After billionaire Elon Musk announced his Boring Company, the businessman now proclaims that the first tunnel will be operational this week. According to Musk, the first segment was already completed under the SpaceX carpark building dug by his machine he fondly calls "Godot". The CEO announced on Twitter that engineers finished installing the steel skeleton of the car pod also known as the car elevators and that it will soon become operational.
First tunnel segment completed
The completion of the first part of the tunnel is not just to test Godot's capability to bore holes undeath the whole of LA.
This also signifies the capacity of the Boring Company to bring into reality their ambitious plan of building a network of underground tunnels to help ease the city traffic.
The company was born out of Musk's abhorrence to traffic and it seems like he plans on making it happen. The multi-tasker is not only committed to conquering Mars but in conquering the problems of transportation as well. Before the completion of the tunnel inside his SpaceX property, the company's CEO also revealed that he is already engaged in talks with the mayor of LA about his plans on building underground tunnels in the area. However, there is no concrete answer yet whether or not the government agreed with Musk's master plan.
Boring Company tunnels
Earlier this year, the company released a 3D render of the tunnel. In the video, a car was seen being taken underground by what looks like a lift for cars. It was revealed that cars will travel through tunnels using a pod at the speed of 130 miles per hour.
Some details about building the tunnel were also revealed by Musk when he Tweeted a photo of the tunnel segments carried by a trailer truck.
He captioned the image with "Across the road and below the ground". The video showed parts of the tunnel and then panned to the tunnel entrance itself.
This was when he also revealed that the location of the first segment of tunnels is actually inside the SpaceX headquarters, his commercial spaceflight company. Many were surprised with how fast the company is moving.
The group was founded only in late 2016, and the first segment is almost ready to be operational only in mid-2017.
Solution to traffic
Musk believes that there are only two ways to solve traffic; it's either by using flying cars or by digging tunnels. However, he said that there are a lot of factors to consider with flying cars such as the weather and noise so he opted for tunnels. Musk enumerated the advantages, which includes a limitless number of layers could be built, weatherproof materials, and silent and somewhat "invisible" construction process.
