They are using advanced laser techniques to build underground tunnels for years now.

Philip Schneider son of German U-boat commander tells it all: Part 1 http://youtu.be/0kYTnIeEUdc Part 2 http://youtu.be/5noDzkuy6Bg

Plenty of religious imagery is ok for the new world airport.  But, it is not ok to display the 10 Commandments outside of a courthouse.  Go figure.

Love, e

TBM's for airports ... think Denver...

CSM BESSAC develops and uses a range of TBM’s designed to excavate in all type of geological conditions, from highly-permeable terrains to the hardest rock, under heavy water pressure. - PDF

http://tunnellingjournal.com/news/rocksy-cracks-halfway-mark-%E2%80%93-press-release/
Rocksy hits halfway – press release
By Tris Thomas on February 17, 2011



The first breakthrough of one of the two 12.45m diameter Herrenknecht EPBMs working on Brisbane’s 6.7km long Airport Link project has occurred deep underground at Wooloowin, marking the halfway point of the machine’s 2.5km journey to Lutwyche.
 
“Australia’s largest TBM, Rocksy, has already excavated over 1,200m of tunnel since she was launched at Kalinga Park in July,” announced Minister for Infrastructure and Planning Stirling Hinchliffe.
 
“Considering that this time last year pieces of the machine were being shipped to Brisbane from Germany, this shows great progress on the project.”
 
Minister Hinchliffe congratulated Rocksy’s tunnelling team who have worked tirelessly towards today’s successful breakthrough.
 
“Working around the clock, seven days a week, the TBMs have progressed at rates of up to 110m a week, digging the tunnels and lining them with concrete segments as they go,” Mr Hinchliffe said.
 
“Across the project, over 9km of tunnels have been completed, with the TBMs Rocksy and Sandy alone having excavated more than 2.2km.
 
“Over 300,000 cubic metres of spoil has been generated by the TBMs and transported to Nudgee Road via a 2km spoil conveyor, eliminating almost 40,000 spoil truck movements from local streets in Clayfield.
 
“This is a terrific outcome for locals and commuters using those roads.”
...
Thiess John Holland Project Director Gordon Ralph said the second TBM, Sandy, was expected to break through into the Kedron caverns next month, with both TBMs scheduled to complete their 2.5km journey by the middle of the year.
 
“Once tunnelling is complete the cutterheads for the massive TBMs will be buried underneath the tunnels they have created,” Mr Ralph said.
 
“The two TBMs were custom built for the Airport Link project and this solution will reduce the complexity involved in removing the cutterheads, while avoiding the need for additional surface work in the Lutwyche area.”
 
BrisConnections CEO Dr Ray Wilson said today’s breakthrough brought the team one step closer to the operation of Airport Link in mid-2012.
 
“More than 70% of the project is now complete and when Airport Link opens in mid-2012, it will be the first major motorway connecting Brisbane city with the airport and northern suburbs,” he said.
 ”It will improve travel times, providing six new lanes for drivers between Bowen Hills and Kedron and four new lanes between Kedron and Toombul.”

| - - -


http://suppliersandequipment.mining.com/2008/06/17/giant-gaskets-seal-underground-highway-tunnel/

Giant gaskets seal underground highway tunnel
 Written by InfoMine - Mining Equipment and Supplier News, June 17th, 2008



In Madrid, Spain, an underground highway tunnel will help reduce traffic congestion. Like moles, two massive tunnel boring machines have inched their way forward, leaving a walled tunnel behind. Gaskets from Trelleborg provide a waterproof seal between the massive tunnel ring segments.
...
One of the many solutions in the project was a 3,650- meter highway tunnel that crosses the city center underground, less than 6.5 meters away from a busy subway line at certain points. Finished in mid-2007, the M30 “Bypass South-East” has three lanes in each tunnel and sidewalks on each side. At the time of its construction, the excavated dimensions of the tunnel, 15.2 meters in diameter, were the largest ever required. This demanded an entirely new breed and size of tunnel boring machine, also called a TBM or “a mole.”
 
“Two machines were used, one at each end of the tunnel. TBMs are usually custom-made for each individual tunnel project,” says Erwin Brakenhoff, Sales Director, Trelleborg Bakker in the Netherlands. “Costing in the millions of dollars, a TBM has the advantage over other methods in terms of safety and timing; in addition, it is extremely precise, which in turn, reduces the cost of lining the tunnel. This makes TBMs more suitable for use in built-up areas.”
 
Alfredo Avello, Director of Abyo, a supplier of tunneling equipment in Spain, calls the M30 tunnel project a team success. “This project was led by Madrid Municipality, and two joint ventures formed by leading Spanish contractors excavated the tunnels. In addition, other highly qualified Spanish contractors executed very important complementary surface works,” says Avello. “It has also been a pleasure to work with Trelleborg, which supplied gaskets for sealing the segments in both tunnels.”

http://www.hcn.org/issues/42.10/a-boring-diagram



June 07, 2010 issueby Sarah Gilman

Lake Mead -- Las Vegas' primary water supply -- has been drawing down like a leaky tub over the past decade, thanks to prolonged drought in the Colorado River Basin. The reservoir's now at 43 percent of capacity and about 100 feet below full -- just 45 feet above one of two main water intakes. If projections pan out, the water level could drop below that intake's pumping system by 2013. So the Southern Nevada Water Authority plans to spend the next three years and a total of $610 million digging under and up through the reservoir's bottom with a custom tunnel boring machine to build a new water intake, 190 feet below the one that must be replaced, and connect it to the existing water system.

http://arizonageology.blogspot.com/2011/09/tunneling-under-lake-mead.html


Monday, September 05, 2011

Tunneling under Lake Mead

Las Vegas is digging a 1,500 foot long tunnel, 600 feet below ground through bedrock to suck water from Lake Mead, in case the lake level drops too low for the existing intake to draw water. "Intake No. 3 will maintain SNWA's ability to draw upon Colorado River water at lake elevations as low as 1,000 feet above sea level, assuring system capacity if lake levels fell low enough to put Intake No. 1 out of service." [right, Intake 3 tunnel. Credit, SNWA]

The starter tunnel is complete, ready for the boring machine to be lowered into it for assembly. An earlier starter tunnel was abandoned after it hit a fault zone and unstable rock. SNWA has a short video explaining the project.

http://www.snwa.com/apps/video/index.cfml?cid=36&vid=139

http://constructionnew.blogspot.com/2011_10_01_archive.html

Saturday, October 29, 2011
Herrenknecht TBM Gets Ready To Drill Under Lake Mead



...

Southern Nevada's newest piece of mega-hardware—a custom $25-million Herrenknecht tunneling-boring machine—will make its long-awaited underground debut later this year.

The machine works like a giant mechanical earthworm, gnawing through dirt, rock and muck while forming a protective tunnel that will eventually channel raw Colorado River water onto nearby treatment plants before the water is pumped to homes and businesses throughout the Las Vegas valley.

The 1,800-ton, 600-ft-long TBM is the workhorse of a $526.6-million third raw-water intake tunnel project at Lake Mead, 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas. A joint venture of S.A. Healy Co., Lombard, Ill., and Impreglio S.p.A., Sesto San Giovanni, Italy, known as Vegas Tunnel Constructors (VTC) LLC, is the design-build contractor. The additional intake is needed because the lake has dipped 100 feet since 2000 amid a decade of drought and boom growth.

The TBM will carve out a three-mile-long, 20-ft-dia reinforced tunnel under Lake Mead that draws water at 860 feet. That depth is deeper than the other two intakes, which may soon become inoperable if water levels continue to fall. The drill head, which rotates in 16 different positions, is already underground. The five-piece TBM should be fully assembled by early December, with commissioning to follow.

It has been a long, hard road to reach this point.
 
Herrenknecht’s Schwanau factory in southern Germany took 17 months to design and manufacture the machine, which was shipped in five large pieces to California’s Long Beach Harbor and then transported to the jobsite outside of Boulder City, Nev., in 61 truckloads. The transportation feat took months of planning and coordination, mapping out the route and securing special heavy-haul permits.
 
 In 2010, an intake starter tunnel flooded three times in six months, prompting the construction team to abandon its original alignment and drill in a drier direction, roughly 23° northeast from the problematic tunnel along a ½° uphill slope. The move increased project costs by 15% and pushed the completion date back two years, to 2014.

As it stands, the TBM is being lowered piecemeal down a 30-ft-dia, 600-ft-deep access tunnel using a head-frame-gantry system with dual 200-ton strand jacks. It took crews 32 hours to lower the 315-ton drill head.
 
 "There was only three to four inches clearance on either side," explains Jim Nickerson, VTC deputy project manager.

http://www.popsci.com/category/tags/tunnel-boring-machine


A Race Against Time To Complete New Delhi's Newest Subway Line
By Sandeep Ravindran Posted 02.10.2010 at 11:23 am

A worker stands inside one of the Metro tunnels under construction in New Delhi, India, in preparation for the Commonwealth Games this October. To overcome the challenges of a tight three-and-a-half-year schedule and construction underneath a densely populated city, engineers used 14 tunnel-boring machines (TBMs) to dig the underground thoroughfare

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/article2731213.ece

Tunnelling will throw up debris, and challenges too


With the city receiving its first batch of Tunnel Boring Machines that will be used to build the Metro Rail network's underground section, it is only a matter of time before massive subterranean holes begin to take shape beneath the surface.
...
But much of the ‘pain' would be due to underground station construction. Tunnelling, on the other hand, would have little or no impact at the surface level. Chennai Metro Rail Limited Managing Director K.Rajaraman says that people will not even know that holes are being drilled beneath the surface.

Out of the 11 TBMs that would eventually be in operation, the first one would be launched from Washermenpet.

The tunnelling would be controlled by precision electronic systems. The cutting rotor (shield) of each TBM would also be supported by a 78 metre long trailing assembly, consisting of components that provide mechanical support and help remove the excavated material.

To put it simplistically, the TBM works similar to an earthworm with cycles of digging forward and dragging the rear end afterwards. A series of hydraulic systems push the TBM forward (excavating the soil), while the rear end of it is braced against the tunnel wall. When the TBM head has excavated to its maximum length, the ‘shield' and the rear end is pulled forward

http://www.frieze.com/issue/article/tunnel_vision_pendle/
Tunnel Vision
Informant

A new exhibition about New York’s underground earth works reveals a quasi-mythological mirror image of the city



Workers are lowered into the Tunnel Boring Machine Launch Area, 26th Street and 11th Avenue, New York (2008

...
. ‘The Future Beneath Us’, currently on show at the New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex, and at the Science, Business and Industry Library, speaks of a mirror city to New York, a benighted, unglamorous metropolis of dark shafts and damp thoroughfares in which air is hewn out of rock, rather than rock heaped into air. It paints this portrait quite accidentally while describing the eight massive subterranean construction projects currently taking place deep beneath the city’s surface.

The simultaneous creation of a thicket of tunnels, hubs and work plants has seemingly resulted in an alter-city being formed, a sunless empire hidden entirely from the view of most of the city’s denizens. Chief among the projects is the gargantuan Water Tunnel No. 3, one of the largest engineering projects in the world. It has a diameter of seven metres, stretches for almost 100 kilometres, and reaches depths beneath the city of over 250 metres, as deep as the Chrysler building is high. It is a work of monumental size and beauty, a gargantuan concrete tube laid down amidst a glistening backdrop of quartzofeldspathically-banded garnetiferous muscovite-biotite schist. The only shame is that it will never be seen. Its entombment is part of its creation. It is a true earth work.

http://www.pixpow.com/general/amazing-tunnel-machine/

http://tunnellingjournal.com/news/855/


Italian tunnelling specialist SELI has celebrated its 60th Anniversary by manufacturing a 400-ton, 6.18m diameter DSU TBM painted gold, for the Kishanganga tunnel project in India. The gilded machine was delivered to the main contractor HCC (Hindustan Construction Company) today during an official ceremony at the company’s factory in Aprilia. The DSU TBM will bore 700-1000m under the Himalayas, crossing critical geological conditions of localised poor and squeezing rock as well of fault zones. The TBM has been specially designed to cope with the ground conditions and improve them through extensive pre-treatment works.
...
The company was founded by Mr. Carlo Grandori in 1950, and it was he who introduced mechanised TBM excavation technology to Italy in 1969 and, alongside Mr. Dick Robbins, designed and manufactured the first Double Shield TBM.
 
SELI claims to be the only company in the world that acts as TBM manufacturer and TBM tunnelling contractor, with experience of 800km of tunnels in over 100 projects all around the world.
 
The new SELI factory under completion in Aprilia (Rome) will boost the TBM production capacity from today’s 8 units per year to over 20 units, with boring diameters exceeding 15m diameter.

http://secondavenuesagas.com/2010/05/14/down-the-rabbit-hole-a-tunnel-boring-machine-comes-alive/

Down the rabbit hole, a tunnel boring machine comes alive
 By Benjamin Kabak


For the first time since the April 2007 groundbreaking, the MTA invited reporters and city officials underground to mark another Second Ave. Subway milestone. Today, at shortly after 10:30 a.m., MTA CEO and Chairman Jay Walder blasted an air horn that marked the start of the tunnel boring machine’s journey from 92nd St. to 63rd St. With two City Council members and a House representative along for the photo op, the MTA reaffirmed its commitment to Phase 1 of the Second Ave. Subway and stressed the December 2016 completion date.

http://www.tunneltalk.com/Dick-Robbins-Mar09-Franklin-Medal-winner.php


Dick Robbins receiving his award
...

Richard J. Robbins, President and CEO of The Robbins Company from 1958 to 1993 is to receive the prestigious Benjamin Franklin Medal for Engineering. Dick is being honored for his career dedication to the development of tunnel boring machine technology and the application of TBMs for some of the largest and most challenging tunneling projects in history. Dick joins an illustrious list of previous recipients including, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Stephen Hawking, and Jane Goodall.


http://www2.fi.edu/press/images-and-media/awards/2009/bios/09/robbins.pdf

Richard J. Robbins President
The Robbins Group, LLC
Seattle, Washington

The 2009 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Engineering is presented to Richard Robbins for his
imagination and skill in developing a hard-rock tunnel boring machine and its associated
systems, resulting in a safe, economical, and efficient method for constructing tunnels.

From man’s first invention of gun powder, explosives were used to blast through rock and
ground to make tunnels. This dangerous process, used to build new roads or mines, remained
largely-unchanged until the 1950s when Dick Robbins helped bring an entirely different kind of
rock-cutter to the world’s attention – enabling for the first time such massive projects as digging
a tunnel under the English Channel. Through the family tunnel drilling company, Robbins
produced Tunnel Boring Machines [TBM] that could economically, efficiently, and safely bore
through not only hard rock, but also through changing terrain or terrain pressurized with water.
While he had competitors, it was Robbins who provided the first truly viable TBMs, ushering in
an era of rapid, cost-effective, and safe tunnel construction.

Robbins earned his B.S. in mechanical engineering from Michigan Technological University in
1956. Just two years after he graduated, he took over the family’s tunneling company upon the
untimely death of his father. In addition to the difficulty of trying to keep the company running,
Robbins focused on refining his father’s ideas for a new rock boring machine. He substituted
hard disks for the drill bits that kept breaking; he added hydraulic pistons to increase the pressure
and help fragment the rock; he developed ways to remove the rock without having to stop
drilling; and he ultimately even added maintenance shops and crews’ quarters to the giant
machines. He gained a reputation in the drilling community for providing machines that could
tackle the most difficult projects, safely and inexpensively, and for being someone who could
constantly dream up new improvements and then actually build them.
...

http://www.convertingtoday.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=13042

Carlo Grandori October 2002

By Dick Robbins, friend and collaborator

The international tunnelling community has lost one of its most innovative and productive personalities. Carlo Grandori, founder of Societa Esecuzione Lavori Idraulici (SELI), died on 17 September at the age of 91. I was privileged to attend the service in Rome where many of his friends and colleagues gathered to remember his life.

Carlo Grandori was a industrial engineer who specialised in hydroelectric construction and large dams. After World War ll, he concentrated on the tunnelling and underground aspects of this specialty and became known as an expert in traditional rock tunnelling. In the early 1960s he participated as a joint venture partner in machine tunnelling projects with his friend and TBM pioneer, Duri Prader, in Zurich, Switzerland.

I first met Carlo when he visited Seattle in 1967. He was planning a bid for the Orange-Fish project (T&TI, May 1969) in South Africa and was considering the possible application of a tunnelling machine. Although a machine was not chosen for this project, Carlo and his engineers continued to look for a machine tunnelling job they could sponsor.

After a complicated negotiation with ENEL, SELI was awarded the 4.5km Brasimone-Suviana Tunnel near Bologna, Italy, in about 1970. The rock in the 6.4m diameter tunnel was unstable and complicated and required immediate support. Carlo initiated the design of interspersing steel ribs with precast segments as close as possible to the front of the tunnelling machine. This started a trend in Europe of using precast segments in rock tunnels that would eventually extend to many other parts of the world. The unstable rock face led Carlo to suggest modifications to the cutterhead, which was the first attempt at rotary breasting or active support of the face while boring.

It was clear to Carlo Grandori that tunnel boring machines were in the early stages of development for bad rock conditions.
In-the-tunnel modifications would be required to adapt the machines to the rock, as it became apparent how the rock was reacting to the tunnel opening being bored. This initiated a life long collaboration for me with Carlo and his team.

In 1972 I brought to Carlo the idea of a telescoping shield machine with grippers located in the aft shield so that segments could be set while the boring was in progress. Carlo was intrigued and immediately began to sketch improvements to the concept. He realised that driving a machine through the rock was only one element of a successful job. Erecting supports, advancing infrastructure services and hauling out the muck were equally important tasks. The activities supporting the machine advance provided great potential for improving the efficiency of machine tunnelling.

In 1972 SELI secured the Orichella and Timpagrande tunnels in Calabria, a 4km long, 4.3m diameter, complex of tunnels in partly decomposed granite. This was to be the first application of a double shield tunnelling machine.

Carlo Grandori spent many days in his tunnels watching the machines and their trailing equipment perform. He was an active innovator and as a result the SELI double shield jobs performed with better results than could be achieved by other contractors.
After his son Remo had completed his engineering studies and military commitments he joined the SELI firm and gradually took on larger responsibilities in the machine and tunnel engineering work. Carlo shifted his concentration to unique designs of trailing or 'backup' equipment and segment installation.

Some years and many double shield machines later, SELI collaborated with Prader on the 7.5km long Langeten Relief Tunnel (1988-1991) in Switzerland where a double shield machine installed hexagonal segments for the first time. Carlo utilised this experience to design the backup system for the Yindaruqin Irrigation Project in China (T&TI, June 1991). This design proved to be a major step forward. The machine, operating in relatively favourable rock conditions, advanced 1,200m to 1,300m per month, while installing the hexagonal precast segmental lining. This job led to a long series of successful tunnel jobs in China.

Carlo remained active in the design of backup systems until quite recently. He designed a system for the Manabi project in Ecuador, which was only recently completed. The tunnel achieved an average advance of 64m per day.

Carlo's technical contributions and leadership in the field of tunnelling will be missed by the entire industry. However, he was quite successful as a mentor and teacher to many people who can carry forward his design concepts and creative problem solving in tunnelling.

Carlo's health had deteriorated in recent months, but he would recover to enjoy travel to the sea and beach walks with his family.

Son, Remo, continues leadership of the SELI company which is currently working on 16 TBM tunnel projects, from hard rock to large EPB TBMs, on five continents.

http://www.herrenknecht.com/news/press-section/martin-herrenknecht-becomes-the-first-european-to-receive-the-moles-award-in-the-usa.html

MARTIN HERRENKNECHT BECOMES THE FIRST EUROPEAN TO RECEIVE THE “MOLES AWARD” IN THE USA.



The renowned association of the US heavy construction industry, “The Moles”, has presented the Schwanau entrepreneur Dr. Martin Herrenknecht with the “Moles Award 2009”. This makes Martin Herrenknecht the first European and non-US citizen to be honored with this prize.“The Moles” award is highly regarded in the heavy construction industry in the US.

New York City, USA / Schwanau, Germany, February 4, 2009. Dr. Martin Herrenknecht was presented with the “Moles Award 2009” in New York on January 28, 2009, in the presence of some 2,000 decision-makers and representatives of the US heavy construction industry, as well as the Governor of New Jersey, Jon S. Corzine.

Martin Herrenknecht is the first person living in Europe to receive this award in the more than 70-year history of the Moles Association. In addition, the Schwanau entrepreneur was awarded honorary Moles membership. The Moles Association is the most important association of decision-makers and representatives of the US heavy construction industry on the country’s east coast. The former US President Herbert C. Hoover is also among those who have been honored with the Moles Award in the past

http://www.isrm2011.com/upload/shortcourse/WS5.pdf

ISRM12 th
International Congress on Rock Mechanics
Beijing, China, October 16-21, 2011

Networks of Underground Research Laboratories for International, Inter-disciplinary Innovations

Synopsis of Workshop
Underground Research Laboratories (URLs) were initially developed in the 1970s in Sweden for thermal and
hydrological responses to emplacements of spent nuclear materials. Over a dozen URLs have since been and
established and planned worldwide for studying coupled thermal-hydrological-mechanical-chemical-biological
processes.

Similar number of underground facilities has been developed for physics research, mostly at great
depths along roadway tunnels and in mine levels. There are growing interests to use underground
laboratories for energy and environmental studies and with emphasis in multi-disciplinary and
inter-disciplinary approaches.

This URL workshop will discuss if networking among underground laboratories can be further developed from state of knowledge gained from past experience, current status of operation, and evolving plans. The preliminary agenda and topics to be discussed are given in the following table.

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-11-12/world/finland.nuclear.waste_1_nuclear-waste-disposal-canisters?_s=PM:WORLD


Finland's nuclear waste bunker built to last 100,000 years
November 12, 2010|By Matt Ford for CNN

It's one of the great questions of our age: What to do with nuclear waste?

It's challenging, not just because radioactive material is highly toxic, but because really engaging with the problem forces us to confront unimaginable timescales.

But in Finland they believe they have found a solution, with the world's first permanent nuclear-waste repository -- "Onkalo" -- a huge system of underground tunnels that is being hewn out of solid rock and must last at least 100,000 years.

"It is our law that we have to dispose of our nuclear waste within Finland's borders," Timo Seppala, from Posiva, the company constructing the site, told CNN.

Norway Doomsday seed vault bunker video

http://blog.2012pro.com/2012/2012-underground-survival-bunkers-%E2%80%93-norwegian-politician-speaks-about-surviving-global-catastrophe-in-the-government-bunkers-in-norway

The person who wrote this message to us did so under their own name (which we have checked), and enclosed a number of photographs of them with the Prime Minister of Norway and (separately) with Benazir Bhutto. We are certain of their bona fides, but you will understand that we cannot reveal their real name or publish any photos without consent.
The content of this message, if true, could hardly be more important.
...

All the sectors and arks are connected with tunnels and have railcars that can take you from one ark to the other. This is so that they can be in contact with each other. Only the large doors separate them so that the sectors are not compromised in any matter.

http://www.ngi.no/en/
NGI worldwide - NGI is an internationally actor within our fields of expertise. Approximately 30 per cent of NGIs work is on projects outside Norway.

NGI Inc., NGI's daughter company in Houston, Texas, contributes to enhanced contact with the international oil and gas industry

Our services are applicable for almost all facets of civil engineering. Examples are foundations for buildings and large structures such as bridges, railways and road building, water supply and sewage systems, tunnels and rock caverns, coastal engineering and embankments and rockfill dams. We cover the whole planning process from feasibility and impact studies to detailed design and follow-up at the construction site.

State-of-the-art
NGI did the foundation engineering for the new Oslo Opera and for the neighbouring immersed tunnel crossing in Bjørvika. The innovative tunnel was constructed by elements floated into position and lowered onto a pre-made channel on the seabed, and then assembled.

Our knowledge has been used to develop the Q-method - a tool which is used internationally to classify rock masses and assess permanent rock support in tunnels and caverns. Since its introduction in 1974, the Q-method has been updated several times. This empirical method is based on data from existing tunnels around the world. Our expertise also includes numerical modelling and recommendation of stabilizing measures. NGI has a world-class geo-laboratory, with experienced personnel.

http://thelistcafe.com/top-10-fascinating-underground-laboratories
Top 10 Fascinating Underground Laboratories

Buckle up as we go for a ride inside the earth and take a look at what can be achieved when we look down long enough for the Earth to get our attention and whisper her secrets.

http://permafrosttunnel.crrel.usace.army.mil/

Take a Virtual Tunnel Tour. See permafrost up close; learn about ice wedges, ice lenses, and other permafrost features; see bones of the Pleistocene bison, mammoth, and horse

25,000 year old Bacteria found in Permafrost here have been revived

 Significant numbers of viable ancient microorganisms are known to be present within the permafrost. They have been isolated in both polar regions from the cores up to 400 m deep and ground temperatures of −27°C. The age of the cells corresponds to the longevity of the permanently frozen state of the soils, with the oldest cells dating back to ~3 million years in the Arctic, and ~5 million years in the Antarctic. They are the only life forms known to have retained viability over geological time

Permafrost bacteria may slow down ageing: scientists
January 17, 2012

Russian scientists claimed that a hardy type of bacteria recently discovered in the permafrost of Siberia could help slow down the ageing process.

The species of bacteria -- given the name Bacillius F -- was found in laboratory tests to have shown signs of slowing down the process of ageing on mice, the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAN) said.

The Siberian branch of the RAN said Bacillius F lags 3 million years behind similar bacteria in evolutionary terms, according to the characteristics of proteins and some other factors. 



The United States Army maintains and operates a unique research facility near Fairbanks, Alaska, known as the CRREL Permafrost Tunnel Research Facility. CRREL is an acronym for the U.S. Army's Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center.

The Permafrost Tunnel was excavated from 1963–1969 for the study of permafrost, geology, ice science, and the mining and construction techniques specific to permafrost environments. The story of the tunnel excavation is found in the Excavation Methods page of this Web site. Fascinating features of the tunnel are described in the Soil and Rock and Paleontology sections, and are shown during the Virtual Tunnel Tour. The Permafrost Tunnel offers a unique research platform for scientists and engineers who wish to study a frozen environment over 40,000 years old.

Researchers at the CRREL Alaska Research Office Fairbanks, Alaska, maintain and manage the Permafrost Tunnel Research Facility and offer support for scientific research projects.

http://www.jaea.go.jp/04/tono/miu_e/

Tono Geoscience Center (TGC), Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has been carrying out a wide range of geoscientific research in order to build a firm scientific and technological basis for geological disposal.

One of the major components of the ongoing geoscientific research program is the Mizunami Underground Research Laboratory (MIU) Project in the Tono area, central Japan. Two 1,000m deep shafts and several drifts will be excavated for geoscientific research and applicability of engineering techniques will be estimated.

JAEA has been carrying out geoscientific research at two locations:
the location for investigation of crystalline rock is in Mizunami City, Gifu Prefecture;
the location for investigation of sedimentary rock is at Horonobe, Hokkaido.



Master Plan of the
Mizunami Underground Research Laboratory Project

http://www.posiva.fi/en/research_development/onkalo

ONKALO

One element of the site investigations conducted at Olkiluoto is the excavation of the underground rock characterisation facility (ONKALO) that will be extended to the final disposal depth (approximately -400m).

ONKALO aids in collecting the further data needed for the application for the construction licence that will be submitted in 2012. The bedrock is studied with methods from geology, hydrology and geochemistry.

In addition to facilitating bedrock research, ONKALO also provides an opportunity to develop excavation techniques and final disposal techniques in realistic conditions. Later, the ONKALO facilities can be put into use when building and using the repository.

Posiva started to construct ONKALO in 2004. Research has been conducted there since the beginning of its construction.

ONKALO consists of one access tunnel and three shafts: a personnel shaft and two ventilation shafts. The slope of the tunnel is 1:10. It is 5.5 m wide and 6.3 m high


http://www.posiva.fi/en/research_development/onkalo/onkalo-animation/

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/russia/yamantau.htm
Yamantau
Beloretsk-15
Beloretsk-16
Alkino-2 ?



Starting in the Brezhnev period, Russia has been pursuing construction of a massive underground facility at Yamantau Mountain and the city of Mezhgorye (formerly the settlements of Beloretsk-15 and Beloretsk-16). The complex, reportedly being built by tens of thousands of workers, is said to cover an area of up to 400 square miles, the size of the Washington area inside the Beltway.
 
The exact location of this large facility is uncertain, and given its reported size it may span as much as an entire degree of latitude and longitude. It is apparently located near the the Zlatoust-36/Yuryuzan nuclear weapons production plant and the Yuryuzan national-level nuclear weapons storage facility. The Yaman-Tau Gory [mountains] range is centered at 52�25'N 56�45'E, while the peak of Yamantau Gora [mountain] is at 54�15'19"N 58�06'11"E. The town of Beloretsk is located at 53�58'N 58�24'E, though NIMA does not include a listing for Mezhgorye. This facility may be synonymous with "Alkino-2" since the town of Al'kino is nearby at 55�05'N 58�04'E.
 ...
The New York Times quoted Russian officials describing the underground compound variously as a mining site, a repository for Russian treasures, a food storage area, and a bunker for Russia's leaders in case of nuclear war. "The (Russian) Defense Ministry declined to say whether Parliament has been informed about the details of the project, like its purpose and cost, saying only that it receives necessary military information," according to the New York Times.
 
Satellite photographs of Yamantau Mountain show continued digging at the "deep undergound complex" and new construction at each of the site's above-ground support areas. Judging from satellite photos and other intelligence, US officials are fairly confident that the Russians are building an underground command bunker and communications installation.

But "... the Russians are not very interested in having us go in there," a senior American official said in Washington. "It is being built on a huge scale and involves a major investment of resources. The investments are being made at a time when the Russians are complaining they do not have the resources to do things pertaining to arms control."
 
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/esp_sociopol_underground16.htm

What's Going On in The Yamantau Mountain Complex?

Today, Russia may be conducting nuclear deception on a far vaster scale beneath Yamantau Mountain, where it has dug out a gigantic underground military complex designed to withstand a sustained nuclear assault. A U.S. intelligence source was quoted as saying that the Yamantau complex is but one of some 200 secret deep underground nuclear war-fighting sites in Russia, many of which have been significantly upgraded over the past six years at a cost of billions of dollars.
...

In 1998, in a rare public comment, then-Commander of the U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) Gen. Eugene Habinger, called Yamantau

"a very large complex -- we estimate that it has millions of square feet available for underground facilities. We don't have a clue as to what they're doing there."

It is believed to be large enough to house 60,000 persons, with a special air filtration system designed to withstand a nuclear, chemical or biological attack. Enough food and water is believed to be stored at the site to sustain the entire underground population for months on end.

"The only potential use for this site is post-nuclear war..."

--- Rep. Roscoe Bartlett

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Yamantau

Mount Yamantau (Russian: гора Ямантау) is in the Ural Mountains, Bashkortostan, Russia. The name means bad (evil) mountain in the Bashkir language (Яман тау). It is also known as Mount Yamantaw[citation needed]. It stands at 1,640 metres (5,381 ft) and is the highest mountain in the southern Urals. Along with Kosvinsky Mountain (600 km to the north), it is suspected by the United States of being a large secret nuclear facility and/or bunker.[1] The closed military town of Mezhgorye (Russian: Межгорье) is situated nearby. As late as 2003, Yamantaw was not yet fully operational.[1]
 
Large excavation projects have been observed by U.S. satellite imagery as recently as the late 1990s, during the time of Boris Yeltsin's government after the fall of the Soviet Union.[1] Two garrisons, Beloretsk-15 and Beloretsk-16, were built on top of the facility, and possibly a third, Alkino-2, as well, and became the closed town of Mezhgorye in 1995. They are said to house 30,000 workers each. Repeated U.S. questions have yielded several different responses from the Russian government regarding Mount Yamantaw.[2] They have said it is a mining site, a repository for Russian treasures, a food storage area, and a bunker for leaders in case of nuclear war
...
Russian newspapers reported in 1996 that it is a part of the "Dead Hand" nuclear retaliatory command structure.

http://themoles.info/organization/
They have been called “crazy men in a crazy industry” who gamble their fortunes and reputations against the challenges they meet. Often working underground, they change the face of the earth, building tunnels, dams, highways and bridges. They are defined as heavy construction workers.

In October 1936, a small group of these men who had worked together between 1914 and 1919 on projects under Newark Bay and on the waterfront of Port Newark had a reunion in Jersey City. They had such a wonderful time reminiscing about their experiences and discussing their work that they were inspired to form a permanent organization. On that autumn evening, what was to become the most prestigious heavy construction organization in the world was born.
...
In 1950, the non member was former president Herbert Hoover, who was labeled the "Grand Old Mole" for his engineering expertise. At the same dinner, Dwight D. Eisenhower was the Principal Speaker and was presented with Honorary Membership. Recognizing the rising prominence of women in the heavy construction industry, the Moles initiated its first female member in 1992.

The tradition of presenting two awards each year to outstanding construction individuals has continued to this day at the Annual Awards Dinner held each year in New York City on the last Wednesday of January. The giants of the U.S. construction industry have been and continue to be honored. Such individuals as Stephen Bechtel, Harry W. Morrison, Peter Kiewit, Lou Perini and Guy F. Atkinson were among the earlier recipients. In 2011, Robert E. Alger of The Lane Construction Corporation and Peter O. Shea of J.F. Shea Co., Inc. were the honorees.

The tradition of having a Principal Speaker has also continued. The Honorable Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City was the 2011 Speaker. Earlier speakers included Richard M. Nixon, House Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O'Neill, New York City Mayor Edward Koch and New York State Governor Mario M. Cuomo.

It's interesting that six months ago I could hardly find anything and now I look and it's all out there. Just amazing.
It's obvious to me that these TBM manufacturers have been boring underground privately for governments for years and now they are more public commercially. Also notice that these machines are dependent on Tungsten and the company that dominates Tungsten is owned by the Israelis and Warren Buffet.

Another good article:

http://pediaview.com/openpedia/Tunnel_boring_machine
...
The largest diameter TBM, at 19.25 m, built by Herrenknecht AG for a recent project in Orlovski Tunnel, St.Petersburg. The machine was built to bore through soft ground including sand and clay. The largest diameter hard rock TBM, at 14.4 m, was manufactured by The Robbins Company for Canada's Niagara Tunnel Project. The machine was used to bore a hydroelectric tunnel beneath Niagara Falls, the machine has been named "Big Becky" in reference to the Sir Adam Beck hydroelectric dams to which it is tunnelling to provide an additional hydroelectric tunnel.

Tungsten:

http://www.china-daily.org/Mil-News/India-Pakistan-nuclear-strike-against-hundreds-of-large-nuclear-bunker-planned/
India Pakistan nuclear strike against hundreds of large nuclear bunker planned 2010-12-07

LONDON December 7
news: According to "Pakistan Observer" reported on December 5, from Pakistan in response to the potential threat of war with China, India has begun the construction of large urban centers and military nuclear bunker. Under this military plan, India will build hundreds of underground large nuclear bunker, Pakistan and China to prevent the possible implementation of the "nuclear strike."

It is reported that India's nuclear bunker in the capital, Mumbai, Chennai, the fourth largest city, as well as the implementation of Kolkata city built along the subway lines. Some large bunker can accommodate a variety of essential facilities, including command and control centers, hospitals and training centers.

In the event of war, each of a large bunker can accommodate up to 8,000 individuals; special shelter will be designed to suffer a nuclear attack, including the President and the Prime Minister specifically for the Indian government at all levels, including executives are using.

recently, popular among the Indian army, a new war doctrine, may also face competition from India said Pakistan and China, two-sided fight; while India has also been working to enhance its military capabilities. India's domestic nuclear-powered submarine "destroy the enemy who" was the beginning of deterrence will cruise in 2 years to complete the Indian land-based, space-based and strategic weapons delivery underwater Trinity System. Wilma said the Indian Navy chief Admiral, with land-based, space-based and underwater delivery of strategic nuclear missiles, India really has a trinity of nuclear power. He said: "We specifically undertake not to use nuclear weapons first, but we have a 'destroy the enemy who' number; that the trinity of our system has been established, we must use it as efficiently as possible

http://mystic-places.blogspot.com/2008/07/kelvedon-hatch-secret-nuclear-bunker.html
Monday, July 21, 2008
Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker
Posted by Rochak at 2:26 AM

Inside a rural bungalow nestling in the Essex countryside lies the twilight world of the Government Cold War. Behind the blast screens that protect this bungalow is the entrance to an amazing labyrinth of rooms built into a hillside, encased in 10 feet thick reinforced concrete 75 feet underground.

The Secret Nuclear Bunker at Kelvedon Hatch, in Essex, England, is a large underground bunker used during the cold war as a Regional Government Headquarters. Since being decommissioned in 1992, the bunker has been open to the public as a tourist attraction (known as the Secret Nuclear Bunker), with a museum focusing on its cold war history.

The only reason they would give these bunkers away is if they have something new and better...
http://society.ezinemark.com/cold-war-nuclear-bunker-for-sale-in-scotland-7d2d4b9e37fb.html
Cold War nuclear bunker for sale in Scotland

A Cold War nuclear bunker in Scotland has been put on the property market by its owners, Comrie Development Trust (CDT).
 
The nuclear bunker is located beneath the rolling Scottish hills of the former Cultybraggan Camp, over a mile south of the town of Comrie and within fifty miles of Edinburgh and Glasgow.
 
The former military installation was built in 1939 and played host to some of the most notorious Nazi prisoners of war during the Second World War.
 
Originally commissioned by the Scottish Parliament, the huge underground bunker housed over one hundred and fifty staff who worked to protect England and Scotland from nuclear, biological and electromagnetic attacks.
 
It was the most technologically advanced bunker built during the Cold War, complete with a BBC studio, a canteen, a telephone exchange and dormitories.
 
Construction cost in the region of US$48.2 million, which would be around US$144.4 million in today’s money, allowing for inflation.
...