Boring Company Prepares to Dig in Vegas

The bet on the Boring Company in Las Vegas is getting more interesting. 

Pictures of the company’s efforts on the planned “Loop” have emerged on Twitter, showing the Boring company is ready to dig.

Las Vegas news site Vital Vegas shared photos on Twitter of heavy machinery staged at the dig site, including parts to the company’s boring machine, cranes, and a pile driver. 

https://twitter.com/x/status/1174391620197765120

The city is looking for a transportation solution for it’s sprawling convention center, which will stretch two miles when current construction projects are finished by 2021.

Las Vegas could become the first city to complete a commercial transportation service with the Boring Company. The price estimate for the system is reportedly $30 million to $55 million, which will be paid with money from the convention authority’s general fund, which is funded mostly by hotel room taxes in Las Vegas.

 

[GoCanes]

So while in Vegas for a conference, I thought I’d stop by to get a look at the boring hardware today ;(11/4). It appears i’m too late - they've appear to have sent it underground already!

 

[mongo]

Cool. It looks like they bored vertical holes and filled them with concrete. Then did the same between them and filled with an I beam to form the walls of the entrance hole. Minimizes impact to surrounding area and eliminated overdigging.

 

[Cosmacelf]

Cool. It looks like they bored vertical holes and filled them with concrete. Then did the same between them and filled with an I beam to form the walls of the entrance hole. Minimizes impact to surrounding area and eliminated overdigging.

That's pretty cool. Yeah, looks like the soil isn't that stable by itself.

 

[mongo]

That's pretty cool. Yeah, looks like the soil isn't that stable by itself.

Unless you are digging in bedrock (or the clay in my last house's back yard), it's hard to get vertical sides . Even if you do, OSHA wouldn't let you keep them without cave in protection (non bedrock).

 

[mongo]

Horizontal Ddgging may start today.
Elon Musk’s Boring Company to begin drilling underground tunnel in Las Vegas Friday

 

[UCF3]

How long is it supposed to take?

 

[Cosmacelf]

How long is it supposed to take?

Well, remember Gary the snail? That’s the speed they are trying to beat...

 

[mongo]

How long is it supposed to take?

Planned to be completed by January 2021.

 

[Grendal]

They've begun:
https://electrek.co/2020/01/02/elon-musk-boring-company-las-vegas-loop-under-construction/

 

[Dr. J]

They've begun:
Elon Musk’s Boring Company Las Vegas loop is under construction, going to be ready by year's end - Electrek

It looks like they've created giant Legos out of the dirt to build the wall surrounding the dirt pit!

 

[banned-66611]

So far they have built a normal tunnel using normal equipment at normal speed. Why is everyone so excited about this, it's completely uninteresting?

 

[mongo]

So far they have built a normal tunnel using normal equipment at normal speed. Why is everyone so excited about this, it's completely uninteresting?

This is the first commercial Boring Company project. One of the big pushbacks for winning Vegas was a lack of track record. Even if Boring was slower than a typical project, as long as they meet the contract timing it is a big win for them. Plus, the are getting a lot of data for the next iteration of TBM.

 

[banned-66611]

This is the first commercial Boring Company project. One of the big pushbacks for winning Vegas was a lack of track record. Even if Boring was slower than a typical project, as long as they meet the contract timing it is a big win for them. Plus, the are getting a lot of data for the next iteration of TBM.

Ah, data. The same thing that was going to get Tesla to FSD in 2017, then 2019.

I'm sure none of these other tunnel boring companies ever thought of collecting data either, I mean if the machine comes out the other end and the tunnel doesn't collapse why look at it too closely, eh?

 

[jackbowers]

This is interesting to me because the world's most expensive modern tunnel (Seattle's Alaska Way Viaduct replacement, nearly $2 billion / mile) and the world's cheapest modern tunnel (LVCC people mover, $50 million per mile) will be opening within two years of each other. This isn't just another tunnel - it's a tunnel with dramatically lower costs, with potential to make the Boring Company one of the world's largest industrial companies.

 

[Dr. J]

So far they have built a normal tunnel using normal equipment at normal speed. Why is everyone so excited about this, it's completely uninteresting?

Boring, even.

 

[mongo]

First tunnel has been dug.
The Boring Company on Twitter
LVCVA on Twitter

 

[KD5MDK]

This is interesting to me because the world's most expensive modern tunnel (Seattle's Alaska Way Viaduct replacement, nearly $2 billion / mile) and the world's cheapest modern tunnel (LVCC people mover, $50 million per mile) will be opening within two years of each other. This isn't just another tunnel - it's a tunnel with dramatically lower costs, with potential to make the Boring Company one of the world's largest industrial companies.

Isn’t 2nd Ave Subway more expensive? Also, probably not too meaningful to compare tunnels that need to exhaust fumes from ones that don’t. (Unless the point is tunnels are not a great fit for cars)

 

[ThomasD]

Will still need some sort of air exchangers

 

[moa999]

It's cheaper because it's small.
3.8m diameter is a lot less rock/dirt and a lot less concrete.

It's a lot more like a metro/train tunnel that's TBM constructed, though those still typically run at 6-7m diameter.

Your typical road tunnel at 2-4 lanes wide is the wrong shape for a TBM being rectangular which normally means more manual road header excavation.