A tunnel boring machine (TBM) also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section

through a variety of soil and rock strata. They can bore through anything from hard rock to sand. Tunnel diameters can
range from a metre (done with micro-TBMs) to 19.25 m to date. Tunnels of less than a metre or so in diameter are typically
done using trenchless construction methods or horizontal directional drilling rather than TBMs.
Tunnel boring machines are used as an alternative to drilling and blasting (D&B) methods in rock and conventional "hand
mining" in soil. TBMs have the advantages of limiting the disturbance to the surrounding ground and producing a smooth
tunnel wall. This significantly reduces the cost of lining the tunnel, and makes them suitable to use in heavily urbanized
areas. The major disadvantage is the upfront cost. TBMs are expensive to construct, and can be difficult to transport.
However, as modern tunnels become longer, the cost of tunnel boring machines versus drill and blast is actually lessthis is
because tunneling with TBMs is much more efficient and results in a shorter project.
The largest diameter TBM, at 19.25 m, built by Herrenknecht AG for a recent project in Orlovski Tunnel, [Link]. The
machine was built to bore through soft ground including sand and clay. The largest diameter hard rock TBM, at 14.4 m, was
manufactured by The Robbins Company for Canada's Niagara Tunnel Project. The machine was used to bore a hydroelectric
tunnel beneath Niagara Falls, the machine has been named "Big Becky" in reference to the Sir Adam Beck hydroelectric
dams to which it is tunnelling to provide an additional hydroelectric tunnel.
HISTORY
The first successful tunnelling shield was developed by Sir Marc Isambard Brunel to excavate the Thames Tunnel in 1825.
However, this was only the invention of the shield concept and did not involve the construction of a complete tunnel boring
machine, the digging still having to be accomplished by the then standard excavation methods.
[1]

The first boring machine reported to have been built was Henri-Joseph Maus' Mountain Slicer. Commissioned by the King of
Sardinia in 1845 to dig the Frjus Rail Tunnel between France and Italy through the Alps, Maus had it built in 1846 in an
arms factory near Turin. It consisted of more than 100 percussion drills mounted in the front of a locomotive-sized machine,
mechanically power-driven from the entrance of the tunnel. The Revolutions of 1848 affected the funding, and the tunnel
was not completed until 10 years later, by using less innovative and less expensive methods such as pneumatic drills.
[2]

In the United States, the first boring machine to have been built was used in 1853 during the construction of the Hoosac
Tunnel.
[3]
Made of cast iron, it was known as Wilson's Patented Stone-Cutting Machine, after inventor Charles Wilson.
[4]
It
drilled 10 feet into the rock before breaking down. The tunnel was eventually completed more than 20 years later, and as
with the Frjus Rail Tunnel, by using less ambitious methods.
DESCRIPTION
Modern TBMs typically consist of the rotating cutting wheel, called a cutter head, followed by a main bearing, a thrust
system and trailing support mechanisms. The type of machine used depends on the particular geology of the project, the
amount of ground water present and other factors.
Hard rock TBMs
In hard rock, either shielded or open-type TBMs can be used. All types of hard rock TBMs excavate rock using disc cutters
mounted in the cutter head. The disc cutters create compressive stress fractures in the rock, causing it to chip away from
the rock in front of the machine, called the tunnel face. The excavated rock, known as muck, is transferred through
openings in the cutter head to a belt conveyor, where it runs through the machine to a system of conveyors or muck cars
for removal from the tunnel.
Open-type TBMs have no shield, leaving the area behind the cutter head open for rock support. To advance, the machine
uses a gripper system that pushes against the side walls of the tunnel. Not all machines can be continuously steered while
gripper shoes push on the side-walls, as in the case of a Wirth machine which will only steer while ungripped. The machine
will then push forward off the grippers gaining thrust, At the end of a stroke, the rear legs of the machine are lowered, the
grippers and propel cylinders are retracted. The retraction of the propel cylinders repositions the gripper assembly for the
next boring cycle. The grippers are extended, the rear legs lifted, and boring begins again. The open-type, or Main Beam,
TBM does not install concrete segments behind it as other machines do. Instead, the rock is held up using ground support
methods such as ring beams, rock bolts, shotcrete, steel straps, Ring steel (Pat 2011) and wire mesh (Stack, 1995).
In fractured rock, shielded hard rock TBMs can be used, which erect concrete segments to support unstable tunnel walls
behind the machine. Double Shield TBMs have two modes; in stable ground they can grip against the tunnel walls to
advance. In unstable, fractured ground, the thrust is shifted to thrust cylinders that push off against the tunnel segments
behind the machine. This keeps the significant thrust forces from impacting fragile tunnel walls. Single Shield TBMs operate
in the same way, but are used only in fractured ground, as they can only push off against the concrete segments
Soft ground TBMs
In soft ground, there are three main types of TBMs: Earth Pressure Balance Machines (EPB), Slurry Shield (SS) and open-face
type. Both types of closed machines operate like Single Shield TBMs, using thrust cylinders to advance forward by pushing
off against concrete segments. Earth Pressure Balance Machines are used in soft ground with less than 7 bar of pressure.
The cutter head does not use disc cutters only, but instead a combination of tungsten carbide cutting bits, carbide disc
cutters, and/or hard rock disc cutters. The EPB gets its name because it is capable of holding up soft ground by maintaining
a balance between earth and pressure. The TBM operator and automated systems keep the rate of soil removal equal to
the rate of machine advance. Thus, a stable environment is maintained. In addition, additives such as bentonite, polymers
and foam are injected into the ground to further stabilize it.
In soft ground with very high water pressure and large amounts of ground water, Slurry Shield TBMs are needed. These
machines offer a completely enclosed working environment. Soils are mixed with bentonite slurry, which must be removed
from the tunnel through a system of slurry tubes that exit the tunnel. Large slurry separation plants are needed on the
surface for this process, which separate the dirt from the slurry so it can be recycled back into the tunnel.
[citation needed]

Open face TBMs in soft ground rely on the fact that the face of the ground being excavated will stand up with no support
for a short period of time - this makes them suitable for use in rock types with a strength of up to 10MPa or so, and with
low water inflows. Face sizes in excess of 10 metres can be excavated in this manner. The face is excavated using a
backactor arm or cutter head to within 150mm of the edge of the shield. The shield is jacked forwards and cutters on the
front of the shield cut the remaining ground to the same circular shape. Ground support is provided by use of precast
concrete, or occasionally SGI (Spheroidal Graphite Iron), segments that are bolted or supported until a full ring of support
has been erected. A final segment, called the key, is wedge-shaped, and expands the ring until it is tight against the circular
cut of the ground left behind by cutters on the TBM shield. Many variations of this type of TBM exist.
While the use of TBMs relieves the need for large numbers of workers at high pressures, a caisson system is sometimes
formed at the cutting head for slurry shield TBMs.
[6][7]
Workers entering this space for inspection, maintenance and repair
need to be medically cleared as "fit to dive" and trained in the operation of the locks