Groundhog Gamma
The longest machine the team has built.
- Length
- 8 563 mm
- Diameter
- 608 mm
- Subsystems
- 6
- Generation
- Third
Cutting head
The face of the machine, and the widest point of it: the disc that meets the ground first.
- Length
- 126 mm
- Envelope
- Ø 613 mm
- Torque
- 14 kNm
Shield
The structural tube the front of the machine is built inside. It sets the envelope and carries the reaction loads.
- Length
- 748 mm
- Envelope
- Ø 590 mm
Erosion
Breaks down the ground behind the cutting face and carries the spoil back, out of the machine's way.
- Length
- 972 mm
- Envelope
- Ø 556 mm
Navigation
The Hexamove hexapod allows the machine to change its trajectory while underground.
- Length
- 855 mm
- Envelope
- Ø 561 mm
Tunnel lining
Places the tunnel wall as the machine advances: the tunnel is finished in the same pass that excavates it.
- Length
- 3 760 mm
- Envelope
- Ø 590 mm
Propulsion
Grippers brace against the finished wall and push the rest of the machine forward.
- Length
- 3 127 mm
- Envelope
- Ø 531 mm
- Thrust
- 200 kN
Cutting face to rear grippers.
6 subsystems in 8 563 millimeters, inside a 608 millimetre bore.
The best Groundhog yet.
Gamma builds on what the team learned from Alpha and Beta. It keeps the same overall layout, with improvements to every subsystem, and at 8.56 m it is the longest machine Swissloop Tunneling has built.
Erosion test, 2025.
Rigging it, running it into the night, and digging out what it left in the ground.
Where Gamma sits in the series
Alpha proved the architecture, Beta won with it, Gamma rebuilt it even better. Project Marmot starts again from scratch.