How To Dig Your Own Underground Sandstone Tunnels!
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- Опубліковано 20 сер 2020
- Sandland is a rural property my friend bought for the purpose of digging crazy underground tunnels! This video shows how we dig passages and rooms in the sandstone bedrock at Sandland! Don't try this one at home! If you want to help dig then contact the crew through the links below!
For more info check out the Sandland website at www.tunnelcity.com, or the Facebook page at / sandland-181721285219560 - Наука та технологія
You watch ONE Colin Furze video, and all of a sudden your recommendations is all tunnels!
lol same
hahaha
Haha, wondered why this came up in my feed
im not complaining lol
😂
Collin a few months ago "Write that down write that down!"
that is some amazingly soft sandstone... I've mined the stuff in Pennsylvania and I can assure you they don't just crumble and fall apart... hydraulic splitters are needed to separate the pieces. Being that soft I'm amazed you don't have water problems.
Yeah, I’ve been doing some work in My backyard in Sydney, Australia.
The sandstone is like flint in some places. Sparking at the tip of the jackhammer. It’s just so hard.
There is probably a difference in what other minerals are mixed in. In Tennessee there is a lot of iron, and copper, mixed in.
@@rhondasisco-cleveland2665 Maybe, but they're playing with stuff that's literally like packed sand, not stone at all.
@@kleetus92 lucky them.
POV: you get this recommended from watching Colin Furze
Haha, that's awesome. I saw he was finally getting on the tunnel bandwagon :-D
This is so bloody cool! Would you mind telling me a little about how you deal with ventilation ?
We have a pipe from the surface with an electric fan, it runs constantly when we're working. As we go deeper we plan on extending some air lines. The tunnel also "breathes" to some extent through temperature differences with the outside.
A ventilation hole on top, an air suctioning hole from below.
Hot, used air goes out the top, clean air is sucked in from a lower level.
At 3:20 you can see a PVC pipe and fan.
You could take the tires off the wagons and lay pipes down for tracks. Much easier to move the sand. Also consider digging at a slight incline 1-2 degrees. Easier to get the sand out. Later on you could level it if desired. (After the vast majority is removed)
I am moving up really close to Canada in upstate NY. After I get settled down a little bit I gotta go see family in Chicago. I gotta see ya guys after I hit Chicago!! Great video!
This is so cool! What a fantastic hobby. Shame I'm not in the area otherwise I'd dig for days
woow, thats so cool! if i can ever visit the US i'll make sure to drop by and lend you a hand. looks like really exciting projects! greetings from germany and keep digging folks
I recognize all those caves in St. Paul some crazy shit under that city
This was very interesting, thanks.
Although it's a lot softer than what it's designed for, try a concrete saw. The only real issue I see is it's usually gas powered, but I imagine there are electric ones out there
Very cool. Every time I see sandland sand closeup I think of how tasty it looks. All that sand and your pond make me wonder if a hydroponic vegetable garden is feasible.
Did you guys make it to the other side of the mountain?
I WATCHED ONE COLIN FURZE VIDEO, ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So *that's* why this video is suddenly getting views, Furze stole our idea! ;-)
I absolutely want to come out here and work with y'all! I'm in Chicago but it is worth the drive.
here in iceland we dont have any sandstone but we do have palagonite which is basically volcanic sandstone formed from eruptions under ice. mountains are often made of it and i plan to dig a tunnel into one nearby my house. its about the same hardness as sandstone and very easy and fun to work with!
Very cool! I've seen something similar in Naples Italy, they have hardened volcanic ash called Tufa. Lots of tunnels dating back to the Roam empire or even earlier.
Thats so cool!
Спасибо большое! Очень интересно!
Man oh man that winch really tied that haul tunnel together.
Keep the ceilings somewhat arched, and don't go to wide unsupported and it should be safe .
Do you answer questions about support structure of DIY tunnels?
at first I was thinking "why would anyone dig a tunnel just for fun?", but I realized that there is something interesting about touching matter that has never been touched before, and which has probably been millions of years without being exposed to sunlight.. Not to mention that I've also invested a lot in my hobbies without expecting anything but fun in return :P
This is so cool!!!
awesome video
Awesome!
It would be incredible if you could create a 3D map of all the tunneling that has been done thus far so people can get a better grip on just how much work has gone into this project. Plus, I am quite curious to see how the tunnels are laid out in relation to one another, in order to properly assess its intricacies, and complexities!
I have a map video here, although it's a year out of date! ua-cam.com/video/519XK9oMpms/v-deo.html
I thought you were gonna say the product of sandland is the empty space inside your heart will be filled T-T
Thank you for the share
I have 40 acres in Hudspeth County and I think you give me an idea to take advantage of this 120' mound that I have of the looks like it's some sedimentary rock
I tried replying to this earlier but YT ate it. I'd suggest checking your local state geological survey, or USGS, or a major local university for geological maps. See if you can find out more details about what your hill is made of and how easy it might be to dig.
Hiring full time? Sign me up. I live in Madison. One day I hope to find a property like yours!
It's all volunteer, the owner doesn't have enough money to pay people. There are sandstone outcroppings in a few parts of the Midwest, especially along the rivers.
@@saveitforparts I figured it was volunteer. There is some sandstone carved out above the lower wisconsin river on hwy 60, between Sauk City and spring green. Private property but I somehow stumbled upon it a few years back and it peaked my interest and curiosity.
It looks like pretty soft sandstone. I started digging a shaft for a wine cellar/whatever under my previous Sydney house using a hammer and cold chisel (for a bit a relaxation in the evenings) and our sandstone can be pretty hard (especially when you hit bands of 'ironstone'). Sydney sandstone has compressive strength of 40-70 Mpa. Not sure how this compares to the sandstone at Sandland, but from the video it seems quite soft.
I've heard about the Sydney sandstone, but never been there myself (went to Melbourne once and checked out some tunnels there :-) ). There's a guy who goes by "Paleas" on UA-cam digging tunnels under a building in Sydney.
I’m glad you warned me not to try to dig sandstone tunnels at home.
This is super cool! One question though. Have you had any trouble with flooding or water leakage?
No water issues, it's all above the water table and Sandstone is pretty porous, so any moisture just kind of soaks in and disappears. The freshly-mined sand is actually a little damp, which also helps keep the dust down!
Man, sandstone's so cool. It's so soft, you don't even need to wear helmets or make any support structures while tunneling through it.
These days we do wear helmets and respirators, some of the footage in this one is a little older. But usually nothing significant falls from the ceiling if you maintain that arched shape.
I wish I could do this on my property. Lots of stone, but its granite.
Still the idea haunts me that i could have spaces inside the rock
Granite would take a lot more effort for sure! There are plenty of hard-rock mines, but they used heavy equipment or dynamite, so not exactly a hobby project.
Give it a shot anyway 😎😁
This makes me want to try it at home... I think there is either Gysum or Sand Stone under the dirt where I live. A sandstone tunnel would make a great fallout bunker.
Sounds awesome! Gypsum is a little less stable than Sandstone, or so I hear. Maybe easier to dig though.
@@saveitforparts I just need to start digging straight down and see what I hit. I know there is a former gypsum quarry half a mile from me so may be worth digging down.... be good when the nukes start flying.
Depending where you live, you might be able to find geological maps or well drilling records that tell you how deep the different layers are. Sometimes those are online. More cities/counties etc are also doing LIDAR surveys that show pretty accurate elevation data, if you can find a website for that you could check the elevation of the exposed gypsum at the quarry vs your place.
If you dig straight down, make sure to have some ventilation and some way to deal with water! Sandstone can erode if it gets wet and I think gypsum does even faster. Air can get stale at the bottom of a hole if there's no other vent or cross flow.
@@saveitforparts I would love to see this tunnel sometime. Want to see how it's done so I can start one
I'm a former bank robber, we used this technique for easy access below bank vault
Nice hello from Australia opal miner here Lightning Ridge NSW
Now imagine all the work the ancients had to do without power tools :)
God I'd love to have that sort of ground under my house and be able to just dig out new rooms as needed
This is awesome, recreational mining!
I watched the Colin Furze series, and then discovered there was another project much closer to home!
I live in Baldwin Wisconsin... Would be awesome if I could help dig for a day. This is the kind of stuff I love
The owner's website is tunnelcity.com and has links to his Facebook and email if you want to contact him. He's usually looking for help!
There's no address or phone number would totally love to come volunteer.
@@gaberomo7156 You can email the owner at digsandland@gmail.com, that's probably the easiest way to get ahold of him. Or Facebook messages.
This reminds me of Rambos tunnels at his house
Great remake of Home Alone. Better than the original.
I'd like to learn everything about building tunnels (e.g. how can I build a 200km tunnel system? Can I dig a tunnel under any type of materials? If so, the kind of technique to use etc). Tunnels are the future!
200 kilometres? like 120 miles?
have you run the sand though a sluice? It might have some gold!
... So, I watched a vid by that colinfurze dude, & ended up here... its 11pm at night...
... not sure if thats good or bad..
I'm going to be honest... this looks like a crazy epic undertaking.
Someday I'll have one.
When Minecraft chat tells you once to often to go touch grass🤣
Wow!
Wonder if you cold use a propane skid steer with a jack hammer attachment?
Tunnels would be larger but you could move a lot more material
We don't really want combustion engines in the tunnel, even propane puts out CO2. I've been thinking of turning my electric mini tank into a mini skid steer...
Teljes infrastruktúra😮🎉 Nagyin sok kerdésem lenne. Awesome job i would ask about imbering wo is pro in it
What is the best non mechanical tool for tunnelling have you found Eg pick axe or sledgehammer?
Probably a pickaxe, that's how most of these were dug in the old days before power tools. I don't think the tunneling crews even bothered blasting, since the sandstone is so soft.
Wouldn’t there be a miniature underground railway or an underground light railway. There have been sandstone tunnels big and large enough for a standard gauge train, heavy rail. Large sandstone tunnels are strong enough that they didn’t need stone or brick lining. But ones in the city needed concrete lining for a heavy electrical railway system. Quite interesting.
We have a short inclined railway made of wood to haul some of the sand out. We've discussed trying to do mine carts but the rubber-tired garden wagons seem to work well enough.
how is something so soft and crumbly and easy to excavate strong enough to not collapse without tunnel support beams etc? i believe you guys, you're the experts, im just watching a youtube video (youtube algorithm after watching a colin furze video, lol) but anyway, i am just surprised its that strong/ safe.
Do you know if tunneling through limestone would be significantly different in the processes used? Thanks!
Limestone is quite a bit harder, so not as easy to dig through. It tends to have fractures and cracks that you could try enlarging or use to pry out chunks, but you won't be able to carve through it like sandstone. On the plus side, limestone is more likely to have natural caves!
@@saveitforparts thank you for the reply! If I needed to tunnel through about 30 feet of limestone (enough for a human to crawl through), how would you recommend doing this?
@@maxl2994 I suppose tools like we're using could work, they would just be much slower on limestone. We currently use electric "demolition hammers", the cheapest ones are ~$100 and the name brand ones are more like $400+. We use wide spade bits, but something like a narrow chisel bit might work better for limestone. You'd likely need to re-sharpen your bit every few hours on a grinding wheel. Hope that helps!
I will look in the link thank you
so cool
I live in the same region as you it appears. I’m off the Kickapoo River valley. I’d love a tunnel from my house in the hollow on one side of a creek to my hilltop 300 feet up and 1600 feet back on the other side of the creek. Is that even remotely doable? I could start the tunnel on the other side of the creek if the creek is a huge obstacle. Gotta be mostly sandstone. I know for sure up near the top of the hill are exposed sandstone rock faces. I’d love to check out your project.
You'd have to check your local geological maps for the exact elevation and thickness of the sandstone, 300ft might end up going through several different kinds of rock. Most counties have maps and info like that online in various formats. You might want something a little more industrial than our setup for a tunnel that far. If you have good water flow you could try hydraulic tunneling (blasting the sandstone with high pressure water). And of course you'd have to check local ordinances for hillside construction and sand disposal. Parts of Wisconsin are basically still in the 1800s and haven't invented building codes or the environment yet, but other parts have laws about erosion and sediment runoff. We store our sand in a DNR-approved containment area and have it hauled away once we have a big enough pile.
can you talk about ventilation and air?
We have a fan bringing in fresh air through a duct from the surface, the stale air goes out the inclined tunnel.
I helped remove sand from big pile, truck, tractor.
Can you recommend some books to learn everything about how to build tunnels?
All the books I have are from the 1920s from my great-grandfather (a mining engineer). They're not super relevant today since they tell you how many donkeys to use for hauling :-) I'm not sure if there's a good book on small-scale sandstone tunneling.
A lot of people are missing that as a male there is something inherently calming about digging a hole. Most kids especially boys enjoy digging holes outside. As men most of us never grow out of this calming fascination. If you go to the beach and a child is digging a good hole, there will end up being several grown men watching the hole being dug. We also do this at construction sites. If someone is digging then I am watching. And most of the time want to join in the hole digging. If I had undeveloped land somewhere, I would dig holes as well.
IRL Minecraft ! I love it!
I have an urge to smoothen all the surfaces
I've thought about coming in with a wire brush and smoothing things out :-)
How to use compass in digging tunnel for exact location?
When we're doing really precise work we use something called a Disto (electronic surveying device). That way we can make sure the passage is going the right direction for the right distance to connect loops. You can use a handheld compass and tape measure as well, you just have to be really careful to line things up!
idk why but now I feel driven to dig
Just a thought could you recompress the powdered sandstone back into solid bricks for buildings and sell?.
I've experimented with that a bit: ua-cam.com/video/JzRXCfmucCA/v-deo.html
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolabra
Don't forget the period of ancient Greek and Roman Empire sappers use pickaxe mattock tool to dig / sapping tunnel. Pickaxe mattock tool without sounding of loudly. It's very quiet and calm down. On the contrary, Drilling machine and digging tunnel cracked rock machine very loudly sounds which can awaken the enemy
Easiest way is to drill a line of holes then hammer in wooden, bone ( tips of antlers) or metal pegs thus spliting off slabs that you can use. On the other hand there's Dexpan.
Work smarter not harder.
All the best Pete.
Are any of these tunnels to be used for housing?
Maybe an occasional overnight camping trip, but nothing long-term. We'd probably have to line and insulate the sandstone with something to keep the humidity down.
2:50 nice, free sand
Please make sure that no one who goes down there will carve out a real Amigara fault, my nightmares are already full thanks.
Cool
Looks like a lot of work .
Hauling the sand out is the hardest/slowest part. It's actually kind of fun though!
@@saveitforparts Yes it looks very interesting .
in decades this land will be awesome
We think it's awesome now! But hopefully people will still be visiting even when the midwest has all been paved over for Walmarts and condos!
@@saveitforparts yeh would love to see mountains get leveled and turned in to cities considering they would be ideal places for contraction if people don't mind leveling large mountain ranges but I think we need mountains over Walmart's and condos (i prefer independent owned and BANNING corporations form operation in the area cos they will steal the land from the founders eventually NEVER take investment for cooperate owned projects try keep things family owned and teach only trade skills to your kids which bennfit the town you build collage is a mugs game)
maybe if architecture can intergrade without taking too much natural land away and having an decent monorail and undergrounds network for transport you might have an amazing place to live I mean would take a visionary to see it though but who knows maybe someone is already guiding that process as we speak.
Hear me out. Underground rollercoaster.
What is the maximum depth of your excavation? Things become difficult after 100 ft or so once you reach bedrock.
We're technically IN the bedrock, it's a thick sandstone formation. Our adits are into the side of a hill so the vertical depth varies.
Wait bed rock is real?😂😂😂
@@question7615 Its where the cavemen slept. The didn't have Casper mattress' because they couldn't listen to podcasts, slept on the rock, thought it was comfy enough, and that's where we get the term from.
@@Youchubeswindon thats pretty cool not gonna lie
Made my own cheap underground storage, which leads into a cheese cave, then a wine cave and finally a bunker at the end.
That would be cool to see!
colin furze be watching this video on repeat
It would be easier to use vacuum truck system to remove the sand and it would also remove bad air
We've tried some small vacuums, can't afford a big one!
if you were using efficiency v and haste 2 that would be much easier
Does anyone know the name of the channel with I think a guy from néw Zealand Palo something who digs tunnels in an abandoned foundation or something I lost my channel and now can't find him cheers for any help on this
I think it is Paleas
@@CrunchyLimes thank you, that's him. This has been winding me up for weeks & weeks not being able to find him thanks you very much & have a good nite 👍
Make a whole home down there
How are you getting fresh air down there?
We have an air pipe and fan to the loading station. Currently we have two entrances and are digging a third at a slightly different elevation, which will also help with airflow.
@@saveitforparts keep in mind c02 is heavier that oxygen. at your deepest part you should bore a hole straight down, and blow in fresh air, this will displace the c02. keep it up, great videos
What about hard clay shale mix?
There is a clay layer but it's pretty thin and not all that hard to get through.
watch out whit the gravel bro
Yes yes yes!
Exactly.
Try this in Canada we are solid granite
Explosives are much more fun to use as excavation tool 😜👍
Do you ever have issues with flooding?
Nope, we're above the groundwater table. Any small spills tend to just soak in to the sandstone or work their way down one of the cracks.
@@saveitforparts oh thats super interesting. I live too far to visit any time soon but thats definitely a place I wanna visit next time I go on a road trip
You should put some artifacts from different cultures and different eras in the tunnels just to confuse the hell out of future archaeologists.
h elp i can not stop dig tunnel when i see sand stone i dig i can not stop please
mmm
How could you get into this
If you're interested in helping out, you can contact the owner via Facebook (search for Sandland) or on tunnelcity.com
i live in the UK sadly i mean i'd love to move to mountains and build homes in to the rock
Parts of the UK have sandstone, I think Nottingham is pretty hollow underneath!
Can you do this with limestone?
It would be a lot slower with limestone, it's not so easily broken up as sandstone. I think you could probably still do it, but the tools would wear out faster.
@@saveitforparts Appreciate the info...I was told I have limestone but it appears to be an old coral reef. The exposed parts are full of little holes and easily broken. Then you hit seems of flint. The flint has some weird crystals growing in some of it. The limestone under the ground turns into one big piece that looks more like sandstone and is wet and abrasive. I am on the edge of the Edwards Plateau in Texas. I want to make a root cellar/tornado shelter in a steep hillside but was afraid the rock was to brittle to mess with.
@@cbriangilbert1978 I can't remember if I suggested a state/college geology dept before or if that was someone else? I bet they'd know based on your elevation and location, or they'd have some bedrock maps you could consult. A smaller room like a tornado shelter would be less effort than a larger tunnel system, but would still probably be slower in limestone than sandstone. If the rock is damp then you'll probably want to vent it for food storage to control humidity, and maybe add supports in case it gets more crumbly as it dries out. I know our sandstone loosens up if it gets too dry.
By the way, the cheapest electric jackhammers I've found that are actually decent quality are "XtremepowerUS". I use the 1400W version. Yes they're a knock-off import but they seem to do OK. With any electric jackhammer you want to let it rest and cool off after about 10 minutes of heavy use, that gives you time to shovel out the material as well. If you have a compressed air tool I think you can run it longer since they're self-cooling.
@@saveitforparts Appreciate it! That is way cheaper than the ones I was looking at.
they made a place based off of minecraft thats crazy
“It’s kinda boring round these parts, nothing to do, nothing but sandstone hills. Sandstone bloody hills, wherever you turn, sandstone bloody hills, god I hate sandstone hills. What are we gonna do for amusement? Anyone got any ideas?”
I wanna do this since i was a Child