Swiss engineers, led by ETH Zurich, who developed a hard rock tunnel boring machine (TBM) that simultaneously bores while using 3D printing to form the tunnel lining behind as it progresses has been singled out for a tunnelling award.

The Groundhog Alpha concept was presented by Swissloop Tunnelling at an international tunnelling innovation contest organised by Elon Musk and held in Las Vegas, United States last weekend.

The Not-A-Boring Competition was won by a German team but the Swissloop Tunnelling team secured the Innovation and Design Award for the 7m long, 2.5t TBM prototype. The Groundhog Alpha dug an 18m long tunnel during the course of the competition, which put it in second place, but it was the use of a rapid hardening special polymer mix to 3D print the tunnel lining that caught the eye of judges.

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