Hagerbach Test Gallery - The Underground Future Lab
Hagerbach Test Gallery - The Underground Future Lab
The Hagerbach Test Gallery (VSH) - the Underground Future Lab - is an underground research laboratory with an over 5 km long unique network of caverns and galleries. Since 2025 VSH is recognized as a Swiss Research Infrastructure of National Importance. It offers ideal real-scale conditions for research activities underground. This paper will give insight into selected demonstrator projects showing the potential of the underground space.
Examples are the Underground Edge Computing and the real scale Tunnel Digitalization Center, both offering the possibility to demonstrate and test new technologies and innovative developments. The concept of the Digital Twin will be extended to the complete VSH infrastructure to offer a broader portfolio for future R&D activities in addition to the physical testing site. The Underground Farming installation is a real-scale prototype to produce regularly in precommercial smaller quantities salads of high quality. This Innosuisse project is executed in collaboration with the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, a company active in vegetable production, as well as an engineering consultancy for underground construction. More recently, activities in carbone dioxide removal (CDR) by storing hydrochar produced from wet biomass have been launched. Cavern thermal energy storage (CTES) will be tackled with a large-scale prototype installation for R&D purposes.
Jointly with partners from academia and industry, the Hagerbach Test Gallery will further intensify its activities and infrastructure investments in the mentioned focus areas and continue establishing large-scale prototyping for both scientifically relevant and application related questions for the future.
Julien Michels; Michael Kompatscher; Felix Amberg
11th International Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics (ICPMG2026)
Session 1: New facilities, new equipment, and measuring techniques
https://doi.org/10.53243/ICPMG2026-455