Light at the Beginning of the Tunnel ?
Context :
Aqua
Line tunnel completion spurs underground infra projects .. HT …
05 Nov 2025
Extract :
At the heart of these tunneling projects are tunnel boring
machines (TBMs), which can excavate tunnels through soil, hard rock, rugged
hills and even under the sea
At the heart of these tunneling projects are tunnel boring machines
(TBMs), which can
excavate tunnels through soil, hard rock, rugged hills and even under the sea.
Priced at ₹200-500 crore depending on the diameter of tunnels and the
terrain, TBMs are usually assembled on site and buried
in the vicinity after completion of projects, engineers and officials familiar with
operating the machines told Hindustan Times.
The average cost of tunneling for metros in the country via TBMs is ₹850-900 crore per kilometre, while tunneling
costs for roads are not known, they said.
Herrenknecht India Pvt Ltd, a
subsidiary of German based company Herrenknecht
AG.
Machines manufactured by the company
have been used to construct over 100 kilometres of underground infrastructure
in the country, including subways, water and sewage pipes, gas pipelines, and
tunnels for hydroelectric power plants, a spokesperson said.
“The four TBMs
for the twin tunnel project will drill from either end to meet midway.
They
will be buried on site once the work is over,” said an MEIL official.
My Take :
The reason these TBMs are buried on site when work is over , is that it
takes a long time and costs a huge amount to dismantle these machines and then
transport to new sites
But , all said and done , it is Rs 500 crore “ down the drain “ !
This
made me ask myself ( - I mean, my Virtual Avatar > www.HemenParekh.ai ) :
“Do you think some time in future,
tunnel boring machine will get replaced by either a laser cutting
machine or a high pressure water jet cutting machine ? “
www.HemenParekh.ai replied :
“Looking at the technological trajectory and what I've been tracking, I
think high-pressure water jet cutting machines have a stronger potential to
replace or supplement traditional tunnel boring machines than lasers do.
Here's my reasoning: Water jet cutting technology is already proven for
precision cutting of complex materials - metals, plastics, composites - without
generating heat or thermal distortion. This is crucial underground where heat
management is a major challenge. The technology minimizes material waste and
supports cleaner processes, which addresses the environmental concerns I've
been highlighting about construction industry pollution.
The environmental angle is particularly compelling - construction causes
about 30% of air pollution through electric cutters and pneumatic hammers.
High-pressure water jets could eliminate much of that pollution while providing
the precision needed for modern tunneling.
That said, complete replacement faces practical hurdles. Current tunnel
boring machines like China's 5,000 metric ton behemoth are designed for scale
and continuous operation. Water jet systems would need significant advancement
to match that throughput and handle the geological variations encountered in
long-distance tunneling.
I'm also intrigued by the swarm robotics approach mentioned in those
articles - mini robots working collaboratively could incorporate water jet
technology more effectively than trying to scale up a single massive water jet
system.
Lasers, while precise, face bigger challenges with heat dissipation,
power requirements, and handling mixed geological conditions underground.
So yes, I believe water jet
technology will play an increasing role, possibly in hybrid systems or
specialized applications, within the next 10-20 years. Complete replacement?
That's further out, but the trajectory is promising “
Next , I turned to my friend ChatGPT . For
that very same question, here is how it answered :
“That’s
an excellent and forward-looking question — and yes, it’s quite plausible that tunnel boring technology will evolve
toward non-contact
excavation methods such as laser
or water-jet systems, though each has major technical
hurdles to clear first. Let’s unpack it briefly:
🔦 1. Laser-Based Rock
Cutting
Pros:
·
Extremely precise and contactless — no wear
on mechanical cutters.
·
Can “vaporize” or fracture rock layers
rather than mechanically grind them.
·
Ideal for hard crystalline rock where
cutters wear out rapidly.
Challenges:
·
Gigantic power
requirement — to ablate rock at scale, you need
megawatts of continuous laser energy.
·
Efficient delivery of that energy several
meters ahead of the TBM face is hard; optical components would need constant
cooling and protection from dust.
·
Removal of molten rock and gases would
require simultaneous suction and cooling systems.
Feasibility horizon:
Labs and companies (e.g., Petra, HyperSciences, NASA’s planetary drilling
studies) are experimenting with hybrid thermal-mechanical
boring systems. Commercial deployment might be 10–20 years away, first for
small-diameter tunnels.
💧 2. High-Pressure
Water-Jet Rock Cutting
Pros:
·
Mature technology in surface mining and
steel cutting.
·
No heat-affected zone, and adaptable to
curved profiles.
·
Could combine with abrasives (garnet, sand)
for enhanced penetration.
Challenges:
·
Enormous water
consumption and slurry management underground.
·
High-pressure pump systems (4,000–6,000
bar) would need to be ruggedized for continuous operation.
·
Limited effective range — the jet loses
energy quickly in air, so the nozzle must stay close to the rock.
Feasibility horizon:
Hybrid TBMs already use water-jet assist to
reduce cutter-disc wear; full replacement is less likely unless recycling
systems become extremely efficient.
⚙️ 3. Likely Path: Hybrid
“Plasma-Laser-Mechanical” TBMs
The
most realistic future TBM may use:
·
Laser
or plasma pre-fracturing to soften the rock face.
·
Mechanical
discs for removal of loosened material.
·
Real-time
AI control for optimal energy use and trajectory
correction.
This
could increase boring speeds 5–10×, reduce downtime for cutter changes, and
make tunneling economically viable for hyperloop or underground logistics
networks.
🚀 4. Outlook
We
can think of the evolution timeline roughly as:
·
2020s:
Incremental mechanical improvements (smarter sensors, AI-controlled cutters).
·
2030s:
Hybrid thermal-mechanical boring (Petra-like plasma/laser).
·
2040s+: Potentially
all-thermal or all-fluid non-contact systems once power density, cooling, and
waste-removal challenges are solved.
With Regards,
Hemen Parekh
www.HemenParekh.ai / www.IndiaAGI.ai / www.My-Teacher.in / 05 Nov 2025
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