Another awesome tunnel video, I like the sump idea and sending the pipe down the rail, you could do with a clip on buffer to stop the tunnel bore from running off the end of the rail maybe something that catches on the rear of the tunnel bore that allows easy adjustment
It’s great seeing the different approaches to tunnelling. Due to the sides being fully supported and resisting the outward motion, I imagine they are stronger in the ground than in your test.
Finally No.4. I think you should test 2 containers on the sections, just to be double sure. Also the wet gravel looked like you had a bad curry and used the bucket as your toilet. I would love to come visit when im next in the UK. Love you videos. Cant wait for No.5 ❤
Liked and subscribed. Really interesting project, great skills with the metal fab, and the vids are very entertaining. Good luck with the tunnel, I can't wait until the next video 🍿
Add water weight and possible additional kinetic energy from a void collapse to simulate a void collapse, set it back up under the container but this time drop it from a foot high or more onto it
Part of the "fun" is the water though. The idea of building a 2nd floor deep near/under the water level makes it that much more "secret" and "daring" !... Hope the pump doesn't stop.
Brilliant bit of calculation and testing not to mention all the very clever engineering. I'm still confused why it's Tunnel "Dave" and not "Tunnel" Dave but at this point I'm too scared to ask. Carry on to the next.
I am setting up to go horizontal from a ten foot deep, three sided hole. I am thinking using the sawsall with nine-inch brick/concrete blade from Temu. If it cuts a block form, it ought to snap out. Maybe a hole for the water, with a hose, the water could be pumped out. You are definitely knee-deep.
@@Tornado_Dave It is decomposed granite. It seems the deeper it goes the more dense it becomes. So, I am at a transition zone. It still crumbles into a sand structure, easily pulverized, yet pretty firm. SW Desert Rainforest in NW Arizona. I thought you were in Aus., but you are in Britain?
@@Tornado_Dave Absolutely! But that's where the engineer shines through: combining absolutely unrelated items into a workable machine that actually makes your life easier (at least when it doesn't break down and a series of bad decisions gets it wedged in a flooded tunnel, haha)
Dave you're gloriously bonkers and I love it. I knew the gaps between the side/floor panels not being watertight would be a problem, but I'm not surprised you have a clever solution. Nice one. Keep it up mate you're doing brilliant.
Good question! Because the theme is the Great escape and I have big plans for what’s going at the end of the tunnel. Tunnel size is fine on the electric cart and is more fun than walking 😂
Horse, you could do with sumps every 4 / 5 meters as you go and stick a sock round the base of the pump or it will silt up . Great effort , you never been a quiter for sure and looking forward to see day light at the end and lad needs a tipping trailer hope your not making him shovel all that lol . R2
Novel idea... love your ingenuity... the great part is that your corregated pannels, like timbers of old in mining, give strength to you horizontal "mine shaft"... being reminded of the chunnel... they dealt with the water in their tubelar shaft under their rails with a sump pump...you may need a collection tube ( like weeping tile) to collect water at a central low point for your sump...just thinking... as Im watching, i think you are almost their anyways...
The water seems to flow to the low point where the pump is no problem, I’m having no problems digging at the moment even with the rain, just starting the 15ft now 😀
Not sure about your weight calculations Dave. I'm not being critical to be unkind, just because I'm concerned for you. You need to factor in the weight of the volume of soil above you and then factor in additional weight for water. Furthermore, you should have a bigger safety margin. If you expect a tunnel section to need to support a maximum load of say 1 tonne, you should test a section supporting a load of several times that weight. If it were my life at stake, I'd want a factor of at least 3 or 4 times the weight. Then you need to consider that although your sections are galvanised, the edges are plasma cut and no longer galvanised. Likewise, any holes drilled are going to break the galvanising. Those are going to rust over time, so they will gradually get weaker over time. Don't mean to be a killjoy, but I really don't want to read about a horrible accident in the future. Look after yourself!
Thanks for the comment, The weight calculation was probably 4 times over the actual amount as I put all the load in the middle of the section and in real life that is spread across the full width. I cut a lot of galvanised steel on my cnc plasma rather than get it laser cut as the cut edge re seals and doesn’t rust, I don’t know how it does it but I have never had any corrosion after cutting on any galvanised unless I have to sand the cut edge! It’s pretty handy that it does this 😀
Wow is that right? Never knew that. I suppose the plasma cut is a form of accelerated oxidisation, so perhaps it leaves a layer of magnetite or something? Now I'm going to have to read up on this! Keep going with your vids. Love them!
Dave for a start Colin Furse hasn't had Guy Martin in his tunnel 😅😅, so you get brownie points for that ... loving what you do but I think you need to make it bigger so you can stand In it ... 😅😅 great work tho dude 👏 👌 😊
That’s true! My theme is the great escape so want to keep the tunnel small, also I’m on the limit of how far down I can go due to flooding and if I made it 6ft high there wouldn’t be much soil left on top so may as well just dig it with the digger and save all this effort 😂 I think the tunnel size will make it better on the long run for what I have planned 😀
@tornadomotorsport I feel you dude you are doing a great job , fantastic content 👏 I think the bilge pump will work and summer is just around the corner ...
As nice as all that math was, and trust me you do a sight better than most tunnelers. It doesn't take into account the lost of pressure due to frictional loss side to side and between aggregate pieces. So the reality is you are much much safer than you need to be.
Yes I realise about the friction and the weight will be much less but thought it would be nice to demonstrate this just to prove they can handle the weight no matter what. Got to drive the digger over the top next 😂
The metal will rust and corrode and cave in with all that water and soil pressure on top. The entire top above the tunnel needs to be isolated and protected from the soil and water, and there needs to be a drain to drain out all the water that comes from the top soil above the tunnel and sides and bottom and drained away, but for that the entire tunnel will need dismantling and re doing. Then you need something else like cathodes etc, to prrotect the metal from rusting in the moist of the soil. The entire project is a disaster and a disaster waiting to happen. Problems. 1) water draining from above to the tunnel below. 2) pressure from the soil above. All I can see is a future cave in and tunnel collapse.
@@Tornado_Dave but there is nothing supporting it from collapsing from the top and sides, nothing giving the strength to hold the thin metal sides and top in place, the thin metal where they inter lock on the sides is not strong at all, infact very weak load bearing, and when the sides of the metal rust and corrode they will weaken even more ( if they have not buckle and collapse before ), once where the water corrodes the unprotected metal area and the rust eats away further along the metal, as the metal is very thin, the structural integrity will be seriously compromised. Especially with all the weight that is above it which is not being supported by any structural strength. Likewise with the sides and how it connects to the bottom, there is nothing supporting the sides and bottom, same thing as above, the sides are not locked in or supported to the bottom, there is nothing supporting them from either collapsing in or sinking further down because all the water pooling will rust the entire thing underneath, especially how the metal is so thin and unprotected from water and soil. Why you think so many mining tunnels collapse, not enough structural support, like with any building, they need a firm foundation which the sides can be fully supported on without collapsing in any direction such as left - right - front - back, and enough foundation support it can withhold vertical pressures. Then when the roof is put on, the sides needs to be strong enough to support the weight of the roof and everything that is put on the roof, which also the foundation needs to be able to withstand also. In addition to that, the roof needs to be so strong interlocked with the sides so that it does not collapse and break away from the sides, the roof needs to be strongly secured and fused into the sides so they do not collapse and break away and then have a roof cave in. With your one, I watch video after video, and never see anything protect from water and moist build up and rust and pressure from cave in, and nothing really locking the the 4 sides or any secure foundation. I keep seeing and thinking, where and when is the cave in collapse, its just a matter of time.
I can't help but feel like you've made the tunnel too small and you'll want to make it bigger in the future, so you can walk through it rather than crawl.
This is not only claustrophobic, its stupid af. If you made the tunnel 2x bigger, it would take 2 times longer to dig but it would be 10x easier to do. Plus, you could ride a card in a seated position. Allot of skill and ingenuity, but man the tunnel is just too small to be any useful and enjoyable to use.
It’s more for the effect of what it represents, it’s a recreation of the Great escape tunnel, once finished and fully operational you might see it in a different way 😀
Great episode! I'm so jealous of your metal working skills - looks awesome and is so strong. On another subject I swear tunneling is a form of rain dance 😂
Yes i agree me and colin have been battling against the weather lately, nice and dry now I have fitted the pump., 13ft in now, I’ve got it plans when at 16 ft 😀
Many of the guys who dug the tunnel were actual miners, so they knew what they were doing. Dave on the other had, well doing a great job is winging it 😊
Mine is based on the great escape and you will travel the tunnel on electric carts, I think it will be cool when it’s finished and I have bigger plans in the pipeline yet 😀
Good morning, I have been loosely following your escapades, and not leaving comment, Oops Sorry. Now that you are up to number 5. I have gone and binged the ones I missed. I give you credit for working hard. I am claustrophobic so I have had a few issues watching you, But I am just fascinated with your progress. Keep going and I will catch up in number 6. Cheers
The well was originally 33ft deep but was in bad shape at the bottom with the ground moving sideways along way, so I decided to fill it in to the good part so is now 25ft deep with 15ft below the bunker. In summer you can go all the way to the bottom as it becomes dry
11:30 I'm not sure that's correct, in that the load of the dirt above is carried at 45 degs, not all the dirt straight up&down. i.e. if part of the tunnel collapsed it would be a triangle section that would come out (like when you knock out a lintel above a window). Therefore 750kgs is probably way over estimated imo. But better safe than sorry I suppose! Good work.
@@jasonh8470 it’s an old WW2 site and the well was dug as a water supply, the buildings also had water towers next to them. I put the doorway through it.
Hi Dave, regarding your test for weight. I maybe wrong but as the container was only supported at one end by two of your tunnel section does this not mean that only quarter of the weight of the container was be held up by each tunnel section. Also do you need to consider the weight of all the water above your tunnel as well as the gravel? 🤔 whether I am right or wrong stay safe my friend.
Yes the weight was divided by 4 and also the door end is heavier on containers so about 1 tonne on each section. Also I put all the weight in the middle, in real life that weight would be spread all the way along the section. So I was 250kg over the weight and concentrated with no flex at all. Maybe I need to do a bigger test next time 😀
Very entertaining to watch your problem solving methods...a wet /dry vacuum to clean grit & gravel debris out of the nooks would be a definite asset ! Almost like hydro-vacuum operation. Tunnel on!
