Hampshire-based technology company says it has completed the first entirely robot constructed tunnel at its research facility.

The new automated construction method makes use of a fleet of ‘Hyperbot’ robots which are sent into the ground via plastic pipes. The robots then 3d-print the tunnel shell by putting the construction material directly into the ground.

A variety of different robots, completing different parts of the construction simultaneously, were used in the tunnel making process. The company, Hypertunnel, believes their new method is capable of building tunnels 10 times faster and at half the cost.

The 6m high, two metre tall and two metre wide pedestrian tunnel that was unveiled was built as part of a project for Network Rail.

Steve Jordan, co-CEO and co-founder of Hypertunnel, said: “To unveil our first large scale demonstration tunnel is a big step, not only for Hypertunnel, but for the tunnelling and construction industries which are eagerly anticipating the readiness of our approach to use, as appropriate, in their global projects. While using robots exclusively to build underground structures is dramatically different, the contributing technologies, such as digital twins, robotics, 3D printing and digital underground surveying, supported by AI and VR, are all well-proven in other industries. In fact, the Hypertunnel in-situ method is all about de-risking construction projects.”

Network Rail hope this technology will be used to meet the increasing amount of repair work that is required on the rail network’s tunnels.

Network Rail’s network technical head David Castlo said “We want to reduce the level of disruption to our passengers so we are constantly searching for new approaches to enlarging or repairing tunnels that reduce the length of time a tunnel will be closed to trains. Peak XV moves us a step closer to that goal and, crucially, with a method that reduces workforce safety risk.”