If situated near residential areas, resistance to the planned facilities is likely, leading to new obligations and delays. Conditions placed on the environmental compatibility of facilities, such as reducing emissions, lead to expensive measures. Some of the facilities listed need an increased level of protection for the material or processes inside. Finally, some require uniform environmental conditions with respect to climate and low vibrations.
Building a facility in an underground cavern can be the optimal solution to meet these characteristics and requirements – underground facilities need less land, have less impact on the surrounding countryside, prevent certain objections and obligations, offer uniform environmental conditions, lead to fewer emissions and offer very high levels of protection.
Underground caverns require careful analysis of the rock mass behaviour and the support installed, especially in poor ground conditions.
For underground structures, access, supply and disposal, ventilation, cooling and safety systems must be designed differently than for structures above ground. Equally, the maintenance and upkeep of underground caverns have different characteristics. A further challenge of building facilities underground is to correctly recognise the requirements resulting from the purpose and the technical equipment in the system, so that a technically sound but cost effective solution can be found. This is an iterative process.
This experience has been gathered over decades, especially in the construction of complex military underground installations – where we are one of the leading engineering design companies in the world.
This, combined with our continuous search for innovative solutions, allows us to integrate the latest developments when delivering our services and to create cost-effective, requirements-based solutions.
Underground caverns must be adjusted to meet specific requirements. For this reason, it is important to us to understand the needs of the client, user and operator, to reach the best solution. Therefore, we develop the facility in close co-operation with our clients and their planners and specialists.