They are revealed at scale, most especially as major assets in operation, having been developed through construction projects that usually involve significant civil engineering works.
Developments in underground space fit this bill – even as their ‘revealed’ nature is out of sight for the most part, except for such as metro stations. Otherwise, the likes of power plants – except for hydro and dams – can all look so similar, yet are not so, again at least in their civil engineering aspects, underground and in geotechnical terms.
As such, creating the underground works – whether mostly tunnels and caverns, or maybe more focused as large-scale and deep foundations – all address site-specific concerns. Unique solutions, in effect. Requiring supply chains to reconfigure themselves to satisfy, each time. No batch, modular production here, churning out at scale.
Much, then, is asked of designers and contractors to learn of the nature of specific sites, the various ways to interact with each other and to organise themselves, and with different technological options – all done safely and, increasingly, in more sustainable ways.
In this issue of T&TI, we again look at different technological and organisational solutions that have been developed for a variety of projects with their unique challenges: from soft ground works into an embankment supporting live traffic; to urban environments requiring tunnels to be woven into their dense fabric, whether to bring water supplies or take away flood risk; and, in the logistical challenges within complex and compact construction sites, such as box stations for metros. At smaller scale, the technological spotlight is on research into reducing embodied carbon in microtunnelling.
Leadership to solve these challenges is vital. We are pleased to share our interview with Andy Alder who has led on many large tunnel projects.
