Structure Magazine Features Freese and Nichols on Tunneling

Structure magazine’s December issue features a Freese and Nichols-authored discussion of tunneling as a potential solution to the kind of disastrous flooding that Hurricane Harvey caused in Southeast Texas in 2017.

Despite soft soils and high groundwater tables in and around Houston, improvements in technology have put tunneling “at the forefront of the effort to build resiliency into one of America’s largest urban areas,” the article says.

Tunneling Services Leader Brian Gettinger wrote the article with co-authors Brad Watson, Structural Group Manager, and Mike Shiflett, Senior Geotechnical Consultant.

Freese and Nichols also led a team that recently helped the Harris County Flood Control District study the feasibility of building large-diameter, deep tunnels to convey stormwater.

Read Turning Underground to Build the Cities of the Future: Tunneling Opens the Door to 21st-Century Infrastructure Development.

Tunneling facilitates construction of an inverted siphon to move large volumes of stormwater safely underground.