Underground Construction and Tunnel Engineering

Graduate Program at Colorado School of Mines

Underground Construction and Tunnel Engineering Program Overview

Some of the most important urban innovations happen underground. The only program of its kind in North America the Underground Construction and Tunnel Engineering graduate program at Mines educates top engineers on the design, construction, rehabilitation and management of underground spaces. This interdisciplinary program, offered jointly by the departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Geology and Geological Engineering and Mining Engineering, provides funded research and networking opportunities with unique industry and national lab partnerships that prepares graduates for successful careers.

The interdisciplinary graduate certificate in Underground Construction and Tunnel Engineering comprises three signature courses, totaling 10 credit hours. Two anchor courses teaches underground construction engineering in soft ground and in hard rock, while the third courses covers construction engineering and management principles.

The Master of Science program, which can be completed with or without a thesis, prepares graduates to apply design, construction, maintenance and rehabilitation techniques to structures unique to the underground space, all while considering a host of environmental and other factors. Both master’s options are built on a foundation of seven courses totaling 18 credit hours. In addition to the three courses that make up the graduate certificate, students learn about engineering geology and geotechnics and soil behavior and take lab courses that provide hands-on experience with the tools and skills commonly used in underground construction.

The thesis MS option requires a minimum of 6 credit hours in independent research, ideally focused on industry. When possible, non-thesis MS students should complete a practically focused independent study with an industry partner—this may include an internship on an underground construction and tunnel engineering project.

The PhD program requires the same core courses as the MS program and a total of 42 credit hours in coursework. PhD students must also successfully complete qualifying exams, write and defend a dissertation proposal and write and defend a doctoral dissertation. A minimum of 24 credit hours must be devoted to this research, which is expected to fundamentally advance the state of the art and be disseminated via scholarly journals and industry periodicals. PhD candidates are also expected to complete a three-month internship or, alternatively, complete an industry-focused research project via independent study.

Mines is home to the only Underground Construction Association student chapter in the U.S.

Tunnel engineers earned an average annual salary of $105,497 as of February 2021

University Transportation Center for Underground Transportation Infrastructure is the first and only UTC focused on underground construction

Program Details

Graduate Certificate

Bachelor’s Degree: Required
GRE: Not Required
Letters of Recommendation: Not Required
Resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV): Required
Statement of Purpose: Not Required. Suggested if GPA is less than 3.0/4.0
Transcript(s): Required. Must be submitted for all schools attended (unofficial transcripts accepted for admissions review and must show successful completion of any required prerequisite course(s).
For international applicants or applicants whose native language is not English, please review the ENGLISH PROFICIENCY requirement

Master’s Non-Thesis

Bachelor’s Degree: Required
GRE: Not Required
Letters of Recommendation: Required – two letters. Letters of recommendation are not required for current Mines students.
Resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV): Required
Statement of Purpose: Required
Transcript(s): Required. Must be submitted for all schools attended (unofficial transcripts accepted for admissions review and must show successful completion of any required prerequisite course(s).
For international applicants or applicants whose native language is not English, please review the ENGLISH PROFICIENCY requirement

Master’s Thesis

Bachelor’s degree: Required
GRE: Not Required
Letters of Recommendation: Required – three letters.
Resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV): Required
Statement of Purpose: Required
Transcript(s): Required. Must be submitted for all schools attended (unofficial transcripts accepted for admissions review and must show successful completion of any required prerequisite course(s).
For international applicants or applicants whose native language is not English, please review the ENGLISH PROFICIENCY requirement.

Doctorate

Bachelor’s degree: Required
GRE: Not Required
Letters of Recommendation: Required – three letters.
Resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV): Required
Statement of Purpose: Required
Transcript(s): Required. Must be submitted for all schools attended (unofficial transcripts accepted for admissions review and must show successful completion of any required prerequisite course(s).
For international applicants or applicants whose native language is not English, please review the ENGLISH PROFICIENCY requirement.

For additional information about these admissions requirements, please refer to the Admissions Requirements page

View the Mines Academic Catalog for more program-specific information

View Annual Cost of Attendance

*Allowance for fees based on mandatory fees charged to all students. Does not include fees for orientation, library, yearbook, refrigerator rental, voice messaging, ect.

At less than 4.5 credit hours, you may be ineligible for financial aid.

Degree Options

Graduate Certificates

Underground Construction and Tunnel Engineering

Master’s Non-Thesis

Underground Construction and Tunnel Engineering

Master’s Thesis

Underground Construction and Tunnel Engineering

PhD

Underground Construction and Tunnel Engineering

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Career Outcomes

Civil Designer
Civil Engineer
Construction Engineer
Construction Field Quality Control Engineer
Construction Manager
Construction Superintendent
Contractor Compliance Engineer
Design Engineer
Drilling Superintendent
Estimator
Field Engineer
Geophysicist
Geotechnical Engineer for Ground Improvement / Tunneling
Geotechnical Engineer, Power & Dams
Hydrologist
Infrastructure Manager
Land Use Engineer
Loop Operations Engineer
Mine Engineer
Mining Engineer
Port Engineer
Principal Mining Consultant
Power Generation Project Engineer
Project Controls Cost Engineer
Project Engineer
Quality Control Engineer
Structural Engineer
Survey Engineer
Transmission Line Engineer
Tunnel Boring Machine Engineer
Tunnel Construction Manager
Tunnel Construction Quality Assurance Inspector
Tunnel Shaft Superintendent
Tunnel Shift Engineer
Tunnel / Track Project Engineer
Tunnel Engineer
Tunneling Engineer
Underground Drill and Blast Engineer
Underground Engineer
Underground Geotechnical Engineer
Underground Mine Planning Engineer
Underground Mining Engineer
Underground Project Engineer
Underground Storage / Reservoir Engineer
Underground Utilities Project Manager
Underground Utility and Earthwork Estimator
Underground Works Field Engineer
Water and Wastewater Engineer

Traylor Brothers
Kiewit
Atkinson
Barnard
CBNA
Dragados
Flatiron
Frontier Kemper
Jay Dee
Granite/Kenny
Obayashi
Kajima Corporation
McNally
Michels
Lane
Schiavone
Shea
Skanska
Walsh
Hayward Baker
Malcolm
Moretrench
Nicholson
Soil Freeze
Simem Underground
Mott MacDonald
Arup
WSP
Parsons
MacMillan Jacobs Associates
HNTB
AECOM
Aldea
Brierley Associates
CDM Smith
Gall Zeidler
Jacobs
Stantec

Organizations recruiting Mines students at the 2019 Career Fair

Mines Career Center

The Mines Career Center helps students chart their career paths and prepare for job searches, holds networking events and brings hundreds of employers to campus, among a host of other services.

Scientific Journals

Research and Trade Publications

Professional Organizations

The underground construction and tunneling industry is growing. In February 2020, Tunnel Business Magazine spoke to four high-level tunneling professionals who all found much to be optimistic about in the North American tunneling market, citing continued expansion in the transportation and water/wastewater sectors in the U.S. and Canada.

Bruce Matheson of Terratec noted the many projects mandated by the U.S. Clean Water Act and the Canada Water Act to protect bodies of water. “Whilst not so glamorous as the big mega-projects, they play a vital role from an environmental point of view,” he said. “Tunneling isn’t just about mega-projects, however. Whether they are big or small, there seem to be a lot of projects about.”

“Tunneling is an exciting market to be part of, particularly as a younger professional,” said Brian Gettinger, tunneling services leader for Freese and Nichols Inc. “The industry has a growing need for leadership at all levels: project, corporate and technical management. And we are seeing challenging mega-projects get started all over the county. Excavation technology continues to improve and allow even challenging conditions to be excavated reliably and safely.”

While federal funding for transportation has flattened, local and state governments have increased their investment in tunnel construction. That, combined with the growth of public-private partnerships, has sustained growth in the industry, which is expected to grow in the next five years.

Reports on the growth of the tunnel boring machine market are also promising: it’s expected to reach $8.4 billion by 2025, from $5.2 billion in 2017, according to Allied Market Research.

This means engineers who specialize in underground construction and tunneling are in high demand. “We have 100 percent placement of our graduates,” says Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Mike Mooney, who leads the UCTE graduate program at Colorado School of Mines. He reports an average of two to three job offers for every student who completes the program.

Job titles for underground construction and tunnel engineers vary. According to ZipRecruiter, tunnel engineers earn an average annual salary of $105,517. Glassdoor pegs the average salary for senior underground engineers at $94,485 per year, while Comparably.com says the average chief underground engineer in the United States makes $124,903 yearly. Mining and geological engineers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, had a median pay of $92,250 per year in 2018.

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Underground Construction and Tunnel Engineering

Graduate Program at Colorado School of Mines