In the future, the vast majority of people will live in urban areas. The use of the third dimension, not only upwards but also underground, will be an essential part of urban development. Its goal is to use the surface space as open space and living space for people and social interaction, and to include the underground as part of the usable space. Potential underground applications include for instance automated freight and passenger transportation systems, high-security data centers, low-emission wastewater treatment plants, vibration-free precision factories, and climate-stable crop farms.

SCAUT bundles the accumulated knowledge, competences and technologies from underground construction as well as from other industrial sectors in order to further develop them as the first competence center of its kind worldwide and to make them available for various applications in the underground space.

SCAUT acts as a platform. It has an open know-how network and promotes the exchange of partners from a wide range of industries in order to jointly drive innovation. SCAUT regularly organizes events and workshops on current trend topics to promote the exchange between industry partners and to discuss new project approaches. In projects, SCAUT takes over the coordination & project management on behalf of the industry partners and supports in the area of promotion & marketing. All intellectual property rights (IPR) remain with the project partners.

The SCAUT working method in a nutshell (English subtitled):

SCAUT’s vision
The Swiss Centre of Applied Underground Technologies (SCAUT) is the world’s leading competency centre for the use of the underground space. It relies on high-end engineering, innovative solutions and most advanced ICT to make a substantial contribution to the creation of underground spaces for the future and to provide relief for metropolises and highly populated urban areas.

SCAUT’s mission
The Swiss Centre of Applied Underground Technologies is committed to three main tasks:
1. Innovative underground concepts
Leading network and know-how provider for the evaluation, concepts and implementation of innovative industrial usages the underground space.

2. Driving innovative technology
Facilitating technology development projects relevant in the world of underground facilities, as well as disseminating know-how by means of publications, events and networking platforms.

3. Creation of high-tech jobs
Proactively winning contracts for innovative underground projects domestically and abroad and handling them by creating and coordinating consortiums consisting of high-tech companies.

SCAUT Association
Swiss Center of Applied Underground Technologies
Rheinstrasse 4
7320 Sargans, Switzerland  
Contact

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Due to the globally increasing urbanization, and the advent of the Internet of Things, and the general pressure on surface space use, underground data centers (UDC) will gain in importance in the future of our urban environment. One aspect is proximity: they will be built closer to the users than remotely located UDC. As a result, latency can be reduced which is of great importance for instance in the case of fully automated vehicles and generally to avoid a huge traffic increase on the internet as a whole. However, advantages and disadvantages of UDCs to conventional above ground greenfield solutions depend on various parameters, either related to specific location factors or to individual user requirements.

Most of the existing UDCs are placed in former underground structures such as bunkers, mines etc. which were modified to the UDC specific requirements (brownfield solutions). In the end they are the result of a compromise and certainly not of an optimized combination of underground space development and data center requirements.

The process for finding suitable locations for new large greenfield data center takes years, not so much for construction but for land procurement, administrative and legal issues etc. Additionally, the land consumption is disproportionally high in relation to the work places created. Such data centers have an enormous energy demand and produce large quantities of heat as waste product, which traditionally is just dispersed into nature but could potentially be re-used. And finally, large greenfield surface data centers are not close to the users which makes data transmission key for an un-interrupted usage (latency and dependability).

Underground data centers can be an alternative which mitigate a lot of the negative side effects if they are located and designed accordingly. Small to medium-sized underground data centers offer an even higher potential in these regards. Additionally, they can be built up in a modular way which offers additional flexibility in their usage.

SCAUT has initiated a concept study and demo data center together with its industry partners Dätwyler IT Infra, Amberg Engineering, Siemens Switzerland and GEOEG. The project slogan is 'BELOW GROUND MEANS NEW PERSPECTIVES'.

The joint venture is currently operating an underground edge data center in a real underground cavern environment in the Hagerbach Test Gallery in Flums, Switzerland. On the one hand, this serves the further technical development and analysis of various environmental factors, on the other hand, it offers the ideal demo environment to present the concept to interested stakeholders.

More details about the project can be found on the website www.edge-computing-underground.com 

Under the title “Operational Safety Infrastructure”, SCAUT invited its members to the 2023 year-end event at this year’s host Andritz Hydro AG in Kriens. The exciting lectures provided detailed insights into various aspects and technological solutions for ensuring trouble-free operation and maintenance.

Building on the events surrounding the derailment of the freight train on August 10, 2023 in the Gotthard Base Tunnel, Milo Degiorgi and Tom Gut from SBB Infrastructure impressively described their experiences in dealing with risk analyses, their probability, and how to deal with a loss event.

Robert Binder from biprotec GmbH presented the development steps of a revolutionary new escape door that meets the highest requirements for operational safety, maintenance and cost-effectiveness.

Matthias Heimhalt from Rhomberg Sersa Rail Group provided an overview of applied, predictive maintenance systems, which, based on the latest measurement technologies, diagnose, among other things, the current condition of railway routes.

Michael Fauteck and Michael Lierau then presented an intelligent remote maintenance system that can precisely determine the system status and upcoming maintenance intervals using a wide range of operating data at the example of Hydro Powerplants.

Christian Vajda then introduced the company Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise and its network and communication solutions as a new member of SCAUT.

Felix Amberg supplemented the program with various information about the support association and projects in which SCAUT members are invited to participate.

The event was rounded off with a factory tour and a pre-Christmas reception at Andritz Hydro AG.

The event took place on December 13, 2022 in the Hagerbach Test Gallery, Flums Hochwiese. 

Focus: Sustainability in Underground Construction

This year, we presented our activities on these fields and give our partners the possibility of sharing their developments and ideas on these topics with each other in the Hagerbach Test Gallery.

SCAUT has participated to a special session during the World Tunnel Congress 2023 in Athens, held from 12-18 May 2023, ITACUS - the ITA Committee on Underground Space, co-chaired by Han Admiraal and Antonia Cornaro.

3 major issues were discussed:

· Advocacy and capacity building

· Future think

· Collaboration and knowledge building

Advocacy and capacity building we featured the ITACUS National Actions Think Deep Programme (NATDP) and how it is leading to activities at national level focusing on advocacy and capacity building, lead by Abidemi Agwor (Nigeria), Vincent Rono (Kenya) and the deputy of Her Excellency Opunimi Akinkugbe, the Nigerian Ambassador to Greece. We heard about the setting up of Think Deep Kenya and the ROWGA Think Deep Programme for Cities that was setup in Nigeria. Two students who won the essay competition joined us live from Lagos, Nigeria.

In the second part was thinking future, with Veronika Petschen, SCAUT, the Swiss Centre for Applied Underground Technology and Michael Kompatscher, Hagerbach Test Gallery in a conversation on future trends. We discussed examples of how industry can be challenged and involved in exploring new ways forward. Whether it is developing new energy solutions or designing a Mars habitat, what role can underground space play in this? Can we translate what is needed for outer space to solutions for our own planet?

We discussed how the Hagerbach Test Gallery (VersuchsStollen Hagerbach AG) Test Gallery with the help of SCAUT - and participating partners like ITACUS and Mission Earth First is interacting with pioneering startups to develop solutions for the visionary idea of living on Mars or other planets. Solutions include those that offer products/services that could make life on Mars possible. Be it solutions for constructing buildings/caverns, energy, air or water management, health & safety, transportation, food production, or communication. The goal is a self-sustaining habitat based on the principles of a circular economy. These new technologies and principles can be applied and tested in underground spaces. The so-called Mars Habitat challenge event is held annually in conjunction with Venturelab.

We then transitioned to the third and final part collaboration and knowledge building: Developing underground spaces requires collaboration between professionals from various disciplines. The Young Professionals’ Think Deep Programme (YPTDP) aims at achieving this through hands on weeklong workshops. Our most recent one was held in Gdansk, Poland. AG 1, YPTDP co-lead Petr Salak (Israel) was joined live on stage by WG11 animateur Marcel 't Hart (the Netherlands) and urban planner Konstantinos Karantzoulis (Greece) to report back on this unique way of creating multidisciplinary solutions for urban challenges. They shared four proposals which the groups had worked on during the week-long stay with a final presentation to the city government.

This summary was written using an article from ITACUS, so for more details visit: 
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/way-forward-itacus-the-ita-committee-of-underg%3FtrackingId=FHCJ2s%252B0FfgHpGG%252BW6I8uA%253D%253D/?trackingId=FHCJ2s%2B0FfgHpGG%2BW6I8uA%3D%3D

Thanks to Innosuisse, the Swiss agency for innovation boost, we got the Innocheque funding to scale up our ingenious concept underground green farming. In this frame, we will examine the possibility of growing crops, such as lettuce, in an economical and sustainable way in underground caverns.

The project will use an underground cavern in the Hagerbach Test Gallery, Flums (SG), that has been already used by the Swiss Center of Applied Underground Technologies (SCAUT), as a model facility for farming purposes. The project can count on the long-standing expertise of Forster Salatgarten AG in hydroponic lettuce cultivation and the experience of the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) in the fields of vertical farming and climate control.

The underground green farming concept is a prime example of new ways to use urban underground space. It can enhance current uses by linking these to the new concept. Food is vital to the survival of our cities, which is why growing underground is of paramount importance. The building of caverns can be financed through the sale of the spill produced which is often a valuable resource for the construction industry. Space can also be found through repurposing existing underground spaces that have lost their intended use, such as former civil defense shelters, abandoned metro stations and underground car parks. By integrating the urban uses a circular system can be created aiming at zero carbon, zero waste and zero land-use (meets criteria for green infrastructure).

Our innovative project ensures sustainable food production systems by using the concept of hydroponics. Further, its underground production location makes it safe against impacts of climate change, extreme weather, earthquakes, flooding and other geohazards, maintaining thus a suitable ecosystem (meets criteria for climate adaption measures). Being below the surface and isolated from its surroundings also means no impact on the natural ecosystem as no pesticides are used (meets criteria for risk resilience measures). In this way it is a good example of urban resilience by sheltering two of the most important social needs from surface forces.

This project is based on preliminary projects lead by SCAUT. Together with industry partners, SCAUT has developed and commissioned the first 'Underground Green Farming' prototype for a sustainable food production by using aquaponics. Aquaponic systems combine aquaculture with hydroponics in a symbiotic environment. The system works in a cycle: water from the fishponds is fed to a hydroponic system and then recirculated back to the aquaculture system. The second phase of the same project has focused on the production of lettuce underground and demonstrated that it is a possible concept.

The aim of this current project is to find out to what extent continuous year-round lettuce
production is possible and what the production costs are. We are intended to show whether and to what extent underground lettuce cultivation is worthwhile in Switzerland. This preliminary study will further enable to test unique selling points in terms of safe, high-yield and high-quality crop cultivation and whether underground production of lettuce is at all marketable. If the assessment of the position and potential in the market is deemed viable, the productions system can be tested on a larger scale.

INNOVATIVE SOLUTION FOR THE ASSEMBLY AND INSTALLATION OF PREFABRICATED CROSSCUT CLOSURES IN TUNNEL

Tunnel crosscuts connecting the running tubes are important infrastructural measures to achieve the safety goals for long tunnels. They serve as primary measure to facilitate self-rescue in case of a forced stop in the tunnel. Crosscuts allow the evacuation of people from the incident tube within a short time span to a temporary safe place.

At both end, crosscuts are terminated by walls. Access is ensured by means of safety doors. With conventional methods, the installation and electrical connection of one door in the tunnel takes a well experienced team with three workers around 3 days (based on experience in the Gotthard, Ceneri and Lötschberg Base Tunnel). This results in expensive installation hours in the tunnel, salary surcharges and unproductive travel hours. Since the wall construction is mainly done by the main contractor, accessibility to the crosscut for further installations is limited at an early stage.

Within the SCAUT project ‘Plug-in Crosscut Element (PCE)’, an integral prefabricated push-in wall element for terminating the tunnel crosscut is developed that is immediately ready for use (plug-and-play). The simple but ingenious idea: Prefabricated in the workshop, these fully functional and tested wall systems are delivered to the crosscut in the tunnel with special transport aids and adjusted with low tolerances. Elaborate on-site work, such as for formwork, concrete work, drilling and system installations and assembly, is eliminated. Therefore, installation time can be reduced to less than 90 minutes.

The advantages of such a system solution are evident:

• 15% reduction in manufacturing costs.
• Up to 90% savings in the installation and commissioning time.
• Precise prefabrication of the wall elements in a safe workshop environment.
• Exact measurement and precise pre-assembly of all elements outside the tunnel.
• Extensive testing of all assemblies and systems, such as ventilation units, control cabinets, fire dampers, doors, lighting, signs, etc. (BIM capable).
• High system security through pre-verified modules and components.
• Increased safety through lower personnel requirements in the tunnel. Most work steps can be carried out in the familiar environment of the workshop.
• Full accessibility to the crosscut for further installations up to the last possible point in time.
• Includes RFID technology for rapid component identification.

Basically, this clever system functions in every kind of cross-connecting gallery. A prerequisite for a smooth execution is a corresponding project planning during the shell construction planning as well as a 3-D laser scan of the cross-cut ends. The transport of the PCE in the tunnel can be done rail-bounded in case of a railway tunnel or on a flatbed trailer.

In the following animation video, the fabrication process, the transport and the installation workflow of the PCE is shown step by step.

Starting the project end 2016, a PCE prototype was developed and manufactured in a short time in close collaboration between the SCAUT project partners. On December 14, 2017, the SCAUT consortium under the lead of the Elkuch Group proudly presented the results of the project to a selected audience in the Hagerbach Testing Gallery (VSH). The highlight of the event was a live demonstration of the PCE prototype installation at a scale of 1:1. By that, the proof of concept under real conditions was achieved. The following live video shows a time lapse of the installation process.

As of now, live demonstrations of the PCE are shown at the Hagerbach Test Gallery (booking: https://hagerbach.ch). In addition, the PCE concept is presented by the SCAUT consortium to various interested clients and tunnel operators throughout Europe as well as at the renowned tunneling events such as the Swiss Tunnel Congress and World Tunnel Congress. A first success could already be achieved: Currently the concept is under review and in planning stage for the new high-speed tunnels in Austria.

The creation of crosscuts in tunnels requires a great deal of effort. It is difficult to integrate the construction sites for crosscuts into the work on the main drives, both logistically and technically. Every measure that helps simplify the logistical coordination and improve the quality of the work has great economic potential.

In the operating phase, however, crosscuts are of great importance because the equipment they house safeguards the operation of the subterranean system. In order to ensure this aspect, the operator of the subterranean system and the suppliers of the equipment are dependent on fast, clearly focused and comprehensive information (e.g. concerning malfunctions, failures, maintenance, etc.). If replacement of the equipment becomes necessary, this needs to be possible quickly, in an uncomplicated manner and without significant obstructions to normal operation.

This means that aspects such as the IOT (for information and control) and a modular structure of the equipment with its individual (supplier) parts (replacement by means of plug and play) are of great importance for the operating phase and therefore also offer great economic optimization potential.

SCAUT seeks to develop and operate a ‘Crosscut of the Future’ project dealing with issues of this nature in cooperation with industry and interested tunnel operators in order to be able to recognize potentials for optimization.

The new SUBSPACE ENERGY HUB at VSH (VersuchsStollen Hagerbach AG / Hagerbach Test Gallery Ltd) in Switzerland offers the ideal platform for the harmonized development, prototyping and installation of new technologies that promote best practice in sustainable energy use and storage, combining both above and underground facilities to benefit our society. This will be a model ecosystem of sustainable energy storage and delivery, above and below ground, and how it supports green energy use in future cities.

Together with the partners, VSH will be transformed into a visionary sustainable and CO2 neutral underground infrastructure where construction and operation of underground space usage will be developed, prototyped, and launched, including alternative energy sources like solar, wind, geothermal, advanced energy storage systems and built using environmentally friendly electric driven equipment, coupled with low carbon subspace design, materials, and component choices.

During the development of the model ecosystem at Hagerbach, the partners have already started and will continue to form specific workstreams focusing on establishing new benchmarks in various areas of technology, and through these workstreams partners have developed close industry networks sharing ideas, coupled with rapid development of their own knowledge.

The SUBSPACE ENERGY HUB will lay the foundation for:

• Leading the practical demonstration, debate, and efforts towards sustainable solutions, in cooperation with a vast array of cross-linked stakeholders
• Connecting the key players and foster engagement in tangible multi-sector and multinational initiatives
• Engaging with future generations, innovation leaders and decision makers
• Contributing to build a sustainable society, sharing knowledge, and developing joint vision

The SCAUT - Swiss Center of Applied Underground Technologies Partner Event on “Sustainabability in underground construction” has gathered many professionals in the innovations at the Hagerbach Test Gallery.

The event started with presentations by the various new partners of SCAUT from material technology to green energy, hosted by Veronika Petschen, like AB Tunnelling, Woertz, Peep Siitam, Connect Com, JES.

After that, we got more insides about the newly created SubSpace Energy Hub by Dr. Michael Kompatscher. Mr Dimitrios Terzis of MeduSoil Ltd made us familiar with a project on CERN – Recycle, Reinvent, Revalorise – Proof of Concept developed for CERN - which was developed together with other partners on reusing the excavation materials created by the future circular collider.

It was also interesting to find out what companies like Implenia represented by Rolf Wagenbach, MÜLLER-STEINAG Gruppe by Adrian Forrer and Bekaert by Benoit De Rivaz do to reach the sustainability targets in construction.

Das SCAUT Treffen fand am 23.03.2022 von 13'00 - 18'00h bei der Firma Dätwyler IT Infra AG in Altdorf statt.

Der Anlass fand hybrid statt.

Our first Workshop 3D Printing Underground took place on 27.09.2022.

After presenting the state of the art by Thomas Hirschi (Department Director Concrete and Waterproofing at SIKA) and Veronika Petschen (Managing Director of SCAUT), the main questions of the workshop were:

- What kind of elements in underground construction could be 3D printed of concrete?

- What is the potential for 100% 3D printed elements?

- Which use cases would be interesting for using 3D print as lost formwork or for the combination with other technologies?

- Is it possible to add openings, fixings, anchors, or other elements?

- Sustainability issues around 3D printed elements (material, fabrication, logistics, …)

- Are the new materials for 3D printing that would replace concrete, or new components for this specific sort of concrete production?

Beside the host SIKA AG, the representants of the companies Implenia, ACO, Müller-Steinag and Amberg Group participated in the workshop. After discussing the general questions about the application of 3D Printing, we analysed the possible use cases that could occur in underground construction by clearing up the advantages and disadvantages of the use of 3D printing compared to conventional methods. We successfully defined the best ranked use case and outlined the next steps.

We are very grateful for Sika for the hospitality and for the participants for their contribution!

We are happy to announce that JES is our new partner at the Tunnel Digitalization Center. JES is a leading provider of environmental monitoring solutions for traffic applications such as tunnels, car parks and road weather stations.

Their solutions involve sensors developed and manufactured by JES as well as sensors from selected other manufacturers.

If you would like to know more about JES, you find more information on their website.

ACUUS, an international, non-governmental organization dedicated to partnerships amongst experts who design, analyse and decide upon the use of our cities' underground spaces, is organizing the fully virtual conference ACUUS2020 on 3-4 February 2021 under the slogan 'Deep Inspirations'.

Klaus Wachter, Managing Director of SCAUT will give a presentation on the SCAUT 'Underground Green Farming' project and highlight the innovative use of the underground space to produce food locally in urban areas. The presentation is scheduled in Session 15 ‘Sustainability and Environment’.

More details and the full conference programme can be found at www.acuus2020.org

With Underground Green Farming, SCAUT together with industry partners offers a solution that provides an alternative for the lack of arable land through degradation of soil and contributes to providing food security.

We would like to invite you to the third webinar in the series "Hagerbach NXT 50: Innovation, inspiration and demonstration of underground spaces" on December 16, 2020.

The focus of this webinar will be on SCAUT: Klaus Wachter will co-moderate the event live from the Hagerbach test gallery and will present the on-going SCAUT projects together with the participating industry partners: Tunnel Digitalization Center, Edge Computing - Underground! and Underground Green Farming.

In the second part, a round table with SCAUT members will discuss the importance of collaboration and partnerships for the development of innovation and outline topics for future SCAUT projects. We invite you to actively participate and bring your questions into the discussion.

For more information, visit the Hagerbach NXT 50 website.

The webinar will be held in English.

Cybersecurity war das Thema am SCAUT Partner-Event "Digitalisierung für Sicherheit" vom 23.3.2022.

Nach der Begrüssung durch Felix Amberg (Vorstand-Vorsitzender SCAUT), Veronika Petschen (Geschäftsführerin SCAUT) und Johannes Müller (Vorstandsmitglied, CEO Dätwyler Infra IT), wurden verschiede Aspekten der digitalen Sicherheit thematisiert. Raphael Reischuk (Head of Cyber Security, Zühlke Gruppe) erläuterte anhand von 8 Punkten die zunehmende Bedeutung von Cyber Security. Mit seinem Fazit: Eine absolute Cyber-Sicherheit gibt es nicht und es kann heute Jeden, ob gross oder klein, treffen, zog er eine zwar einleuchtende, aber auch beunruhigende Bilanz. Thomas Freuler (CEO Spaeter Gruppe) bestätigte diese Aussage in seinem Referat, war doch die Spaeter Gruppe das Opfer eines Cyberangriffes geworden. Er schilderte anschaulich, was sich dabei abspielte und wie das Management und die IT-Abteilung durch diesen Angriff gefordert waren. Adrian Bolliger (Geschäftsführer Europa, Dätwyler IT Infra AG) zeigte auf, wieso Edge Computing Datacenters vorteilhaft sein können für die Datensicherheit, vor allem auch zur IT-mässigen Sicherstellung von Produktionsprozessen.

IOT und 5G vergrössern nicht nur die Datenmengen erheblich, sondern zwingen auch zu zusätzlichen Schutzmassnahmen. Biometrische Identifizierung und zertifizierte Sicherheitssysteme und -prozesse wurden durch Rainer Stocker (Gründer & Partner Swiss1mobile & Collana Group) und Reto Amstad (Senior Security Consultant, Cyone Security AG) in einem guten Überblick dargestellt. Yvette Körber (CEO, Amberg Loglay AG) gab einen kurzen Einblick in die Probleme der digitalen Sicherheit von Daten am Bau (BIM etc.).

Im Anschluss an die Vorträge führten Mitarbeiter der Dätwyler AG die Teilnehmer durch die Dätwyler-Werke und erläuterten nebst Aspekten der Produktion auch den aktuellen Stand von Industrie 4.0 bei Dätwyler.

Der Partner-Event fand in Altdorf bei der Firma Dätwyler statt. Die Teilnehmer des Hybridevents haben die Möglichkeit eines physischen Treffens genutzt um sich persönlich wieder einmal treffen und austauschen zu können . Das Event wurde mit einem Apero abgeschlossen.

The last months were not that easy for SCAUT: We faced various restrictions in our activities due to covid measures, but above all felt that the SCAUT Managing Director position was vacant. The committee tried to fill the gap as good as possible, but this was by far not enough to maintain all current and planned activities of SCAUT.

We are thus very much pleased to present you the new managing director of SCAUT with this newsletter – and hopefully soon also physically. Veronika Petschen holds a master’s degree in civil engineering of the Technical University of Budapest and accumulated a lot of experience as project manager in tunnel and infrastructure projects in the last 12 years. In this she has applied various digital technologies (BIM, point clouds, AI etc) and participated in digitalisation – and r&d projects. In the last two years Veronika Petschen was involved in the SCAUT project of the tunnel digitalisation centre too. She thus has a good technical background and already a deeper insight into SCAUT. She is motivated and committed to further develop and build up SCAUT. Veronika Petschen started 1. February 2022 as managing director and will work part time.

The committee is looking forward to the collaboration with Veronika Petschen and is convinced that she, together with the committee and the members of SCAUT, will stimulate SCAUT with exciting and future oriented activities.

Felix Amberg
Chair of the SCAUT Committee

Event by ITACUS, Hagerbach Test Gallery in collaboration with THE HUS.institute and SCAUT

Invitation to the second webinar Hagerbach NXT 50 ‘Moving beyond the obvious’
November 11, 2020 13.55 - 15.00 CET

For more information visit the Hagerbach NXT 50 website.

The webinar will be held in English only.

In April 2021, the world's first salad from underground production was harvested in the Hagerbach Test Gallery. The SCAUT consortium has thus demonstrated that, in addition to fish production, underground vegetable production is possible under the prevailing conditions. The harvested salad has been processed and consumed directly in the tunnel restaurant.

Convince yourself and learn more about the SCAUT project ‘Underground Green Farming’ in the following video https://youtu.be/l5tc47JznsI

On Friday 14 February 2020 a workshop will be held at the ITA office in Geneva, Switzerland. It aims at creating awareness on urban underground space as well as demonstrating how underground spaces can contribute towards achieving the global goals for sustainable development.

SCAUT's managing director Klaus Wachter is invited as a speaker and will present the concept studies 'Underground Green Farming' and 'Underground Data Center' SCAUT is currently working on. Special emphasis is being placed on needs and potential for symbiosis.

Digitalisierung und insbesondere Building Information Modelling (BIM) sind derzeit in der Bauindustrie allgegenwertig. BIM betrifft jedoch nicht nur die Planung, sondern die gesamte Wertschöpfungskette. Doch was bedeutet BIM eigentlich in der Ausführung oder aus Sicht eines Zulieferers? Welche digitalen Workflows und Werkzeuge gibt es bereits, die mir hier helfen können? Welche Use Cases könnten auch für mich interessant sein?

On June 18, 2021, Hagerbach Test Gallery celebrates its 50th birthday in the form of a hybrid event. You can expect a varied programme consisting of exciting presentations and discussion rounds as well as demonstrations directly from the tunnel. Participants can join physically on site as well as online via live stream.

SCAUT will actively participate in the programme: At 10:15 AM Klaus Wachter, Managing Director of SCAUT Association, will present the current projects and activities on the main stage with the support of different testimonials. After that, live demonstrations of the SCAUT projects "Edge Computing - Underground!" and "Tunnel Digitalization Center" will take place in the tunnel, which can also be followed online via live stream.

On Tuesday, 29th of October 2019, the launch event of the Tunnel Digitalization Center took place in the SCAUT Corner at Hagerbach Test Gallery with about 40 selected guests from the construction industry. The project is a joint initiative by SCAUT, Amberg Engineering, Siemens Switzerland, Elkuch Group and HBI Haerter.

After an introductory presentation on digitalisation and the offered opportunities for the construction industry, SCAUT's Managing Director Klaus Wachter presented the project Tunnel Digitalization Center as well as the involved industry partners. The second part happened in the gallery at the SCAUT Corner, where the partner representatives presented common use cases and demonstrated the interaction with the real tunnel environment. At the concluding apero, the newly gained impressions and presented applications were discussed in a relaxed atmosphere and new contacts were made.

The Tunnel Digitalization Center (TDC) offers the unique opportunity to experience the interaction and the transformation from real to digital in a real tunnel environment. New technologies and innovative concepts can be demonstrated live at a 1: 1 scale, leading to a better understanding of complex operations and processes.

ACUUS, an international, non-governmental organization dedicated to partnerships amongst experts who design, analyse and decide upon the use of our cities' underground spaces, is organizing the fully virtual conference ACUUS2020 on 3-4 February 2021 under the slogan 'Deep Inspirations'.

Klaus Wachter, Managing Director of SCAUT will give a presentation on the SCAUT 'Underground Green Farming' project and highlight the innovative use of the underground space to produce food locally in urban areas. The presentation is scheduled in Session 15 ‘Sustainability and Environment’.

More details and the full conference programme can be found at www.acuus2020.org.

Today's food production often happens «In Door», from greenhouse-grown vegetables to mushrooms, fish and insects. So why not growing food underground? What are the advantages of this innovative approach towards farming with respect to environment, climate and logistics?

SCAUT is organising a business-event on the subject of 'Underground Farming' together with its partner Swiss Food Research and SVIAL. The event takes place on 17^th of September 2019, 1 p.m. – 6 p.m. at Hagerbach Test Gallery and will be held in German language.

We would like to invite you to the third webinar in the series "Hagerbach NXT 50: Innovation, inspiration and demonstration of underground spaces" on December 16, 2020.

The focus of this webinar will be on SCAUT: Klaus Wachter will co-moderate the event live from the Hagerbach test gallery and will present the on-going SCAUT projects together with the participating industry partners: Tunnel Digitalization Center, Edge Computing - Underground! and Underground Green Farming.

In the second part, a round table with SCAUT members will discuss the importance of collaboration and partnerships for the development of innovation and outline topics for future SCAUT projects. We invite you to actively participate and bring your questions into the discussion.

For more information, visit the Hagerbach NXT 50 website and register today!

The webinar will be held in English.

• Provides food security due to stable 'local' provision of food independent of time and location
• Improves food/feed safety as the use of pesticide and fertilizers can be reduced to a minimum and non-genetically modified foods are produced
• Significant water and energy savings given an efficient, stable and highly controlled environment
• Reduction of carbon footprint (along the entire supply chain as stated in the proposal)
• Economic model, to be easily implemented around the globe. The model includes underground space creation and use.

"We need to change radically the next decades to allow humankind to survive and sustain itself."

Mission Earth First (MEF) aims at systemic change and the creation of self-sustaining communities and cities. Its target is to find new ways for humanity to survive by linking outer space with underground space. Using the unique environment at the Hagerbach Test Gallery enables and stimulates a new way of thinking.

Joining the MEF initiative allows SCAUT to present its innovative concepts to a wider audience including government, academic, industrial, and civil society partners and join forces. In this context we are pleased to announce that SCAUT together with MEF is organizing the next webinar of the HAGERBACH NXT 50 series on December 16, 2020, titled "SCAUT - innovating for underground space". Further details will follow shortly.

Klaus Wachter, Managing Director of SCAUT was invited by UK based Reby Media to speak about the SCAUT Underground Green Farming project in their Tunnelling Podcast and to discuss how tunnels could become homes to farms of the future.

The Podcast can be listened to via the following link:

https://tunnelling.reby.media/2020/09/30/underground-farms-of-the-future/

In the project 'Construction 4.0 - Digital Reinforcement', SCAUT developed a process for SPAETER Group to digitally transfer production-relevant data from the BIM model directly to the machine.

VIDEO LINK 

The 4^th General Assembly of SCAUT association on 22.06.2020 was held for the first time in the form of a video conference due to the current situation.

After the presentation of the annual report 2019 by Felix Amberg, president of the association, the SCAUT members got informed about the financial situation and upcoming events in 2020. Klaus Wachter, Managing Director of SCAUT, gave an overview on the projects SCAUT is currently working on such as 'Underground Data Center' and 'Tunnel Digitalization Center'.

At the meeting Johannes Müller, CEO of Daetwyler Cabling Solutions AG, was elected as a new member of the SCAUT steering board. We would like to congratulate Johannes on his election and look forward to working with him in the future.

The Office for Economy and Labour of the Canton of St. Gallen has commissioned SCAUT to carry out a feasibility study for the underground development of the Tamina Gorge.

Within the framework of the spatial tourism development concept (RTEK) Bad Ragaz and Pfäfers, the Tamina Gorge is to be upgraded. In addition to a staging of the thermal spring and various measures in the old Bad Pfäfers, the concept provides for a new development of the Tamina Gorge from Valens. Special attention will be paid to a possible endangerment of the thermal spring Pfäfers, which is very important for tourism and economy.

Im Auftrag der SPAETER Gruppe hat SCAUT gemeinsam mit seinem Partner Amberg Engineering ein innovatives Konzept resp. einen Prozess entwickelt, wie produktionsrelevante Daten aus BIM Modellen gewonnen und direkt an die Maschine weitergegeben werden können.

In einem ersten Schritt wurde der heutige Arbeitsablauf analysiert. Die Übermittlung der produktionsrelevanten Informationen erfolgt überwiegend in Form einer PDF Liste. Neben einer aufwendigen manuellen Arbeitsvorbereitung führt dies dazu, dass jegliche Informationen bezüglich Konstruktion und Position der Bewehrung verloren gehen.

Anschliessend wurden verschiedene Software-Tools für die Erstellung von 3D Bewehrung evaluiert und gängige Standard-Austauschformate verglichen. Anhand eines 3D Bewehrungsmodells konnten relevante Daten für die Entwicklung des neuen Produktionsprozesses abgeleitet werden. Dabei wurde eine Checkliste jener Attribute erarbeitet, die zwingend im Modell zu definieren und exportieren sind. Kern dabei ist die Übertragung eines zusätzlichen Attributs, das die Position der Bewehrung im Modell eindeutig definiert und diese Information somit für alle nachfolgenden Produktionsschritte nutzbar macht.

We are happy to announce that the Laboratory of Soil Mechanics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL) has joined SCAUT as an associate member.

The Laboratory of Soil Mechanics (LMS) is one of the laboratories within the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering of EPFL. Besides the conventional geomechanical research activities, the group headed by Prof. Lyesse Laloui gives priority to the protection of environment, landforms and structures from geo-hazards and industrial damage. Current research topics include energy geostructures, soil bio improvement, CO₂-storage, shale gas extraction and nuclear waste storage.

The Smart Infrastructure unit at Siemens Switzerland Ltd intelligently connects energy systems, buildings and industries. With immediate effect, the company becomes a further industrial partner to contribute its know-how to the SCAUT project 'Edge Computing – Underground!'.

In autumn 2019, the prototype of a modularly designed data center, developed for underground installation, was presented fort the first time in the Hagerbach Test Gallery. The project, led by SCAUT together with the industrial partners Dätwyler Cabling Solutions and Amberg Engineering, aims to use underground space for edge data centers in order to be close and energy efficient tot he end-user and to save the limited and expensive space on the surface.

For further information, please visit the website: https://edge-computing-underground.com

Download press release, 14. February 2020

On Wednesday, 05 February 2020, the brokerage event 'BIM to avoid media disruption' took place in Dietlikon. Around 50 interested guests attended in the event. The aim was an open exchange about the previous experiences of the individual partners with BIM and digitisation and a joint discussion about the current challenges and possible solutions.

The presentation (only in German) can be downloaded here: 

On Friday 14 February 2020 a workshop will be held at the ITA office in Geneva, Switzerland. It aims at creating awareness on urban underground space as well as demonstrating how underground spaces can contribute towards achieving the global goals for sustainable development.

SCAUT's managing director Klaus Wachter is invited as a speaker and will present the concept studies 'Underground Green Farming' and 'Underground Data Center' SCAUT is currently working on. Special emphasis is being placed on needs and potential for symbiosis.

Further information can be found at https://about.ita-aites.org/wg-committees/itacus/news-announcements

We are happy and proud to announce that SCAUT's entry 'Underground Green Farming' has won the ITA Tunnelling Award 2019 in the category 'Innovative Underground Space Concept of the year'.

All finalist projects were presented during a one-day conference on 18^th of November 2019 in Miami, USA. The winner for each category was unveiled during a banquet on the same evening. The list of winners by category can be found on the awards website: https://awards.ita-aites.org/winners

Underground Green Farming (UGF) is a prime example of new ways to use urban underground space. Food is vital to the survival of our cities, but land is scarce, which is why growing underground will be vital in the future. Together with industry partners, SCAUT has developed and commissioned the first UGF prototype for sustainable food production by using aquaponics (fish and food production in one same system).

Our project centers on the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development and a Circular Economy. By integrating various urban needs and uses of underground space, we reduce the impact on the urban environment. We aim to develop a concept to achieve food security for mega cities and urban regions utilizing the underground space.

In edition 04-2019 of the English Journal GeoResources a technical contribution about the Plug-in Crosscut Element as well as an interview with Klaus Wachter about the vision and current projects of SCAUT association has been published.

The edition of the journal can be downloaded by using the link below:

On Tuesday, 29^th of October 2019, the launch event of the Tunnel Digitalization Center took place in the SCAUT Corner at Hagerbach Test Gallery with about 40 selected guests from the construction industry. The project is a joint initiative by SCAUT, Amberg Engineering, Siemens Switzerland, Elkuch Group and HBI Haerter.

After an introductory presentation on digitalisation and the offered opportunities for the construction industry, SCAUT's Managing Director Klaus Wachter presented the project Tunnel Digitalization Center as well as the involved industry partners. The second part happened in the gallery at the SCAUT Corner, where the partner representatives presented common use cases and demonstrated the interaction with the real tunnel environment. At the concluding apero, the newly gained impressions and presented applications were discussed in a relaxed atmosphere and new contacts were made.

On Wednesday, 18^th of September 2019, the launch event of the underground edge data center took place in our data center cavern at Hagerbach Test Gallery. About 50 selected guests attended, ranging from IT and construction industry professionals to representatives from the data center community.

After the welcome statement of Felix Amberg, SCAUT's Managing Director Klaus Wachter took over the moderation and hosted the event. As introductory presentations the CEO of Dätwyler Cabling Solutions, Johannes Müller, explained the main trends in Digitalisation and IOT. Antonia Cornaro, Business Development Manager at Amberg Engineering talked about trends in urbanisation and the requirements for cities to have edge data centers close to the users in urban areas. These will increasingly need to be underground. After that, the guests were invited to a guided tour of the underground prototype installation with Dätwyler's experts present to explain the technology powering the data center.

The project, led by SCAUT, aims to use underground rooms for Edge Data Centres in order to save the limited and expensive space on the surface. The 'Edge Computing – Underground' concept was developed in collaboration with Dätwyler Cabling Solutions and Amberg Engineering as a cost-effective, space-saving and secure solution for the challenges of smart cities.

Learn more about our new innovative concept Edge Computing – Underground! developed by SCAUT together with our industry partners Dätwyler Cabling Solutions and Amberg Engineering at https://edge-computing-underground.com

How does the food production of the future look like? What role can be played by the underground space? Together with our partner Swiss Food Research and SVIAL we have discussed these questions and the potential of underground food production with 50 participants at our business-event 'Underground Farming' at Hagerbach Test Gallery.

The program included a versatile mix of interesting presentations and exciting discussions and a guided tour of the SCAUT prototype installation at Hagerbach. At the concluding apero, the newly gained impressions were discussed in a relaxed atmosphere and new contacts were made.

With Underground Green Farming, SCAUT together with industry partners offers a solution that provides an alternative for the lack of arable land through degradation of soil and contributes to providing food security; i.e. a stable 'local' provision of food independent of time and location; in specific addressing the world protein shortage. The systems are based sustainable closed re-circulated technologies with the lowest CO2 footprint and non-recyclable waste.

Online-News of BauernZeitung (available only in German): https://www.bauernzeitung.ch/artikel/bauern-im-bunker-taucht-die-landwirtschaft-in-den-untergrund-ab

Sargans - SCAUT's 'Underground Green Farming' project is entering its second phase. The Aquaponic prototype combines the sustainable, underground cultivation of fish and salad. With the second delivery of rainbow trout from the canton of Thurgau and addi-tional personnel, the project will take the next step towards overcoming the food shortage.

Since February 2019 SCAUT operates together with international industry partners the innova-tive 'Underground Green Farming' prototype for the sustainable production of food in the un-derground by means of aquaponics. The project is now entering its second phase with another delivery of rainbow trout. For this reason, the number of employees will be increased and sup-plemented with further experts. Furthermore, an optimisation of the lighting concept for the sal-ad culture in naturally dark tunnels should ensure an even better yield.

The Aquaponic system works in a closed circuit: The water from the fish tanks, which is en-riched with nutrients via fish excrement, serves as a food source for the plants and is then re-turned to the water cycle. The prototype in the Hagerbach Test Gallery in Flums consists of three areas - fish tank, salad culture in raised beds and biofilter plant.

The use of underground space in urban areas is intended to reduce the transport costs for food and the associated traffic volume as well as exhaust emissions in the future. Furthermore, the constantly constant climatic conditions in the subsoil also reduce the CO2 footprint of cities, as less heating or cooling is required.

Nach eingehender Analyse der heutigen Prozessschritte von der Produktion bis zur Auslieferung und dem Abladen auf der Baustelle wurden verschiedene Szenarien entwickelt und unterschiedliche Technologie-Lösungen evaluiert.

Gemeinsam mit der SPAETER Gruppe wurden im Rahmen mehrerer Workshops die Vorteile der einzelnen Varianten diskutiert und gegenübergestellt. Die finale Lösung sieht nun Gebinde-Etiketten mit aufgedrucktem Bar-Code und QR-Code vor, welche bequem mit der SPAETER App auf dem Smartphone gescannt werden können. Die Informationen werden direkt in die internen Softwarepakete eingebunden und ermöglichen somit jederzeit, den Überblick zwischen den Prozessschritten zu behalten. Für Kunden ergibt sich der Mehrwert, dass sämtliche Bundinformationen mit einem Klick abgerufen werden können.  

"Das gemeinsam mit SCAUT entwickelte Konzept ermöglicht uns, für unsere Kunden einen echten Mehrwert zu schaffen und gleichzeitig auch die eigenen Prozesse zu optimieren. Die evaluierte Lösung nutzt moderne Technologie- und Kommunikationslösungen ohne Beschaffung aufwändiger Hardware. Dies ist entscheidend in einer Branche, bei der das eigentliche Verkaufsprodukt wenig Differenzierungsmöglichkeiten bietet und damit der Preis häufig im Zentrum steht."

Dr. Lukas Rohner, Spartenleiter Bau bei SPAETER Gruppe

"Mit der Einfachheit dieser Lösung wird die SPAETER Gruppe eine schnelle Optimierung der Abläufe insbesondere im Bereich Tracking der Produkte erreichen und für Ihre Kunden einen echten Mehrwert schaffen. Es ist auch gewährleistet, dass zu jedem Zeitpunkt die Anwendung ausgebaut und optimiert werden kann. Wir danken für die professionelle Zusammenarbeit und freuen uns auf weitere spannende Projekte mit SCAUT und SPAETER Gruppe."

Together with our partners Amberg Engineering and Dätwyler Cabling Solutions SCAUT has signed a MoU to develop, prototype and promote an Underground Data Center in the Hagerbach Test Gallery (VSH).

The MoU was signed by Felix Amberg (President of the Amberg Group), Johannes Müller (CEO of Dätwyler Cabling Solutions) and Klaus Wachter (Managing Director of SCAUT) in our offices in Amberg's headquarter in Regensdorf.

Flums, Switzerland – On Wednesday, February 06th 2019 a SCAUT consortium commissioned an innovative 'Underground Green Farming' prototype for a sustainable food production by using aquaponics.

Aquaponic systems combine aquaculture with hydroponics in a symbiotic environment. The system works in a cycle: water from the fish ponds is fed to a hydroponic system and then recircu-lated back to the aquaculture system.

The SCAUT prototype is situated in the Hagerbach Test Gallery in Flums, Switzerland and is composed of three parts – fish, vegetables and biofilters. The fish are grown in two water tanks. For vegetables, hydroponic gutters and tidal table systems are installed. The processing of the fish water is done by means of a mechanical filtration followed by biological filters converting the ammonia excreted by fish into nitrate well assimi-lated by plants. For growing vegetables and fruits underground, an optimized lighting installation is pro-vided. Furthermore, a biological waste treatment will be executed to run the prototype in a circular system.

The prototype installation is now used for R&D works according to a specific research program. In parallel, a SCAUT Concept study is elaborated to develop a modular generic underground aquaponic system in-cluding an economic assessment, marketing strategy and business model generation.

The SCAUT consortium working on 'Underground Green Farming' consists of the following in-dustry partners: Amberg Group, AMP Aquaponic Management Project, Biomim Innovation, Pacelum, Relux Informatik and Upcycle.

With Underground Green Farming, SCAUT together with industry partners offers a solution that provides an alternative for the lack of arable land through degradation of soil and contributes to providing food security; i.e. a stable 'local' provision of food independent of time and location; in specific addressing the world protein shortage. The systems are based sustainable closed re-circulated technologies with the lowest CO2 footprint and non-recyclable waste.

As of now, live demonstrations of the prototype are shown at the Hagerbach Test Gallery (booking: info@scaut-association.com or http://www.hagerbach.ch/fuehrungen.php). In addi-tion, the concept of 'Underground Green Farming' is presented by the SCAUT consortium to various interested clients worldwide as well as at special events.

Am Donnerstag 29.11.2018 fand der SCAUT Kundenevent zum Thema 'Angewandte Digitalisierung - Baustelle 4.0 umgesetzt' im Versuchsstollen Hagerbach statt. Über 50 interessierte Fachpersonen nutzten die Chance, mehr über innovativen Lösungen, Konzepte und Produkte im Zusammenhang mit der Digitalisierung zu erfahren und sich mit Partnern und Kollegen auszutauschen.

Nach der Begrüssung durch Klaus Wachter, Geschäftsführer des SCAUT Fördervereins, und einem spannenden Einführungsreferat von Philipp Dohmen, Vorstandsmitglied von Bauen Digital Schweiz, über Disruption und deren Auswirkungen auf die Bauindustrie wurde im Rahmen verschiedener Vorträge aufgezeigt, wie und wo Digitalisierung bereits heute in den unterschiedlichsten Bereichen der Baubranche Anwendung findet. Dies reicht von BIM in der Planung über Tracking-Lösungen und Akustiksensoren auf der Baustelle bis hin zum digitalen Zwilling im Bereich Tunnelautomatisierung.

Der SCAUT Förderverein bedankt sich herzlich bei den teilnehmenden Firmen für die interessanten Vorträge und das Sponsoring des Events.

Link zu den Präsentationen
 

In order to launch the Concept Study for Underground Green Farming two SCAUT round table discussions took place. The participants at both round tables were national and international companies which already are active on the file of innovative production technologies for agricultural products (in door, underground production etc.), as well as national research and business develop agencies. A MoU was signed to carry out the Concept Study and to build up and run a prototype as technology project.

In a nutshell, the SCAUT concept

• Provides food security due to stable 'local' provision of food independent of time and location

• Improves food/feed safety as the use of pesticide and fertilizers can be reduced to a minimum and non-genetically modified foods are produced

• Significant water and energy savings given an efficient, stable and highly controlled environment

• Reduction of carbon footprint (along the entire supply chain as stated in the proposal)

• Economic model, to be easily implemented around the globe. The model includes underground space creation and use.

Precondition for developing UGF projects is the proof of concept of a prototype. Hence the development of a scalable UGF prototype in the Hagerbach Test Gallery shall be pushed. In this context, SCAUT is in the process of developing a project with industry partners.

The previous Managing Director of SCAUT - Bruno Röthlisberger - went into well-deserved retirement on 31.12.2017. We would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his great commitment to SCAUT. 

Felix Amberg

Last Friday SCAUT hosted a round table workshop with experts and stakeholders from the agricultural and food industry to introduce and develop the concept of Underground Farming.

This innovative approach towards farming involves consideration of various technical aspects, requirements, future trends and ethical questions in the food industry. Participants openly discussed these issues and finally concluded that an underground agricultural production could offer numerous advantages with respect to environment, climate and logistics.

As a next step, a new SCAUT Technology project will be launched to develop scalable Underground Farming concepts with focus on agriculture and aqua cultures. Furthermore, the possibility of installing a prototype plant at the VSH will be considered.

On 14 December 2017, the SCAUT consortium under the leadership of the Elkuch Group introduced the project ‘Crosscut Closure Module’ to an expanded SCAUT audience. Michael Lierau, Elkuch managing director, gave a brief review of the development of the project and the collaboration with SCAUT. Afterwards, the placement of the closure module was demonstrated to the participants at a scale of 1:1 in the VSH. In less than 6 minutes, a fully equipped closure wall for a crosscut can be assembled in the tunnel from a transport vehicle so it is ready for operation.

The first official SCAUT event focusing on IoT – Construction 4.0 took place on 22 June and was well attended. The aim of the event was to present IoT – Construction 4.0 prototypes and to meet further potential partners, and a number of presentations and use cases were given to illustrate the progress made. It was an ideal occasion for sharing information and contacts on the subject of digitalisation and its future impact on construction.

Felix Amberg, President of the SCAUT development association, opened the event with a presentation on the ideas and aims behind SCAUT. He was followed by Professor Roland Küng from the Zürich University of Applied Sciences, who gave insights into how far the technology has progressed and how the Internet of Things (IoT) will change construction as we know it today.

Yvette Körber from Amberg Loglay AG described the developments that will shape construction in the future, focusing on construction in urban spaces. These construction projects can be made significantly more cost-effective and efficient through the use of connected, up-to-date data and platforms.

A tour allowed attendees to examine the SCAUT Construction 4.0 prototype, which already includes various sensor-equipped components for testing and demonstration purposes. Subsequent presentations by Geri Enderle from Müller Steinag Element AG, Michael Lierau from Elkuch Group AG and Michael Kompatscher from Versuchsstollen Hagerbach showed how these sensors, and the data they provide, can be used in a wide range of use cases to increase efficiency, in maintenance or for improving transparency in production processes.