Final Say

Underground Transportation

Capsule pipelines may be part of our future

Most everyone is familiar with the drive-through window at the bank. You put your transaction into a little tube that’s shot through a pipe to the teller. Well, imagine a tube about 100 times that size, filled with cargo, shooting between the Gulf of Mexico and Dallas, and you have a glimpse into our possible future.

This March, the International Symposium on Underground Freight Transportation was held in Arlington, Texas. Individuals from Germany, Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, France, China, Japan and Canada met to discuss a burgeoning technology — pneumatic capsule pipelines (PCPs).

There are a number of benefits of PCPs, including

• Fewer trucks on city streets
• Less air and noise pollution
• Few vehicle accidents
• Speedier delivery of goods than currently possible by trucks on congested streets
• Greater reliability in freight delivery — PCPs are unaffected by inclement weather,   traffic jams and road/street repairs
• Reduced reliance on foreign oil — PCPs use electricity
• Increased security — it’s far more difficult for terrorists to attack an underground   pipeline than an aboveground structure such as a building or a bridge.

Preparing for the future

Research is going on in Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, China and the United States.
Mohammad Najafi, Ph.D., P.E., coordinator, construction engineering and management in the Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Texas, says one of the U.S. leaders in this field is Dr. Henry Liu, from the University of Missouri, Columbia.
“He was given a grant from the National Science Foundation and has actually opened a center at the University of Missouri Columbia. He has already done field experiments, theoretical analysis and other research.”

Up and running

While feasibility studies are being done here on PCPs, the real deal is taking place in Germany, where they are using something similar to the subway.
“Germany has what they call ‘cargo caps’ that travel through pipes underground,” says Najafi. “In China, they are about to use this technology for a garbage transportation system. And in the Netherlands, they want to use it for transportation from and to Airport Amsterdam.”
In the United States, PCPs ideally would be used between ports and central distribution locations. “Of course, you need the trucks to distribute,” says Najafi. “But between two locations — like the Port of San Diego to Dallas, Texas, or from the Gulf of Mexico to Houston — you could ship by pipe instead of truck.”

Is the United States ready?

Najafi believes PCPs are a viable option for the United States, especially considering

• High fuel costs
• Accident rates on the highways
•  Environmental impacts
• Predicted rise in the volume of cargo — possibly doubling in 2025

“America needs to start thinking about it. We always work under crisis. And now I think it’s about to become a crisis,” he says. “Pipeline freight transportation is very efficient. And it’s the greenest — it’s not even comparable to truck, aircraft, barges or ships.

“I think this is going to be one of the hot topics in the future.”