Underground drilling developments/Alan Kennedy describes innovations in equipment and techniques plus recent projects in the tunnelling, underground excavation and mining sectors

摘要

UK-BASED company WEG recently reported on drilling automation and power distribution for the longest railway tunnel in the world, under construction in Switzerland. WEG is one of the premier suppliers of automation solutions and electrical generation, distribution and control products to a variety of industrial sectors worldwide including power generation, water supply, oil and gas. Its AC induction motors, inverter drives, soft starters and transformers are now playing a major role in a drilling machinery package that is helping to construct the world's longest railway tunnel in the Swiss Alps. The 57 km long St Gotthard tunnel is part of the new Transalpine Railway, a major development that will make high-speed (up to 250 km/h) rail travel a reality in Switzerland. It will help to shorten travel times and reduce transportation costs in the Alpine region and beyond. The Transalpine is the latest in a series of high-speed lines, which have created a pan-European network over the last 20 years. These developments mean that, by 2005, there will be around 6,000 km of highspeed lines throughout Europe.