Case Studies by Machine Type
Double Shield Machines
The case studies featured below showcase Robbins Double Shield machines. These machines simultaneously line the tunnel as they bore. Given that, it is impressive to note that several have set world records for advance rates. To find out more about this machine type, visit the Double Shield page. If you have questions about any of these case studies, or perhaps your own project, please contact us.
The Abdalajis tunnels
Sierra del Valle de Abdalajis, Spain
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Spain's high-speed rail network, known as AVE, involves links between the major cities Cordoba, Madrid, Seville, and Malaga. The twin 7.1 km (4.4 mile) long Abdalajis tunnels are part of this rail network and they will contribute to Spain's overall goal to keep all major cities within four hours travel time from Madrid.
Boston Harbor Project
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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The Boston Harbor Project includes one of the largest wastewater treatment plants in the United States. The project required two undersea tunnels to carry wastewater to and from the new treatment plant. One tunnel conveys treated waste water through a 15.2 km (9.4 mi) long effluent outfall tunnel beneath Boston Harbor.
The Channel Tunnel
English Channel (between England and France)
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The Channel Tunnel, one of the world's most famous tunnels, is a 50 km (31 mi) tunnel under the English Channel linking Great Britain to France. This link consists of three parallel tunnels running for 39 km (24.2 mi) under the sea. Two Main Rail Tunnels, about 30 m (98 ft) apart, carry trains from the north and from the south.
Cleveland Sewer
Cleveland, Ohio (February 2, 2005)
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The Cleveland Heights Interceptor Project is a sewer system improvement project located in the Heights/Hilltop area of Cleveland. The project is one of hundreds projects mandated by the USA Environmental Protection Agency in the wake of the Clean Water Act which required communities to improved the quality of America's river and lake water.
The Mill Creek II Sanitary Sewer Storage Tunnel
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
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The Mill Creek II Sanitary Sewer Storage Tunnel is one of many tunnels undertaken in Cleveland for the management of wastewater. The tunnel prevents sewer overflows in the Cleveland area that were due to increasing population.
South Mountain
Phoenix, Arizona
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Arizona's South Mountain water tunnel is part of a 27.3 km (17 mi) water pipeline that delivers 178 million liters (47 million gallons) of water a day to the city of Phoenix. The pipeline serves the Ahwatukee Foothills area, which has experienced 145% population growth in the last decade.
The Yellow River Water Diversion Project
Shanxi Province, China
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The Yellow River Water Diversion Project is an ambitious network of tunnels that brings water to chronically dry areas of Shanxi Province. The water system consists of multiple tunnels totaling over 100 km (62 mi) in length.
Yindaruqin Irrigation Project
Lanzhou, China
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The Yindaruqin Irrigation Project is the largest self-flowing irrigation control system in China. The project is made up of 33 tunnels that are 75 km (46.6 mi) in length and divert water from the Datong River to dry regions of China's northern Gansu Province.
Earth Pressure Balance Machines
There are a limited number of case studies featuring this machine type. The English Channel tunnel was bored many years ago by Robbins EPBMs (among other machine types) and remains one of the most high profile tunnel projects in history. Select from the list below to read more about this and other projects. If you want more information about this machine type, read the EPBM section of the website. If you have inquiries about Robbins machines for your next project or just want to know more, please contact us link.
The Channel Tunnel
English Channel (between England and France)
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The Channel Tunnel, one of the world's most famous tunnels, is a 50 km (31 mi) tunnel under the English Channel linking Great Britain to France. This link consists of three parallel tunnels running for 39 km (24.2 mi) under the sea. Two Main Rail Tunnels, about 30 m (98 ft) apart, carry trains from the north and from the south.
Tampa Bay
Tampa, Florida, USA (February 2, 2005)
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The South Central Hillsborough Intertie tunnel passes under the Alafia River in Tampa Bay. The tunnel is part of Master Water Plan Stage B, an ambitious three-stage plan to replenish Florida's depleted groundwater.
Main Beam Machines
The most famous of all of Robbins machines, the Main Beam tunnel boring machine (TBM), is probably the machine type that has been manufactured most by our company. This type of machine has exhibited very high advance rates in hundreds of projects--look at our world records page for more information. Read about some of these projects in the case studies below. Find out project details such as the year, tunnel length, geology, and machine performance data. If you want to learn more about this type of machine, visit the Main Beam section of the website. Robbins nearly always has a Main Beam TBM working somewhere in the world. To find out the latest project information, read more in the News and Information section.
Cobb County
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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The Chattahoochee Sewer Tunnel is part of a project that meets increasing wastewater capacity needs in East Cobb County. The tunnel provides flow equalization to the RL Sutton Water Reclamation Facility and curbs potential wastewater overflows due to the growing population in Cobb County.
The Epping to Chatswood Rail Link
Sydney, Australia
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The Sydney Urban Train System was extended with the addition of The Epping to Chatswood Rail Link. The extension consists of two twin parallel tunnels 12.5 km (7.7 mi) in length.
Hong Kong Cable Tunnel
Hong Kong Island, China
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The 275 KV Cable Tunnel on Hong Kong Island provides a transmission line from a power station at nearby Lamma Island. Electricity travels through the 5.4 km (3.3 mi) long tunnel via six 275 KV cables to increase power supply to residents on the eastern side of Hong Kong Island.
Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Project
Fljótsdalur Valley, Iceland
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The Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Project will create the Kárahnjúkar Power Plant to provide 4600 GWh of electricity annually to a nearby aluminum smelting plant. Three dams feed the main Hálslón reservoir and several other dams join the outflow in a combined headrace tunnel to an intake.
Lesotho Highlands Water Project
Lesotho and South Africa
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The Lesotho Highlands Water Project, a cooperative effort between Lesotho and South Africa, seeks to rejuvenate South Africa's heavily populated and arid Gaucheng Province. It's first phase began in 1992 and involved construction of the 180 m (590.5 ft) high Katse Dam, part of the Orange (Sequ) River system in Lesotho.
Dahuofang Water Tunnel
Eastern Liaoning Province, China
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The Dahuofang Water Tunnel is a large reservoir diversion project that will transport water from high rainfall areas to the dry, heavily industrialized Shenyang region of China. The total length of the tunnel is 85.3 km (53 mi) with over 60 km (37 mi) being driven by tunnel boring machines (TBM) -- one of the world's longest TBM-driven tunnels.
Little Calumet
Chicago, Illinois, USA
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The Little Calumet Leg Tunnel is the final element in Phase 1 of Chicago's long-running Tunnel and Reservoir Project (TARP). The project involves storm water storage, reservoirs, and feeder tunnels that have greatly improved water quality in Chicago-area Rivers.
The Manapouri Hydroelectric Project
Lake Manapouri, New Zealand
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The Manapouri Hydropower Station is the largest hydropower station in the country and supplies 5100 GWh of electricity annually. In 1997, the project owners, Electricity Corporation of New Zealand (ECNZ), proposed an expansion of the hydropower station from its then output of 585 MW.
Meråker
Meråker, Norway
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The Meråker Project consists of a system of power stations and underground tunnels that increase the electrical output supplying a local smelter and surrounding areas. Three lakes and several rivers supply 44 km (27.3 mi) of tunnels that feed into a generating facility in Tevla.
New Wuchieh Diversion Tunnel
Sun-Moon Lake, Taiwan
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The New Wuchieh Diversion Tunnel is part of a water transfer system that feeds into the Sun-Moon Lake Hydraulic Power Plant, one of the largest single power sources in Taiwan. Project owners Taipower commissioned the new 6.3 km (3.9 mi) long tunnel after the original Wuchieh Diversion Tunnel was found cracked and degraded after 70 years of service.
Plateau Creek
Palisade, Colorado, USA
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The Plateau Creek Pipeline was built to replace a pre-existing pipeline that supplied fresh water to rural and urban areas of Mesa County, Colorado, USA. The new tunnel provides water to 70,000 customers and has four times the hydraulic capacity of the old pipeline, which was unable to meet the District's peak water demands.
San Manuel Mine Tunnel
San Manuel, Arizona, USA
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The San Manuel Mine tunnel was developed to extend the life of the mine in Arizona. It is one of the largest underground mines in the world, but projections before the tunnel was built estimated its reserves would be depleted by 1998.
San Vicente
San Diego, California, USA
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The San Vicente Pipeline, 17.7 km (11 mi) in length, connects the San Vicente Reservoir in Lakeside, California to the San Diego County Water Authority Second Aqueduct. The pipeline is part of the Water Authority's Emergency Storage Project that will provide water to the city in the event of a drought or major earthquake.
Seymour Capilano
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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The Seymour-Capilano Water Filtration Project seeks to improve the filtration of drinking water in Vancouver, British Columbia. The completed filtration system will clean 1.8 billion liters (475.5 million gallons) of water a day and will lower the water turbidity (cloudiness) and micro-organism levels to meet federal standards for drinking water.
Exploratory Lyon to Turin Base Tunnel
Venaus, Italy
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The European Railway Network will be completed when the Lyon to Turin Base Tunnel links France and Italy through the East-West and North-South routes. Once complete, the tunnel will be one of the longest tunnels in the world at 53 km (33 mi).
The Niagara Tunnel Project
Queenston, Ontario, Canada
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The Niagara Tunnel Project is an ambitious project to tunnel 10.4 km (6.5 mi) from the Sir Adam Beck Generating Complex to above Niagara Falls. The new tunnel will increase the power supply for owner Ontario Power Generation (OPG) by 150 MW and will help to bolster the current power system, which is close to exceeding its capacity during peak months.
Small Boring Units
Small Boring Units are hard rock cutting attachments for auger boring machines (ABMs) that are less than 2 meters in diameter. SBUs have been successfully employed on hundreds of projects. Below is only a small sampling of these projects. This technology is gaining in popularity worldwide and giving utility installation contractors the competitive edge. To find out more about SBUs and other small diameter boring products, visit the Small Boring Machine section of the website. If you currently have a project in which a SBU could possibly be employed, fill out an inquiry form. For any other questions about our equipment or projects, please contact us link.
Big Sky
Big Sky, Montana, USA
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The Yellowstone Club, a private resort in Big Sky Montana, includes an 18-hole championship mountain golf course in addition to miles of ski trails. This golf course is irrigated by 318 ft (96.9 m) of pipeline from a nearby 79 million gallon reservoir.
North Carolina
Pineville, North Carolina, USA
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This project, owned by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities (CMU), required the installation of 15 miles (24 km) of pipeline south of Charlotte. The pipeline ranges from 36 inches (914 mm) to 64 inches (1.62 m) in diameter and increases the volume of water to meet higher consumer demands in the area.
Single Shield Machines
A few of Robbins Single Shield case studies are featured below. Single Shield TBMs have a shorter shield than Double Shield TBMs and have the rock boring capabilities of Main Beam TBMs. To find out more about this machine type, visit the Single Shield section of the website. In the list of case studies, there are both current and past projects featured. You can find out more about the current projects by visiting our News and Information section.
La Réunion Irrigation Project
La Réunion Island, France
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The La Réunion Irrigation Project is located in a French territory in the Indian Ocean. The project consists of a system of tunnels that irrigates sugar cane crops and provides water to the general population on the island's west side.
The Pajares Lot 4 tunnel
Asturias, Spain
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The Pajares Lot 4 tunnel is part of Spain's AVE high-speed rail link. The entire 49.5 km (30.8 mi) long tunnel will connect Asturias to the Madrid-Valladolid high-speed link. The route is divided into four lots, with two tunnels for traveling both east and west.