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New tunnel-boring tech targets cheaper underground power and fiber
EarthGrid says its prototype bored three meters of granite and aims for commercial deployment as early as next year.
The war in Ukraine has pushed infrastructure owners to rethink keeping vital systems above ground, and BBC Business reports that rising demand for undergrounding is partly driven by the vulnerability of exposed facilities to drone attacks.
BBC Business profiles EarthGrid, whose tunnel boring approach uses a plasma-based boring head that generates super-heated plasma at 27,000 C. During a January test in a California quarry, the company says the machine chewed through three meters of granite and used a vortex effect to pull debris from the tunnel, including material that can become lava-like.
EarthGrid founder Troy Helming says the technology is designed to make it easier to place electricity, telecommunications equipment such as fiber optic cables, substations, and data centers underground, a step that has historically been expensive and difficult. The outlet also notes Helming has fielded interest for uses including power and fiber, and for pipeline transport of items such as water, natural gas, or ammonia.
The article adds that EarthGrid plans to adjust the machine after the January trial slightly over-bored to the top and left of the tunnel. Helming said the company hopes to deploy commercially as early as next year, including potential work on an underground freight-distribution system around airports and warehouses to take more trucks off the road.
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