For the majority of people in the UK , tunnels are a brief but essential part of daily travel avoiding the surface congestion in our cities . Very few are aware of the full extent of the engineering excellence that goes on beneath their feet as workers undertake the tasks associated with the creation of the underground spaces for road , rail , water , sewers , utilities and many more applications . The recent TV coverage of Crossrail has given the public an insight of what ‘ tunnelling ’ is all about and the general feedback tends to be one of awe and amazement . We can easily become somewhat indifferent about the significance of our daily challenges and achievements and such coverage makes people realise what does go on beneath their feet and raises the profile of the industry .