Watch the ‘Boring Bricks’ Being Produced

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Boring Company has shared images of its “Boring Bricks,” which are produced from earth removed in its tunneling efforts.

A short video shows the Boring Bricks being produced. They look to be roughly the size of a standard cinder block with Lego-like holes for interlocking.

Elon Musk first teased the bricks in March, saying they would be sold as a kit to recreate models of famous buildings. Later he said the bricks could be used for low-cost housing projects. 

The company also plans to use the bricks to reinforce the walls of its tunnels.

Check out the video below.[/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/g9689tikaWE” video_title=”1″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

 

[arnis]

I just bricked my phone screen.

 

[dhanson865]

This is the least interesting Boring video I've seen so far.

Still nice to know they are doing it, the bricks will be used in part to make the walls of the tunnel and the rest sold wholesale/retail/donated to reduce the overall cost of digging tunnels or make life better for those in need.

 

[wipster]

I agree, it's a boring Boring

 

[ThisIsTrue]

A dozen a minute. They'll make MILLION$!

 

[mongo]

This is the least interesting Boring video I've seen so far.

Still nice to know they are doing it, the bricks will be used in part to make the walls of the tunnel and the rest sold wholesale/retail/donated to reduce the overall cost of digging tunnels or make life better for those in need.

Tunnel walls are precast high strength cylindrical sections, not bricks. They may use some of the diggings to make the cement, but that requires the correct sand type.

Edit: I thought the video was way cool. A lot of different things going on at once.

 

[RedTesY]

Looks great! Now Elon and his minions need to use recycled plastic and glass to make something useful. Since China is not taking glass anymore, there's tons of it going to landfills. Agh!

 

[dhanson865]

Looks great! Now Elon and his minions need to use recycled plastic and glass to make something useful. Since China is not taking glass anymore, there's tons of it going to landfills. Agh!

At first I thought that sounded totally off topic, then I googled it and read an article and shifted my mindset. I had no idea China had stopped accepting plastic and glass.

 

[SW2Fiddler]

At first I thought that sounded totally off topic, then I googled it and read an article and shifted my mindset. I had no idea China had stopped accepting plastic and glass.

Can you make beaches out of glass? As in, the Old Fashioned way?

 

[VT_EE]

The more I read about The Boring Company, the more I’m convinced the entire organization is a development operation for technologies needed to colonize Mars. This brick production only makes sense to me if the ultimate goal is to use tunnel spoils for construction material on Mars. Perfect the technology here and it will ready when needed. Bricks are already cheap and plentiful on this planet. It appears the Boring bricks are make with only dirt and pressure. Not need heat them, which would require fuel of some sort

 

[Ulmo]

Looks great! Now Elon and his minions need to use recycled plastic and glass to make something useful. Since China is not taking glass anymore, there's tons of it going to landfills. Agh!

I have a use for lots of glass idea. It's one of the many businesses I wanted to start. Of course, I have no funding, so there's that.

 

[Ulmo]

The more I read about The Boring Company, the more I’m convinced the entire organization is a development operation for technologies needed to colonize Mars. This brick production only makes sense to me if the ultimate goal is to use tunnel spoils for construction material on Mars. Perfect the technology here and it will ready when needed. Bricks are already cheap and plentiful on this planet. It appears the Boring bricks are make with only dirt and pressure. Not need heat them, which would require fuel of some sort

Yes. But there's more: tunnels are transportation infrastructure, but they can also be used for electrical infrastructure and all the other utilities for that matter (communications, sewer, water) for an eventual situation in which Tesla Energy is a full on end to end utility for everyone, replacing the disgustingly communist PG&E and such. SpaceX is doing Internet, so it would be a tiny stretch for Tesla to do all the utilities. That sector is fresh for shake up.

 

[dipper]

What next? Boring car? Hahaha.

 

[dhanson865]

The more I read about The Boring Company, the more I’m convinced the entire organization is a development operation for technologies needed to colonize Mars. This brick production only makes sense to me if the ultimate goal is to use tunnel spoils for construction material on Mars. Perfect the technology here and it will ready when needed. Bricks are already cheap and plentiful on this planet. It appears the Boring bricks are make with only dirt and pressure. Not need heat them, which would require fuel of some sort

Right on the final goal, wrong on how they are made and the quality.

The bricks have added components (not just fill from the tunnel) and are claimed to be superior quality to anything currently on the market. If that is the case "cheap and plentiful" isn't their competition.

I don't know if heat is applied in the process. But I do know it is more than just dirt + pressure.


some random quotes/paraphrasing (I typed it close to a quote but didn't want to try and denote the random pauses, corrections, and such):

“Yeah, the boring bricks are interlocking with a precise surface finish, so two people could build the outer walls of a small house in a day or so,”

"Rated for California seismic loads, so super strong, but bored in the middle, like an aircraft wing spar, so not heavy."

"creating our own concrete segments on site for using in the tunnel"

"also making bricks, compressing dirt at extremely high pressures with a small amount of concrete added to the dirt."

"better than cinder block, smoother, stronger, capable of taking extremely high loads, higher compressive strength than concrete"

"about 15 to 20% of the cost of a tunnel is muck removal, putting it in trucks and hauling it away. If you instead do something useful and make a brick, even if you give it away, you just cut the cost of tunneling by 15 to 20%"

"this could be, for affordable housing, really compelling".

 

[mongo]

Right on the final goal, wrong on how they are made and the quality.

The bricks have added components (not just fill from the tunnel) and are claimed to be superior quality to anything currently on the market. If that is the case "cheap and plentiful" isn't their competition.

I don't know if heat is applied in the process. But I do know it is more than just dirt + pressure.

Guessing:
Sand (no organics), water, likely a little cement and clay and a whole lot of pressure. Nothing looked heated. High tech rammed earth.
Rammed earth - Wikipedia

 

[dhanson865]

Guessing:
Sand (no organics), water, likely a little cement and clay and a whole lot of pressure. Nothing looked heated. High tech rammed earth.
Rammed earth - Wikipedia

"The compressive strength of rammed earth is a maximum of 4.3 MPa (620 psi). This is less than that of concrete."

That doesn't jive with the presentation saying the Boring blocks have higher compressive strength.

They mentioned something near 5,000 psi in the presentation.

I don't know if these types of bricks with this exact method of construction existed as a product before Boring Company.

 

[Scott Franco]

Trying to make an important structural item from dirt is bad enough. Trying to make it from the varying types of soil that come from each particular tunnel, and even different sections of that tunnel, is worse. I predict this fails.

 

[dhanson865]

Trying to make an important structural item from dirt is bad enough. Trying to make it from the varying types of soil that come from each particular tunnel, and even different sections of that tunnel, is worse. I predict this fails.

I'd assume they sample the soil at the step when concrete is used as an additive and add more or less concrete based on the soil quality to compensate for the variety.

Probes to check for moisture and acidity wouldn't be hard to automate, and density by way of weight of a set volume of material would be simple to collect also. Then the computer could probably use a lookup table to add concrete based on the test results.

Maybe have a human break a brick and check the internal consistency from time to time to adjust the lookup table entries. Or use a press to compress it until it breaks and measure the force required. Toss them if the sample doesn't pass some limit or grade the batch for different uses depending on how the sample brick tested.

Not every brick has to be ultra high grade, some can be sold for less critical use.

 

[mongo]

"The compressive strength of rammed earth is a maximum of 4.3 MPa (620 psi). This is less than that of concrete."

That doesn't jive with the presentation saying the Boring blocks have higher compressive strength.

They mentioned something near 5,000 psi in the presentation.

I don't know if these types of bricks with this exact method of construction existed as a product before Boring Company.

I was using rammed earth as an example of strength through compression. Agree that these have more force and more additives.

 

[Asymmetry]

there are three times more empty houses than homeless people in the US. Cheap bricks wont solve enything