TIME/TUBE WORLD

TIME/TUBE WORLD is a hybrid of a physical proposal and a theoretical study. The project consists of a physical proposal and a mapping of this proposal in a virtual world.


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As seen on MEGABLOG, studies of a trans-global highway and pipelines began to lead the project towards a speculative global transportation network.

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In the mapping phase of this studio, the idea of world travel was developed through a series of travel time mappings. A new world was drawn with location based on time distance rather than geographic distance from one of three "hubs"--NYC, Tokyo, and London. (The mappings may be seen here.)

Continuing with these three global cities as sites for a physical proposal, the project then moved towards a physical proposal that streamlined travel between NYC, Tokyo, and London: Tubes passing through the earth as opposed to following the curvature of the earth that would provide trans-national direct train travel.


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This idea brought up many questions as to (obviously) the feasibility of such an idea, but also as to the politics of joining nations by underground tunnels. Research of the Chunnel which joins the UK and France may be seen here. This brought further questions as to the politics of tunneling through the earth--who owns the underworld?




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As to the feasibility of tubes passing through the earth, a knowledge of the physics of traveling in these tubes was necessary. Robert Hooke studied the motion of a body passing through the earth in his theoretical Gravity Train, (diagram above) in which a body accelerated as it fell into a frictionless hole through the earth and then decelerated upon passing the center of the earth until in came to a stop on the other side of the earth.


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To reduce friction, magnetic levitation trains in a vacuum tube would be ideal. A trans-atlantic mag-lev train tube is currently being researched that would be submerged in the atlantic to allow supersonic train travel.




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Comparison of travel distance through tubes versus over land by plane.



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A cross section of Earth with the tubes in place.

Using the same methods in the 2D travel time maps above, a 3D map of the new world was produced that is a visualization of the effects of the tubes on travel efficiency. With NYC selected as a hub, the globe was modeled with the areas around London and Tokyo sunken in to create massive holes. The diagrams below are sections of this theoretical globe where you can see the shrunken space between the cities as a result of the reduced travel time.

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3D mapping/model.



Animation of new world.


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Occupying the "new world" from inside the NYC-London "hole."


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Inside the NYC-Tokyo "hole."

In previous research, the use of the excavated material from the tube drilling came into question. The image below shows the amount of material that would be extracted in the process of drilling these tubes.



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This is a speculative image of the Hudson River filled in with the displaced material. Manhattan Island is no longer an island. Similar studies could be done for the displaced earth in Tokyo and London (also located on islands.)

Desk Crit 12-04

Screenshot from Vyew session.

More information on maglev technology.

Update 12-01

Modeling a distorted globe in FormZ has proved more difficult than I imagined. Here are some work-in-progress images:





I am experimenting with using the S-Loft tool to create a shape the size of the "hole" I wish to create and then differencing this from the sphere. I would like the hole to be more organic and pull the land around it instead of just subtracting it. I would appreciate suggestions on methods and tools to do this.

Desk Crit 11-29

To study the use of direct tunnels in a more localized area, I have chosen to focus on the effects of this approach in the European Union. Since I am concerned with rail transportation, below I have traced the existing railways of the EU as well as the top five longest tunnels.



In the next image I have drawn speculative tunnels connecting the capital cities of countries in the EU.



I hope to compare the existing rail travel in the EU with my proposal of direct-route tunnels using the same methods as I used witht the travel time maps.

Research 11-27

Politics of joining nations with tunnels:

Chunnel--approximate 50-50 split in responsibility for construction and costs. Begun from both UK and French coasts and met in middle. Customs and border controls are implemented at opposite ends of tunnel. (You are considered on your destinations country's ground upon entering the train.) The trains are managed by an international joint operation between France, UK, and Belgium called Eurostar.

Why Tunnels?

• Less impact on land than bridges--ends of bridges require much more land
  
• Less impact on environment than bridges--allows for reclaiming of land, controls/lessens pollution
  
• Safer in some cases--Seikan Tunnel in Japan was built after over a thousand people died after a typhoon sunk ferries crossing the Tsugaru Strait
• Direct travel
  

Gravity Train:

Robert Hooke, when studying gravity, hypothesized with Isaac Newton about an unobstructed object passing through the earth that would accelerate at a high velocity and then begin to decelerate once it passed the center of the earth. The deceleration would cancel out its acceleration so that it would come to a gentle stop on the other side of the earth. It would take exactly 42 minutes and 12 seconds to travel from one side of the earth to the other from practically any location. The shorter the distance, the lower the velocity, and thus the more feasible this method of travel would be for humans. On BBC, a writer hypothesizes that the same principle would apply to distances as short as 1/6 of the earth's circumference--4,150 miles.

Check these out for more detailed descriptions: YouTube, Wikipedia, Damn Interesting.

Presentation 11-20-06

I am moving towards a global transportation network visualized in four dimensions. Right now I am focused on direct tunnels connecting the three global cities NYC, London, and Tokyo, that would provide passenger and freight access via high speed rail.



I chose my site based on interpretations from the mapimations. I noticed that in the London map, (which I believe is the most accurate of the three), East Asia and the US feel the greatest "pull" towards London. You can see this in the highlighted areas of the map above. I believe this pulling is due to the frequency of travel to these locations and the number of direct flights available. I discussed this in more depth in earlier blogs.

The following three maps show the transformation of the map in the fourth dimension with the global tunnel network implemented. The shift is very subtle, but it is an interesting exercise. These maps were generated in the same manner that the travel time maps were in the mapimation phase. The gray underlaid map is the geographic map. The colored map is the world mapped according to time.







Program:

• Railway for freight transport,
• Maglev passenger train railway (max speed 361 mph),
  
• pipelines for fluid and aggregate transport,
  
• airducts and ventillation shafts that penetrate the surface above the tunnel,
  
• maintenance shafts
  

Advanced modeling tools:

I am using morphing to create animations of maps that show how the proposal affects travel time. I would like to try morphing a globe I have modeled, but I am still trying to find the best way to do this. So far, the move mesh tool hasn't been too helpful.

Here is a Quicktime VR of a wire frame globe with the tunnels in place:
http://people.clemson.edu/~nathana/earthwirefmz.mov

Here is an animation of the above, slightly altered.



Using a perfected 3d globe, I would like to eventually use the same morphing techniques used in the mapimation to show how the tunnel effects travel time.

For the final review, I think it would be nice to have at least one or two critics in person while Ron and any other critics are connected with Skype and video, like we do when we have group conferences. I think speaking in person with the reviewers would result in better communication, clearer understanding, and more interactive questions. We could project our computer screens with a projector to present to those online and those in the room simultaneously.

Research 11-17-06

Some research:

Mag-lev trains: 310 mph

Deepest hole: 40,000 ft, 7.6 miles
http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF7/725.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kola_Superdeep_Borehole


Earth's Crust: 20 miles, (less under ocean)

Straight Line Through the Earth from NYC to Tokyo: 6,971 miles
....London to Tokyo: 5,945 miles
....NYC to London: 3,502 miles

Longest Railroad Tunnel: Seikan Tunnel, Japan. 33.5 mile railroad tunnel
Longest Tunnel: Channel Tunnel. 31 mi, 24 mi under sea. 7 years to construct.


World's Deepest Tunnel: Eiksand, Norway. 287 meters deep. 7,796 meters long
Proposed: 24,200 m (15 miles)--Rogfast, Norway. Deepest Point: 383 m below sea level


World's Deepest Mine: East Rand Mine. 3.5 km below surface