Odd way to get electricity. Fusion and similar advanced technologies are not within our reach for now. Unboxing it like an IKEA furniture is highly unlikely. In case of a malfunction: shipping a simple “chip” would take months. Best case. Thinking of a centralized construction with “thousands upon thousands” of trained elite scientists … even at a 1 million city stage sounds like “lets grab it” and “you carry it” in a way.
We want solutions for the now.
Here on Earth: monopoly situations regarding infrastructure was and still is a mistake. Letting entrepreneurs handle medium and large projects would create the healthiest competition. A way faster growth. Economy will strive: that means more taxes as well. Win – win for everybody.
Decentralizing would provide speed, healthy competition, less corruption, job safety and stability.
Within this 3d wire mesh system it’s more forgiving to fail and it’s easier to correct errors. A decentralized, mostly privately built and maintained infrastructure, would bring exponential growth. Getting into solutions in a moment.
Notice this quite narrow tunnel. The background is left empty and simplistic to underline how unnoticeable it is.
Be it bare “concrete” or projected landscape.
Construction.
Fortunately, we have plenty iron on Mars. Actually, it’s the finest quality. It seems we can compact soil into bricks. None chemistry involved. Martian soil could give us stronger materials than the bricks we have here on Earth. Using lots of metal sheets and metal cables would be a great … cost effective choice.
Maybe versions of 3d printed martian ferrocrete
That’s a sketch of a boring machine. The front of the boring machine could dig and compact the earth. Compacting the earth would stabilize it immediately. We dig first … than like earth worms: we push into the walls with a great force. Putting pressure at a small section at once wouldn’t demand that much energy on our part. A “sonar” might help us to go around huge rocks. (Or we just carve into it).
Flexible … train like structures could take sharp turns. The drawing with the circle represents the section. Tank like wheels would help the machinery to go up … and down easily at any inclination. It can push into the pre compacted terrain and let it loose. Boring larger sections with the total absence of (immediately applying) “martian concrete” could speed up the process.
Notice “inverted rails” within the walls. Robots and platforms can use it for travel. They can switch lines and positions easily. They could stop to work on a section. The 2-way traffic wouldn’t be a problem at all. In terrariums they use electric cables to heat up the soil. A cheap, fast, reliable solution. We might use it as well.