They stopped in the early hours of the morning when


it was time to pack up. “It was very important for us to go as far as possible


and try as many solutions,” said Blanke. The 30m goal had eluded them during the


competition because of some unanticipated challenges. They lost time when the machine hit a harder than


expected layer and modifying the cutter wheel made no difference. “Our machine could go much further but we didn’t


have enough torque at our cutterhead to loosen the material fast enough once we reached the deeper layer that was very hard,” said Blanke. “It was way harder than specified in the geology reports.” They also lost two hours when an air hose blew up


under pressure from the temperature and volume. “It wasn’t a big problem because we can drive the


jacking frame in reverse mode, fix the problem and resume drilling,” said Blanke. “The reverse gear is a new feature of our machine, made possible by the earth screw anchoring system, which can absorb both compressive and tensile forces.” The two hiccups gave TUM Boring considerations for


future competitions. “In terms of technology, the lesson learned is to


increase torque in our cutterhead. The broader learning is to not trust heavily in geology reports and do even more testing,” said Blanke. While TUM Boring’s machine is not an industry


machine, the team hopes their approach will advance tunnelling technology. “Our machine is not suitable or optimised for


industrial use but we think we are demonstrating some concepts that could be applied to industry,” said Blanke. One is the Power Pipe concept of fitting most of


the power electronics and supply systems behind the cutterhead. Dirt and vibration underground are not good companions for electronics but with only one power cable and one data cable, TUM Boring’s system reduces exposure to problems. Blanke thinks the two-clamp jacking system and the


ground screws could also be applied on larger-scale projects. “The big disadvantage of the industry approach is you


have long pullback times when you’re pulling back the frame and you can’t advance the tunnel. In our case, if you’re grabbing the pipes from the outside, rather than the back, you can advance like a worm, continuously working at very high advancement rates,” said Blanke. All TUM Boring’s technology is open source so it is


From top to bottom: Location of The Boring Company’s Not-a-Boring Competition 2025 was Bastrop, Texas, where the ground was clayey PHOTO CREDIT: TUM BORING


For European teams, such as Swissloop Tunneling and TUM Boring, the logistics of transporting their boring equipment from Europe to the US for the competition is no small undertaking PHOTO CREDIT: SWISSLOOP TUNNELING


Swissloop Tunneling’s ‘Groundhog Beta’ included a scraping mechanism and a soil conditioning foam PHOTO CREDIT: SWISSLOOP TUNNELING


Swissloop Tunneling’s propulsion mechanism consists of two identical propulsion and bracing units for a total of 16 hydraulic cylinders PHOTO CREDIT: SWISSLOOP TUNNELING


20 | July 2025


available to be adopted or adapted. “If people want to adopt it they should go for it,


if they see an improvement for their machines,” said Blanke. Perhaps the biggest benefit for industry is the


education of young engineers, who will carry their knowledge into job roles. “It is the best opportunity they can get to learn


practically,” said Blanke. “They go through the full development cycle from coming up with concepts, cost


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