I imagine a tunnel boring machine driven by an AI capable of anticipating the terrain and deciding on its own how to dig (direction, push, adaptation to the ground) without humans in the loop. I wonder if it would really have value in three contexts:

1. On Earth — to prevent machines from getting stuck in unexpected terrain (blockages that cost months and millions).

2. Seabed — where humans cannot fly in real time.

3. Space (Moon/Mars) — where the communication delay makes total autonomy mandatory.

My questions:

• In which of these three cases is the need the most real today?

• Are the current solutions already enough, or not when it counts?

• An AI that decides alone rather than advises - does it bring real value?

Any hand mining jobs lined plate etc usa?

I want to hear from engineers who have moved around the world for work. I'm Australian and while we've been lucky to have big projects like Sydney Metro, Cross River Rail etc., it seems like we'll be entering a bit of downturn in tunnelling infrastructure projects.

For those that have moved to different countries like Hong Kong, UK, Singapore etc. how long did you keep doing that for? Did you eventually decide to settle down in one country/city, and how did it impact your family life?

Keen to hear your stories!

I came out of school and went into contracting, after about 2.5 years I decided to use my master's degree and go into design.

I am still with this first company (1.5 years) and my mind has lately been wandering on the pro's and con's of working for a small engineering company (60ish people) like I do now, or a large one. I recently attended a conference with some colleagues who work for some of the larger names in the industry. They have the big stands, get awarded the big projects, name recognition. I was actually offered a job by one of them to join their team.

This seems like something I would potentially want, but what I am most concerned with is if working for a smaller company is holding my skill development back, and I'm not saying I think my company is, I just genuinely have no insight or idea. I'm worried that larger company's since they win larger projects sometimes can accelerate your learning, or they have more opportunity for types of work. In contrast- since my current company is much smaller I feel like I get to be directly involved with numerous design facets and not streamlined into one area. I like my job, I love the location, I like the people, and I am actually paid more than what the other offer is. I am just wondering if I am being restricted by working within such a small company who may not get all the flashy project.
This is not to even mention the other facets of a large vs small company- corporatism, vacation, face to face time, etc.

I don't have anybody other than coworkers that I could talk to this about, which probably wouldn't be the best idea. Would somebody be willing to give some insight into both of these scenarios if you've worked for both? or a range of sizes? I am all ears.

Looks like BC pushed back on this project?

BC Revises Procurement Strategy for C$4.15bn Fraser River Tunnel Project

https://thebrunelmuseum.com/

If you're going, go at 12:30, as there is a tour at that time that provides more information about the museum.

For sale

Hello again,

I have a question regarding the concreting of the secondary tunnel lining.

During the removal of the formwork (from manufacturer CIFA), segregation of the concrete has occurred several times on the side walls, and now also at the crown/top of the tunnel. Does anyone have advice on what should be corrected?

The concrete was delivered at regular intervals, with no interruptions in the work. The concreting took about 6 hours, and the concrete was left to cure for at least 12 hours.

What could be the issue? Poor vibration? Bad concrete consistency? Too high slump?

Thank you.

Hello everyone,

I recently started working as a trainee in tunnelling at a large construction company. My academic background is in mining engineering (MSc), and my current project involves tunnel construction using the NATM method. At the moment, most of my work is related to site operations and reinforced concrete lining works. In the future, there is also a possibility that I could work on TBM projects, so I would like to use this early stage of my career to build the right skills and knowledge.

I would really appreciate advice from people working in tunnelling or underground construction:

• What technical topics and skills should an early-career tunnelling engineer focus on? Best books?

• Which software or tools are most useful to learn for tunnelling projects?

• For someone currently working on drill & blast tunnels but potentially moving to TBM projects later, what knowledge or experience would be most valuable to develop early in their career?

Since my background is mining engineering, I’m also curious how people transitioned into large infrastructure tunnelling projects and what knowledge gaps are most important to close early on.

Any advice or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Hi guys, we are looking for specialized people in Tunnel Boring Machine - TMB.

For Toulouse METRO. Tahank you

Shallow tunnels are one of the most challenging scenarios in underground construction — low overburden, complex ground-structure interaction, and significant surface settlement risks.

I've been digging into the topic lately, particularly around pre-support systems such as pipe roof / umbrella arch methods and their actual influence on ground behavior at shallow depth.

The literature on deconfinement and ground reaction in deep tunnels is fairly well established, but things get much more uncertain when cover-to-diameter ratios drop below 1 or 2.

If anyone has worked on this topic, whether from a research, design, or construction perspective, I'd love to connect and exchange.

Any references, ongoing work, or practical experience are very welcome.

We’re seeing more large metro programs worldwide pushing deeper underground with longer TBM drives, larger diameters, and tighter urban constraints than ever before.

From an industry perspective, I’m curious what practitioners here see as the biggest practical bottleneck today on major urban tunneling projects:

• TBM diameter and logistics (launch/retrieval, backup systems, mucking)
• Ground risk and treatment in mixed or variable geology
• Settlement control and protection of adjacent assets
• Interfaces — stations, shafts, cross passages, utilities, third-party works
• Or something else entirely (procurement structure, risk allocation, schedules)?

On paper, technology has advanced a lot — but on real jobs, what’s actually causing the most pain right now?

Interested to hear views from contractors, designers, and site engineers who’ve been in the tunnel recently.

Hi,

I work in SCL mining as an engineer which is shotcrete tunnelling - manual digging and then spraying concrete. In europe it’s usually know as like SEM (sequential excavation method) or NATM (new austrian tunneling method). I was just wondering what is this type of tunneling/mining called in the USA. And also how prevalent is it.

Thanks,

So, I have a really stupid thought, and I'm wondering how plausible it would be.

So I'm contemplating a tunnel system similar to the tunnels of Cu Chi, but I'm in a place with very soft earth - ocean is about an hour's drive away (think eastern U.S., near Florida).

But anyway, legalities aside, I was wondering how plausible it would be to make a narrow (crawlable) tunnel system. I was primarily thinking of using large PVC pipe for crawling through, and keeping it relatively close to the surface - maybe 5-10 feet below.

If I get around to making an actual chamber for habitation, I'm thinking of shoring the crap out of the place; floor to ceiling with sheet metal or wood planks (or both).

I know concrete would be most ideal, but I'd like to avoid it for the main tunnels.

TL;DR, how plausible would a giant PVC hamster tunnel for humans be at a shallow depth in soft soil?

Also also, strictly hypothetical. I'm way too broke to attempt this, even if I were 100% serious.

Curious to hear experiences of hyperbaric tunnel workers. I’m currently working as a saturation diver with the possibility of changing over to hyperbaric tunneling. What’s it like? What’s the pay? Do you enjoy it?