Herrenknecht is a leader in Tunnel Boring Machines. But less known is they also build shaft boring machines. They are used mainly in mining industry but also from time to time for tunnelling shafts.
Herrenknecht's Shaft Boring Machine (SBM) – is capable of boring shafts in hard-rock conditions to depths of 2000 metres.
In 2019, a Herrenknecht SBM bored a 1000 metre deep and 10 meters in diameter shaft in Saskatchewan, Canada for a mining company.
https://magazine.cim.org/en/technology/a-new-era-in-shaft-sinking-en/
Another mining company Sirius Minerals is going to use Herrenknecht SBM to bore a shaft deeper than 1.5 kilometres.
https://siriusminerals.com/downloads/shaft-sinking-factsheet/
You can read about it at Herrenknecht's product page:
https://www.herrenknecht.com/en/products/productdetail/shaft-boring-machine-sbm/
two blind shafts to depths of -975 and -1,005 m and 8-11 m diameter, with #Herrenknecht Shaft Boring Roadheaders (SBRs).
"This pioneering approach is certainly a game changer for shaft sinking in soft and medium-hard rock, impacting the whole mining industry," Martin-Devid Herrenknecht says
Allow me to say it: WOW
What an engineering marvel...
Herrenknecht certainly knows its trade. What a technology!
It is maybe now more important for for tunnelling. If future tunnels are deeper it is very handy to have this machine. Underground spce use is also hot topic and this machine may come handy also there.
Well made Herrenknecht engineers
Looks like Herrenknecht is not the only company developing shaft boring machines.
South Africa's Industrial Development Corporation & Master Drilling are also reportedly working on a shaft boring machine which can bore at an impressive 1 meter in an hour "in rock as hard as mild steel".
Mining companies reel under the Covid-19 pandemic and opt to hold on to cash
@Santiago This SBM technology is important not only for the mining industry but also for the future of tunneling.
Think of the fact that, more and more tunnels are bored at bigger depths. Sometimes it is because in the same geography there are hills or so. But also increasingly you see different layers of tunnel networks in under the urban areas. Like New York, they have an existing subway tunnels built around the beginning of the 20th century and then the new tunnels come at deeper levels. You will need shafts to access these tunnels.
cover tunnel photo by: Matt Brown from London, England / CC BY
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#Herrenknecht #Germany
https://magazine.cim.org/en/technology/a-new-era-in-shaft-sinking-en/
https://siriusminerals.com/downloads/shaft-sinking-factsheet/
https://www.herrenknecht.com/en/products/productdetail/shaft-boring-machine-sbm/
herrenknecht/rio tinto shaft boring machine
www.youtube.comA new era in shaft sinking
magazine.cim.orgMechanical shaft sinking gathers momentum as new developments build on the experiences of the Jansen project in Saskatchewan
Shaft Boring Roadheader (SBR)
www.youtube.comQuick and safe construction of blind shafts down to a depth of 1,000 meters