I can't find this at Slashdot. I went on for hours and answer a ton of questions. A couple of days later, I was still answering questions. More and more info piled in and we were able to find online documents squirreled away in strange places.
It was a neat write up and a bunch of people helped and asked questions. I'd link it, but it seems to have gone missing.
Either way, it was a hell of a project. I had nothing to do with it. I do know some of the folks involved but was retired before this and I mostly worked East of the Mississippi.
Ah well... There is a lot that goes into infrastructure. It was awesome getting to see it. My favorite work was field work. I'd escape the office and do field work out of dinghy hotels. Someone has to collect the data.
So, I've seen them tunnel, blast, pave, line, and more. I've helped sign crews and driven a grader. None of that was actually a part of my job, but I am a five year old.
Either way, boring holes is tough and things break a lot. Equipment is often single use or rented. It's pretty fancy stuff. It is really just a bunch of men with heavy equipment playing in the dirt and mud - which is as awesome as you might imagine.
I used to get a police escort as I'd drive our data car down the highway. The reflectometer grabbed the data from the lane markings and stored them in the computer in the trunk. I can do that for hours. But, I digress...
You can watch documentaries and see how they bore tunnels. That's like watching a cooking show. If you get to go see it in person, that is pretty sweet.
I wish I could find my previous writeup. Oh well...
The gist of it is, it is loud, dangerous, smelly, and appears to be pretty hard work. I was never allowed to touch the machine, which is for the best. It's like a monster that we've commanded to eat a hole in a mountain. That's pretty impressive.
So, if you are thinking you're burning out, maybe you can go work for the highway department for a few years. They will teach you to drive some pretty awesome stuff.