Petra is a startup that wants to dig tunnels using superheated gas instead of crushing through rock.
The company tested the technology in an industrial park in California, heating up the stone to over 10,000 degrees. Petra settled on a slightly different method, using gas and heat to blast sheets of rock into tiny pieces, a proprietary mix the company is keeping under wraps.
Petra is hoping to change the industry by running underground utility lines instead of digging tunnels.
That may not be the most exciting prospect, but given the rapid aging of infrastructure in many countries, new technologies like this could prove to be a game-changing innovation.
Both heat and gas.
The company claims that Petra's hot gas method could cut costs by up to 80%.
Kim Abrams, CEO of Petra, said that every method that is commercially available is a high-contact method that grinds up the Earth to remove it. This is a completely new way to tunnel.
It was not always smooth sailing. When we created lava, it was holding our system in its tracks, and we just ended up melting a lot of the rock.
Petra is looking into whether the method works on other types of stone.
It is intriguing. It's not every day that Americans can enjoy uninterrupted power, and moving more electricity lines underground could mean more.
This new tech cuts through rock without grinding into it.
There is more on tunneling, including a fan page that was mocked for being stupid.
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