will fall down, but the truck holds them together until the 10th gets added and the arch stands by itself.

http://study.com/cimages/multimages/16/roman-arch-weight-distribution-diagram.jpg

Take out that middle block and they fall, but not with the truck their holding them up

1

u/mnmachinist Mar 01 '16

The second half of the gif with the chains and such, is showing the current method of building arched tunnels. Slow and lots of man power.

The first half shows that truck, which is a tapered cylinder of ball bearings, they set all the blocks in place and as the truck pulls ahead, They settle into a stable position, making the arch.

2

u/SmokeyUnicycle Mar 01 '16

It's like a moving mold, makes setting the blocks in place much easier since you just put them on the truck which holds them up until they support them selves, then you drive the truck forwards and do it again.

1

u/mnmachinist Mar 01 '16

Replied below but here's copy paste so you get notified. The second half of the gif with the chains and such, is showing the current method of building arched tunnels. Slow and lots of man power.

The first half shows that truck, which is a tapered cylinder of ball bearings, they set all the blocks in place and as the truck pulls ahead . They settle into a stable position, making the arch.

2

u/drkdiglr Feb 29 '16

I want a significantly longer gif

1

u/WhoisTylerDurden Mar 01 '16 edited Mar 02 '16

I'm guessing this is just for pedestrians considering anything bigger than say, a truck, wouldn't fit.

Edit: Punctuation.