A Vision for Future Mobility: Hyperloop One and the Submerged Floating Tunnel from Estonia and Finland

• Citation: Vol. 34 No. 4
• Publication year: 2020
• topic: Construction Law,Technology,Transportation

A Vision for Future Mobility: Hyperloop One and the Submerged Floating Tunnel from Estonia and Finland

Seongbae Park

A VISION FOR FUTURE MOBILITY: HYPERLOOP ONE & THE SUBMERGED FLOATING TUNNEL FROM ESTONIA AND FINLAND

Introduction

Are you tired of long-haul flights? We are about to experience the most advanced transportation technology in history, known as the hyperloop technology, but not just yet. The idea of the hyperloop technology traces back to when Shervin Pishevar and Elon Musk shared the idea of moving vehicles at high speeds through low-pressure tubes when they were traveling together on a humanitarian mission to Cuba in January 2013.¹ Since then, there has been substantial progression in the development of new technologies for transportation purposes. One of the most striking yet problematic developments is the introduction of Hyperloop One Technology, which moves vehicles at high speeds through low-pressure tubes via underwater tunnel.² The co-founders, Josh Giegel and Shervin Pishevar, introduced Hyperloop One Technology through an American transportation technology company that they started in a garage, known as the Hyperloop One.³

A few months after a humanitarian mission to Cuba, Shervin Pishevar urged Elon Musk at a technology conference to share the idea with the public.⁴ In August 2013, Elon Musk published the Hyperloop Alpha white paper, which Shervin Pishevar presented to President Obama.⁵ President Obama, excited by the industry development, agreed to support the development and said, "[l]et me know how I can help you."⁶

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The idea of hyperloop technology development became more concrete as the executives of Hyperloop One joined European dignitaries and policymakers at the Vision for Europe Summit on June 6, 2017.⁷ At the Summit, the Hyperloop One executives and European dignitaries and policymakers discussed transforming transportations across the continent with the Hyperloop One Technology.⁸ Hyperloop One proposed various routes across the globe for the Hyperloop One Technology, which included a route from Estonia and Finland.⁹ Following the Vision for Europe Summit, on September 1, 2017, Estonia and Finland signed a letter of intent with Hyperloop One to build a ninety-two kilometer rail line in a tunnel underneath the Baltic Sea connecting Tallinn and Helsinki.¹⁰ Hyperloop One is considering three different forms of underwater tunnel construction for the Hyperloop One Technology that connects Estonia and Finland,¹¹ including: (1) Subsea bored rock tunnel; (2) Immersed tunnel; and (3) Submerged Floating tunnel.¹² The company wants to use the submerged floating tunnel form when building the underwater tunnel that will carry the hyperloop technology that connects Estonia and Finland.¹³

Building a submerged floating tunnel from Estonia and Finland, without engineering solutions, would potentially violate current international law. By introducing and explaining the various existing international conventions, treaties, and regulations, this Comment demonstrates how the construction of the submerged floating tunnel potentially violates the existing international legislation related to the sea. This Comment argues that while the construction of the submerged floating tunnel meets the majority of the existing laws such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982 (UNCLOS), Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, 1992 ("Helsinki Convention"), International Seabed Authority Regulations

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(ISA), European Union Maritime Spatial Planning Directive, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lake ("the Water Convention"), it potentially violates the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Minimum Safety Requirements for Tunnel in the Trans-European Road Network. Thus, it is insufficient to permit the construction of the submerged floating tunnels in Estonia and Finland and the interpretation of existing laws should be expanded to allow such a venture.

This Comment proceeds in three parts. Part I discusses the three forms available for the construction of underwater sea tunnel in Estonia and Finland in detail and explains that Hyperloop One seeks to utilize the submerged floating tunnel form. Part II explores the existing international conventions, treaties, and regulations related with the sea that are both compatible and incompatible with Hyperloop One Technology. Part III then argues that the construction of submerged floating tunnel as is, without engineering solutions, is not permitted as it potentially violates existing international legislation, and, that because of the violation, the interpretation of the existing law should be expanded to include the submerged floating tunnel.

I. Understanding Underwater Tunnel Construction: Three Forms

The proposed development of Hyperloop One Technology to operate in an underwater environment involves the construction of subsea tunnels.¹⁴ Hyperloop One has aspired to develop subsea floating tunnels since November 2014; advancement in building of subsea tunnels, including its engineering, materials, and design has since grown at a rapid rate.¹⁵ The prospect of building tunnels through water, which was once viewed as impossible and complex, has now become possible, even faster, and at a lower cost than before.¹⁶

Hyperloop One explained that the construction of subsea tunnels falls into three distinct categories:¹⁷

A. Subsea Bored Rock Tunnel

The most conventional form of subsea tunnel construction is the Subsea Bored Rock Tunnel, a methodology that replaced the terrestrial bored-rock

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tunneling.¹⁸ This construction process involves excavating a tunnel in rock that is under the sea.¹⁹ The process requires the use of tunnel boring machines (TBM), which are huge machines specifically designed for building tunnels.²⁰ The TBM consist of a large rotating steel cutter-head at the front of the shield that enables excavation and removal of excavated materials and, at the same time, installation of permanent reinforced concrete lining of the tunnel.²¹ This tool allows tunnels to be built through soil, rock, or a mixture of both.²²

Before the tunnel can be built, the TBM is moved underground in pieces and reassembled at the beginning of the tunnel by the launching shaft.²³ As the TBM bores, it installs the precast segmental lining to make a permanent tunnel, collects all of the excavated materials to the back of the machine, and transports them to the ground surface via the launching shaft.²⁴ Upon completion of the tunnel construction, the TBM is disassembled at the retrieval shaft at the tunnel end.²⁵

The TBM is one of the most effective methods for subsea tunnel construction because it is extremely efficient—it is capable of performing two functions simultaneously—and it reduces noise, dust and vibration since the construction takes place entirely underground.²⁶ Furthermore, it helps minimize the impact to the environment, community, and traffic as it reduces risks of settlement and maintains the structural safety of the buildings in the vicinity.²⁷

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Despite TBM's advantages, it is extremely expensive to construct, difficult to transport, and requires significant backup systems;²⁸ nonetheless, thousands of subsea tunnels that are constructed across borders have been built using TBM.²⁹ With recent advancements and construction techniques, Hyperloop One could easily develop subsea hyperloop technology via a bored-rock tunnel.³⁰

B. Immersed Tunnel

The second form of underwater tunnel construction that Hyperloop One explained is the immersed tunnel.³¹ This is the most recent and prevalent development in place..³² The immersed tunnel, also known as the Sunken Tube, is built on land and submerged under the water to its final position.³³ This method was pioneered by an American engineer named W.J. Wilgus in the Detroit River in 1903 for the Michigan Central Railroad.³⁴ This process has been widely used and more than 150 immersed tunnels have been constructed worldwide.³⁵ The common use for this process is to serve as road or rail tunnels to cross a body of shallow water, but it can also be used for water supply and electric cables.³⁶

The traditional method of constructing an immersed tunnel is to establish one or more casting basins as open excavations where the individual tunnel segments are constructed.³⁷ The tunnel elements are composed of segments, including a tunnel roof and two tubes, each with three lines in each direction sufficient in height to include tunnel signs, fans, surveillance systems, and lightning.³⁸ When the tunnel elements are completed, they are sealed in temporary bulkheads, which become the casting bins that are flooded one by one to their intended locations underwater.³⁹ Once the casting binds are flooded to

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their intended locations, they are immersed into their positions on the seabed in the dredged trench and are linked together.⁴⁰ The backfill materials are placed on the sides and over the tunnel to fill the trench and to permanently bury the tunnel.⁴¹

The construction of the immersed tunnel is extremely effective because it is cost efficient and quick to construct.⁴² It is also safer to construct as the work involved is done in a dry dock as opposed to boring beneath the river. In addition, it is extremely effective because there is minimal disruption to the environment.⁴³ Despite its advantages, immersed tunnels contain significant risks as it involves direct contact with water.⁴⁴ Risks that may occur include water leaks in the tunnel and also leaks in the tube that may have an ecological impact on the sea and the seabed as a result of the pollutants leaking out.⁴⁵ Nonetheless, this method of construction has been widely used and the most famous example is the Oresund Bridge Tunnel between Denmark and...