This week’s opening of hyperTunnel’s in-house geolab at our newly established outdoor testing facility, the hOLE, will greatly reduce the expense and time involved in testing and analysing the properties of materials before and after they have been altered by the hyperTunnel process.

The new lab contains start-of-the-art equipment including shear Box, oedometer, and compression machines as well as point load, Atterberg limit and compaction apparatus to name but a few. Incorporating the latest automated technology, such a facility is rarely found outside academic settings.

hyperTunnel’s engineers now have the capacity to test all types of material properties, including moisture content, settlement, strength, hardness and particle size distribution. Additionally, specimens can now be mixed, cured, prepared and stored on site.

Results from the investigations conducted in the lab will feed directly into the engineering team’s modelling of different tunnelling scenarios.

Senior Geotechnical Engineer Tim Delport, who manages the new facility, commented, “The geolab will greatly increase our ability to quickly adapt testing schedules and interests while reducing operating costs. This is a crucial step in scrutinising and proving the hyperTunnel method to industry standard.”