A Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) is lowered down an access shaft before being assembled and launched on its underground excavation.
The first successful tunnelling shield was developed by Isambard Brunel to excavate the London Thames Tunnel in 1825. Brunel was inspired in his design by the shipworm after he noticed its efficiency at boring through submerged timber. In ancient times, the most active tunnellers were the Romans who created an extensive network of tunnels to carry water from mountain springs to cities and villages. They carved underground chambers and built elegant arch structures, not only to carry fresh water into the city but to carry wastewater out. In modern times, using the latest tunnel construction technology, engineers bore through mountains, under rivers, under seas and beneath huge cities. The rapid technological advances of today’s tunnel boring machines has seen TBMs become much larger in diameter and capable of boring efficiently and quickly into both harder and softer rock. This has allowed tunnel construction by means of TBM to become the preferred method of underground excavation, largely replacing the traditional use of explosives (drill and blast).
Size: 5120px × 3407px
Location: United Kingdom, UK
Photo credit: © qaphotos.com / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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