Tunneling Techniques with Special Reference to Modern Hard Rock Tunnel Borers

摘要

There has been tremendous growth and development with regard to methods, techniques and equipment to construct civil tunnels as well as underground mine openings due to consistent efforts made in this particular field for the past 150 years. Today, there is hardly any locale, site or set of conditions where tunnels can be driven without the aid of tunnel borers. Not only horizontal tunnels but ground/rocks can be bored in any direction using these machines. Hard rock boring that used to be a challenging task is now a routine job. Remote controlled tunneling projects are on their way and performing very well. This paper aims to give an account of growth and development of hard rock tunnel borers.