The Boring Company
The Boring company. Hah, love the name. At the time of writing this, I really enjoy their landing page. When you watch the two videos on it, you know what they are trying to build and why. There are two videos side by side, recording through the front window of the car. In the upper part of the videos, we see a timer, which starts at the same time in both of the videos. They are both driving to the same destination, but are taking a different route. One is going through the city and has to immediately stop at the red light in the crossroad. The other one’s path looks like the sci-fi movie. It goes vertically down with an elevator into a tunnel. The red light in the tunnel turns green and of it goes. The car accelerates, reaching a much higher speed than the other car driving in the city. The tunnel is not very big, just enough for one car. There is a constant light on the ceiling, so the driver is not in the dark. The car starts to slow down. It reaches the end of the tunnel, goes in the elevator and it shows up on the street… Almost three times faster than the other car.
This is what the Boring company is all about. They are trying to create a system of underground tunnels where we can travel faster and safer. I am not from a big city and even I can see rush hours on a daily basis. I can’t imagine what it’s like in a big city!
You may be now thinking; Ok, but why have they chosen to build tunnels instead of other infrastructure? The Boring company has provided a few benefits of the tunnels. Because the tunnels are underground, they are weatherproof. Also, they claim that the tunnels have an unlimited capacity because there is no practical limit on how many layers they can build underground. That is also why future extensions are much simpler. The tunnels are well below the surface, around 30 feet. That means no vibration or noises during the construction and operation of the tunnels. They also try to use as little land as possible for different types of transports.
At the time of writing this, they are offering different products; bare, utility, pedestrian, freight, and Loop tunnel. Bare and utility tunnels are nothing more than tunnels with some light and video system which can be installed. Pedestrian and freight tunnels are used for… well, pedestrians and freight. However, the most interesting type of tunnels is the one we haven’t talked about or even mentioned. As they have written on their web page: “Loop helps you to say goodbye to soul-destroying traffic”.
To understand what Loop is, we will cite information found on their web page: “Loop is an all-electric, zero-emissions, high-speed underground public transportation system in which passengers are transported via compatible Autonomous Electric Vehicles (AEVs) at up to 150 miles per hour through Main Artery Tunnels between stations. AEVs are Tesla vehicles (Model S, 3, and X) that operate autonomously within the Loop system.” Basically, if you have a Tesla Model S, 3, or X, you arrive at either surface, subsurface, or open-air station. There the car is strapped in an electric train, which takes over the control. Loop targets on transporting 10.000 people/hour. It differentiates from the subway system by bringing the passengers directly to the final destinations without stopping.
Now we have to mention the most exciting tunnel system; Hyperloop. “Hyperloop is an ultra-high-speed underground public transportation system in which passengers are transported at 600+ mph within a vacuum-sealed tunnel. Whereas Loop is used for shorter intra-city routes, Hyperloop will be used for longer inter-city routes.”
If this is the solution to traffic problems, why somebody hasn’t built this before? Because it is expensive… a lot. It costs from 100 million to 1 billion dollars to create a mile of tunnel. That is why the Boring company is creating its own tunnel-excavating machines, called Tunnel Boring Machines. At the time of writing this, the newest machine is called Prufrock. It is designed to tunnel greater than one mile per week, however, the long-term goal is to create tunnels at 1/10 of human walking speed, approximately 7 miles per day. Currently, they can build a tunnel for 10 million dollars per mile.
The company takes security seriously. The tunnel is made of cement blocks and other non-flammable materials. This is how they reduce the risk of fire. In a case of fire or other accidents, passengers can escape through emergency exits. Tunnels are also equipped with smoke and gas detection, ventilation system, cell service, Wi-Fi, and a wide walkway for emergency egress.
They are also trying to recycle a part of the excavated dirt into bricks and pavers for building anything from affordable houses to patios. This is how they reduce cost, time, and environmental pollution.
Why have we chosen to write about this company? Because, we can imagine what it is like to be stuck in traffic and lose a really important asset; time… time that we could spend with our loved ones, but instead we are trapped in our car. Now, we aren’t engineers, however, we believe in the team and their ability to make the project alive.
