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We cut rock and concrete.From one side.

When one small piece has to come out,and everything around it has to stay.

Tell us about your projectSee how it works
  • Patented in Norway. Patent pending internationally.

Working with the industry

What it is

The blade cuts the material. The water drives the blade.

A pump outside sends water down a slender arm and spins a diamond blade. As it cuts, the head turns, so the arm can follow the blade into the cut. Everything works from one side.

Prototype test in granite. Also tested in concrete.
Illustration of the system: a pump unit on the floor sends pressurised water through a hose to the arm, which is mounted on a rail against a rock face
Pump, hose, arm and rail: the whole system works from one side.
See how it works in detail

The everyday problem

A small removal can become a big operation.

Before anything comes out, the team has to reach the cut, protect what stays, release the material and lift it out.

  • Retaining wall

    A new opening in a wall that holds back the ground.

  • Foundation

    Old concrete in the way of something new.

  • Tunnel

    Room for new equipment, next to cables that must stay.

  • Building

    A new shaft or doorway in a building still in use.

Often, the expensive part isn't what comes out. It's everything around it that can't be touched.

Evidence so far

Built and tested. Now heading into the field.

Successive prototypes have cut rock and concrete on our test rig. Our prototype has cut 50 cm into stone, with the arm following the blade into the cut. It is built to go deeper than one metre.

A boulder split by a narrow, straight slot, with a prototype diamond blade resting beside it
Rock. A slot cut through a boulder, with a prototype blade beside it.
A deep, narrow slot cut into the face of a concrete test block
Concrete. A slot cut into a test block with an earlier prototype.
  1. Tested

    Cutting rock and concrete with successive prototypes.

  2. In progress

    Head, arm, drive, mounting, controls and pump into one working system.

  3. Ahead

    A first field pilot at Evanger, planned with Eviny and Mesta.

See development
People in hard hats and high-visibility clothing inspecting the rock walls of a tunnel
Tunnel setting. Not Rockslice equipment.

Where we start

Tunnels and hydropower first.

Norway's tunnel upgrades run past 2030, and NVE sees room to upgrade and expand existing hydropower plants. New equipment has to fit into spaces built for something else. That creates the difficult removals we are developing Rockslice for.

Sources: Norwegian tunnel upgrade plans, NVE.

  1. FirstTunnels and hydropowerOpenings, room for equipment and shaft work.
  2. To assessUtility crossings and concrete rehabilitationRelated jobs that use the same cut.
  3. AmbitionReuse what comes outA piece cut out whole could be used again. Not yet a result.

Our aim: to rebuild the world from what already exists.

See applications

Who we are

It started with a garage on a rock site in Bergen.

A small amount of rock had to go, but everything around it made the job hard. A game of Minecraft with the kids sparked the idea that became Rockslice.

Meet the team
Nikolai and Jesper in the Rockslice workshop, in front of the CNC machine

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In the news

Your project

What needs to go?What needs to stay?

Tell us about a job where something must be removed in a tight space. We are looking for the first jobs to test on.

Tell us about your projectInvestor? We are raising now. Read more