#tunnelling

[talesofstorm]

[fundgruber]

Forestiere underground gardens, California

[londiniumlundene]

The Brunel Museum

On a quiet street in Rotherhithe sits the one-time entrance to the so-called “eighth wonder of the world”, a result of the ingenuity of Marc Isambard Brunel. He dreamed of creating a tunnel beneath the Thames to carry horse-drawn traffic, and in 1825 the work began. To start, Brunel had a 50-foot-wide iron ring set onto the soft soil in Rotherhithe, then built a brick tower on top. The tower gradually sunk under its own weight, forming a shaft 75 feet deep. Work on the tunnel could then begin for real.

Brunel’s plan was to use an iron cage with 34 cells, in each of which a tunneller would dig out the London clay. The cage would then advance, and bricks and stone would be used to line the tunnel walls. Brunel estimated the project would only take a couple of years.  However, the conditions deep below ground and the river were nothing short of horrendous: damp, dark, wildly varying temperatures, toxic and explosive gases. The workers caught dysentery, complained of pain in the eyes, suffered from depression. One foreman was even sent to an asylum, and many workers died because of the conditions. The Thames broke through on three occasions – on the third, two men drowned, and young Isambard Kingdom Brunel was just saved as the waters swept him up the shaft.

It took 18 years for the tunnel to be completed. When it opened to the public, it really did seem like the eighth wonder of the world, with its columned walkways lit by bright gas lamps, and arches filled with shops selling all manner of souvenirs. However, its popularity quickly waned, and despite charging visitors the sum of a penny to travel through, the tunnel was not a financial success. It became known as “The Hades Hotel”, and a haunt of thieves and prostitutes. In 1865 it was sold to the East London Railway Company, who laid tracks down. It has remained a railway tunnel ever since – today, the London Overground runs though it between Rotherhithe and Wapping.

During works to prepare the tunnel for the Overground, a shelf was placed in the original shaft, allowing visitors to descend part-way into what was once the grand entrance hall, and is nowadays used as a performance and exhibition space for the Brunel Museum, which has been based in the adjacent engine house (once home to the pumps that kept the tunnel dry) since 1961.

As well as access to the shaft, the museum seeks to educate people about the Brunels’ achievements through a collection of objects associated with the Thames Tunnel, and display about Isambard’s behemoth ship, the Great Eastern. Outside, there is a mural on the shaft showing the tunnel shield, models of famous Brunel bridges incorporated into benches, and a garden on top of the shaft that also doubles as a cocktail bar on certain summer evenings!

[mindblowingscience]

We Can Now Harvest Electricity From Earth's Heat Using Quantum Tunnelling

Wow.

Researchers have come up with a way we could harvest energy from Earth by turning excess infrared radiation and waste heat into electricity we can use.

The concept involves the strange physics of quantum tunnelling, and key to the idea is a specially designed antenna that can detect waste or infrared heat as high-frequency electromagnetic waves, transforming these quadrillionth-of-a-second wave signals into a direct charge.

Continue Reading.

[maxwellgeosystems]

Maxwell GeoSystems at Underground Construction Prague 2026

Underground Construction Prague 2026 (Czech Tunnelling Association (CzTA) ITA-AITES) is underway, and Maxwell GeoSystems is here. Since the event opened on 25th May, we've been in conversations with engineers, contractors, consultants, and infrastructure teams - working through the real challenges of monitoring, risk management, and data workflows in underground projects. We're also presenting at the conference: Improving Risk Management Through Better Monitoring and Data Management Contracts - a session on how monitoring and data management practices shape project visibility, coordination, reporting, and decision-making on complex ground engineering projects. If you're in Prague this week, we'd enjoy crossing paths. And if you're not, happy to continue the conversation here or online.

[energylineindia1]

Underground hydro construction contract: NHPC tightens control over Kamala HEP execution structure

The latest underground hydro construction contract issued by NHPC for the Kamala Hydro Electric Project reflects a more operationally prescriptive procurement philosophy emerging in India’s Himalayan hydro sector. The Lot-2 package consolidates tunnels, caverns, powerhouse systems and access infrastructure into one integrated contract structure.

One of the strongest signals inside this underground hydro construction contract framework is the repeated extension of bid deadlines from February to May 2026. The staggered corrigenda cycle suggests sustained bidder pressure linked to geological uncertainty, logistics exposure and qualification interpretation.

The underground hydro construction contract also highlights NHPC’s decision to preserve domestic competitive bidding despite demands for international participation. The promoter retained the DCB route even for a technically intensive Himalayan tunnelling project involving complex underground interfaces.

Another major feature of this underground hydro construction contract architecture is the growing operational focus on access-road engineering, heavy-equipment deployment and inter-package logistics coordination. NHPC revised road specifications and contractor-equipment clauses after bidder scrutiny during the pre-bid phase.

EnergylineIndia.com observes that hydro EPC risk allocation and underground powerhouse excavation complexity are increasingly reshaping contractor behaviour across Himalayan hydro procurement.

[energylineindia1]

 Hydropower projects India

Bookmark this development  Tato-II Package-III is redefining execution norms for hydropower projects India. With 13 corrigenda, updated drawings, expanded rainfall datasets and tightened support-class obligations, bidders now face a far more engineered tender than most Himalayan hydro packages. Such high granularity from ventilation volumes to underground medical facilities  marks a shift in how hydropower projects India are structured, signalling a sector-wide pivot toward pre-award risk filtration.

The inclusion of quarry potential tables, environmental rules, power-supply obligations and monsoon-aligned drainage requirements reinforces how complex deep-cavern works shape the economics of hydropower projects India. Tato-II’s disclosures may serve as a procedural blueprint as states accelerate new hydro corridors, NEEPCO, Tunnelling, Hydropower Projects India, Energy Line India.