A tunnel into the future

Tunnel construction offers great potential for innovation, but the complexity of the projects, time pressures and high risks are common reasons why tried-and-tested methods – which could, however, be improved – are often relied upon. Head of Laboratory Matthias Flora and the team at the new CD Laboratory for Mechanised hard-rock tunnelling 4.0 at the University of Innsbruck are therefore conducting basic research aimed at enabling greater efficiency and quality in this field.

Central to this is the combination of construction data with simulations and machine learning: Here, the practical experience of the commercial partners Illwerke vkw AG, DIBIT Messtechnik GmbH, Implenia Österreich GmbH, Sika Österreich GmbH, Skava Consulting ZT-GmbH and VERSUCHSSTOLLEN HAGERBACH AG is fed into a continuously updated ‘digital twin’ in the form of an interactive virtual tunnel model. This will yield insights that will contribute to shorter construction times, lower construction costs and fewer risks in tunnel construction.