Intelligent SME.tech Issue 19 | Page 37

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Revolutionising tunnel development

As transport starts to electrify , new challenges are constantly appearing . However , solutions
are emerging to tackle these problems . hyperTunnel is one of these solutions . Jeremy Hammond ,
Co-founder of hyperTunnel , speaks about the company ’ s growth , unique technology and market demand .

YPERTUNNEL IS DEVELOPING h a radical and fundamentally new way of constructing , enlarging , repairing and maintaining tunnels and other underground spaces such as underpasses and car parks .

It is doing this by transferring advanced technologies and methodologies from other industries as diverse as materials , aerospace , oil and gas , geoscience , medical devices and Formula 1 .
hyperTunnel ’ s innovations are focused on transforming underground construction by building tunnels more quickly , with less risk and in a more economical and environmentally friendly way . This is achieved through the application of technologies such as digital twins , robots and swarm technology , 3D-printing and digital underground surveying , supported by Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality .
Intelligent SME . tech speaks to Jeremy Hammond , Co-founder of hyperTunnel , about hyperTunnel ’ s ground-breaking technology , how this impacts the transport industry and the future of the company . . .
Tell us a bit more about hyperTunnel and the clients and markets served ?
hyperTunnel is a revolutionary new approach for tackling the underground construction space – that ’ s construction , monitoring , repair and enlargement .
My business partner , Steve Jordan , sought ways of making tunnelling cheaper when devising a tidal range project . He came up with an idea that quite revolutionised tunnelling , using a very simple method . If you think about tunnelling today , it ' s about digging a hole and then building the tunnel with mechanised methodology .
But , what hyperTunnel does is build the tunnel and then dig the hole . We 3D-print the tunnel inside the geology before ripping out the guts of the tunnel to create the hole that you seek in the ground .
Our technology really revolutionises the way that it ' s done and it does it faster , cheaper , more environmentally friendly and very safely because no humans go underground until the tunnel is complete .

WHAT HYPERTUNNEL DOES IS BUILD THE TUNNEL AND THEN DIG THE HOLE .
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