Desert Construction

[Redleader34]

Question, In a desert, like the Sahara, with sand dunes, and the rest, ow deep can one build a building, like a military installation?

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Question, In a desert, like the Sahara, with sand dunes, and the rest, ow deep can one build a building, like a military installation?

What do you mean by "how deep" ?

[Redleader34]

I was wondering if one could build a sort of 50 meter deep military base in a deep sand desert, without having to worry about structural concerns

[Starglider]

I don't think surface terrain is going to matter; it would be limited by the local geology, the mining technology available and practical convenience. There are already mines operating economically at a depth of nearly 4 kilometres, I expect we could go deeper if needed for military purposes, but would that actually be advantageous and/or cost-effective?

[Surlethe]

The surface terrain and weather will only matter in that it bounds the cost of surveying, constructing, and maintaining the base. If you're smack-dab in the middle of the Sahara, you've got to somehow get all the food, medical supplies, and power supplies that you need for daily operation to the base from the nearest port of call, and that's after it's built. To build it, you have to make sure your men aren't going to die of thirst, hunger, or heat, and you have to get the construction equipment and materials there over hundreds of kilometers of hostile terrain. All of these factors and more will conspire to drive the cost up.

Yes, you could build a base there in theory. I doubt it would be worth the cost to build and maintain, though.