So, what have we learned about The Boring Company Tunnel? Well guys and girls I hope you’ve been enjoying reading and learning about our blogs over the last little while, for this week’s topic I am going to take you all on a small recap of what we’ve learnt from talking about The Boring Company Tunnel created by Elon Musk. If you have been reading the work we have been producing a lot of this will be familiar but don’t worry you will learn something new, because if you weren’t what would be the point in doing this! Let’s go back to the start to Yasmin’s introductory blog on this topic which outlined what the company was about and where it currently was. This blog showed us how the cars used would be Tesla, and how they would be able to travel to astronomical speeds (Freemantle 2020). In the week following, Stuart’s blog talked about the safety involved with the tunnel. In this blog explaining how there is no real safety concerns, and this was backed up by a video involving Elon Musk test running the tunnel. We also had the insightful statistic showing how 16,372 earthquakes in LA in the last year, well we now know this figure has gone up to 16,570 (Earthquake Track 2020) yet still no concerns about these tunnels being unsafe so I think we’re in the all clear on safety. And to solidify that here is the video of Musk that I mentioned earlier. In our third instalment we had Kevin talking all about the economic benefits of this tunnel, and to be honest the economy is more important now than ever with the world seemingly on lockdown! Kevin mentioned a multitude of points, including how public transport can get massive funding leading on from this idea (Barry 2020) therefore getting everyone places faster and as the saying goes, time is money. Daniel moved on with our blogs on this topic when we decided to talk about important environmental factors on the tunnel. Daniel found out that tunnels have the worst carbon footprint when being built compared to any other type of construction (Mutlay 2018). The amount of fossil fuels used can be very harmful to the environment. This is obviously a massive factor and it will be interesting to find out how this is going to be solved. Finally, our most recent blog on this amazing mode of futuristic transport was done by Yasmin. She talked all about where the company is going with its future projections. Given our blogs are all about the future it would be stupid to not tell you where the company is going in the future. With this Yasmin talked about the other projects the company were doing not just the ones in LA. Most importantly the tunnel being built in Las Vegas Nevada, this will run through most of the Vegas strip and will only take 3mins and 30 sec to do so (Boring Company 2020). Thank you for following Route3000 through our short, yet exciting journey! It’s been great fun putting these blogs together for you to read. We hope you enjoyed the ride as much as we did! – The Route3000 Team. Don't forget to like us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! References Used:
Boring Company (2020) Projects Available at: https://www.boringcompany.com/projects (Accessed 2 April 2020) Earthquake Tracker (2020) Recent Earthquakes Near LA and South California Available at: https://earthquaketrack.com/v/la/recent (Accessed 2 April 2020) Mutlay, I., 2018. Medium. [Online] Available at: https://medium.com/@mutlay/is-elon-musks-boring-company-a-sustainable-idea-ba1ccc84af3a (Accessed 2 April 2020) Route3000 (2020) Welcome to the Boring Company Tunnel Available at: https://route3000.weebly.com/tbc-tunnel (Accessed 2 April 2020) Route3000 (2020) Economic Benefits of TBC Tunnel Available at: https://route3000.weebly.com/tbc-tunnel (Accessed 2 April 2020)
0 Comments
As we know, Elon Musk is extremely passionate about his many companies' future. He looks for practical ways to introduce his new ideas into reality. “I look at the future from the standpoint of possibilities.” (CNBC, 2019) Musk is stating that life is full of possibilities, we just need to act on them. Since the first test Hawthorne tunnel was successful, the Boring Company has been working on many more projects. Only two of Musk's projects are under construction at the moment, including the “Las Vegas Convention Centre”. (BoringCompany,2020) The tunnel will connect the LVCC exhibit hall to the all of the remaining campus which will allow many to travel around faster. The tunnel will now only take one minute while walking would take 15 minutes to reach each campus. Another tunnel in Las Vegas is under construction, the tunnel alignment will run from the Convention Centre through to the Mandalay Bay. This high speed tunnel will run underground and silent, passengers would enjoy a faster smoother experience going through this trip in 3 minutes than 30 minutes driving. Musk hopes this transportation will be popular in Las Vegas for tourists and become part of the experience. These incredible tunnels will transport up to 16 passengers at speeds of 155 miles per hour (BoringCompany, 2020). The Boring Company is also evaluating to build a zero emissions transportation system called the Dugout loop. The Dugout loop will be beneficial to many of the public as it will direct passengers straight to the Dodger Stadium in only 4 minutes. This tunnel will ensure to coordinate with the metro system making it easier for people to reach the stadium. This will avoid all traffic and be an efficient experience. The construction of the tunnel is estimated to be around up to 14 months but Musk's claims it most likely will be less. (BoringCompany, 2020) The Chicago Express Loop is currently under “environmental review and permitting” (BoringCompany, 2020). This service will provide people with fast, affordable and safe transportation between downtown Chicago and O’Hare Airport. This trip will only take 12 minutes and is much faster than most transportation systems. Lastly the Boring Company under reviewing is the East Coast project. These loop tunnels will combine with the hyper loop as a “twin underground system” (BoringCompany,2020). This tunnel was constructed on the basis of helping to decrease urban congestion, green gas emissions and to improve commute times running from Washington DC to Baltimore. This will take from up to 18 and 23 months Musk claims. Don't forget to like us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! References Used:
BoringCompany, 2020. Projects. [Online] Available at: https://www.boringcompany.com/projects [Accessed 26 March 2020]. CNBC, 2018. 3 predictions for the future, according to billionaire tech titan Elon Musk. [Online] Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/31/tesla-ceo-elon-musks-predictions-for-the-future.html [Accessed 26 March 2020]. Will the underground tunnel be sustainable? We always talk about the money we will save from these types of projects but how will the environment benefit. I will seek out how does the boring company underground tunnel either benefit the environment or can it be devastating? Read more to find out. When building all these tunnels underground you can come to one fact. There is going to be a lot of dirt in the way. How is Elon musk going to get rid of this you may ask? Well he has come out saying that he will recycle the dirt into useful bricks that can used for patios etc. These bricks are called earth bricks and are much less environmentally damaging than concrete bricks which make up 4.5% greenhouse gases. (company, 2020) In terms of construction tunnels have the worst carbon footprint in terms of all other types of construction, it releases about eight times more than road construction. (Mutlay, 2018) We also have to talk about the energy that will go into a project like this. The constant maintenance of the tunnel will be almost 24 hours. The amount of fossil fuels that will be used can be very endangering for the environment. (Mutlay, 2018) In terms of the equipment that Elon will be using during the development of the project, He will be using more sustainable diggers such as the Godot. This is a digger that runs on electricity rather than diesel. This is much eco-friendlier than your average digger in construction sites. This digger is also much stronger and quicker than the rest meaning it will be done quicker and less harmful for the environment. In conclusion the idea of the boring company underground tunnel seems to be a sustainable one if all goes according to plan. It does look like he will get the pass on the environment side and he also gets a pass from Route3000 on this one. Don't forget to like us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! References Used:
company, B., 2020. Boring company. [Online] Available at: https://www.boringcompany.com/faq [Accessed 12 March 2020]. Mutlay, I., 2018. Medium. [Online] Available at: https://medium.com/@mutlay/is-elon-musks-boring-company-a-sustainable-idea-ba1ccc84af3a [Accessed 12 March 2020]. The economic benefits of the construction and completion of TBC’s Tunnel remain very strong and continue to keep people eagerly awaiting the tunnels arrival. The first obvious economic benefit to society is the tunnel’s ability to connect various towns and cities together on a significantly fast route. This would be of major benefit to people who would like to work in one city but live in another. The economics benefits continue on. As far as the tunnel, the number of layers that can be constructed remains with no limit, so traffic can be accounted for on any level. This will ultimately have the ability to make use of all the space we have beneath us. Tunnels are, of course, weatherproof, allowing for travel in harsh weather conditions to take place smoothly. As tunnels remain underground, their construction will not bother or affect those on ground level in local communities, whereas the construction of public transport, for example, would. This also means that tunnels will not separate towns and communities in any way on the surface (TheBoringCompany, 2020). Another way in which the tunnel could be of economic benefit is that it may encourage further investment into public transport, and it will encourage projects that may have been paused or halted to resume. Let’s face it, every city needs the best transportation possible. Motorways and freeways are currently pretty clogged up, so building this tunnel will allow for more room on the roads, less congestion and more people to be able to commute to work on quicker routes. “If you entered a tunnel, you can be sure that the tunnel has at least one exit!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan (ildan, 2020) References Used:
ildan, M. M., 2020. Tunnel Quotes. [Online] Available at: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/tunnel [Accessed 5 March 2020]. TheBoringCompany, 2020. FAQ. [Online] Available at: https://www.boringcompany.com/faq [Accessed 5 March 2020]. Safety and The Tunnel: Why are people concerned? So now we know what this revolutionary tunnel is all about, what’s next? Well this week we are going to talk about safety and why some people may be concerned about this new mode of transport. This mode of transport is going to be the future of solving traffic congestion as we previously stated, and let's be real why wouldn’t you want to get somewhere in five minutes rather than forty-five? Think of what you could do with all that time, this is why it’s so important to get these tunnels built for so many people. But obviously to the drastic people out there travelling at 155 mph in a tunnel is going to bring major concerns for safety (Ramirez 2020). So you might be wondering what these safety concerns are and what is being done to prevent anything going wrong. Doesn’t that photo scream SAFETY!? Seeing as the first model is in LA, Earthquakes is obviously somewhat of a concern. I suppose this is a valid concern seeing as there has been 16,372 of them in the last year in LA and Southern California. But with this tunnel “it moves uniformly with the ground”, and, the majority of damage from Earthquakes is caused by falling debris which obviously won’t affect a tunnel (Boring Company 2020). “It’s not rocket science” - Elon Musk So if it’s not rocket science what else is there to be concerned about? Well actually, not a lot, other than an earthquake which we’ve established won’t do any damage, so fire? water? gas? Well, in the video below you can see a test run of the tunnel with Elon Musk and Gayle King of CBS News you can see him squash these concerns straight away (CBS 2018). References Used:
CBS News (2020) Elon Musk and Gayle King test drive his new Boring Company tunnel Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0vkv-XclUg&t=339s (Accessed 26 February 2020) Earthquake Track (2020) Recent Earthquakes near LA and Southern California Available at: https://earthquaketrack.com/v/la/recent (Accessed 26 February 2020) Singularity Hub (2020) Elon Musk’s Boring Company Finishes First Tunnel for 155mph Vegas Loop Available at: https://singularityhub.com/2020/02/20/elon-musks-boring-company-finishes-first-tunnel-for-155mph-vegas-loop/ (Accessed 26 February 2020) The Boring Company (2020) FAQ Available at: https://www.boringcompany.com/faq (Accessed 26 February 2020) The Boring Company Tunnel The Boring Company is a Tunnel constructed service company founded by the amazing entrepreneur Elon Musk in December 2016. Musk famously believes that traffic is a huge problem in society and there must be a solution to this “soul-destroying traffic” (TheBoringCompany, 2020). “Roads must go 3D, which means either flying cars or tunnels” – Elon Musk (TheBoringCompany, 2020) During Musk’s talk in March 2017 he announced that in April the company would start digging a usable tunnel boring machine at Space X Hawthorne Test Tunnel In 2017 the first tunnel was made from Hawthorne California along to Westwood next to the Space X headquarters. This was an extraordinary tunnel route 2 miles long. Musk claims this amazing tunnel trip will take five minutes, compared to normal traffic that could be much longer, around 45 minutes. How will it work? The project was first opened on December 18th,2018. A Tesla Model X was featured in the tunnel showcasing what the tunnel could do. Electric vehicles would be lowered into the tunnel on the heavy specialized lifts, which would be available in places where almost any cars would go. The cars would be placed on side wheels that are designed to pop out perpendicular to the car’s regular tyres, these wheels will then allow the car to move along the tunnel’s track. The wheels are implemented to stick out and act as a bumper for the Model X car preventing the car from going off track into the side walls inside the tunnel. The vehicle can then travel to speeds of up to 120 metres per hour (200km/h) costing $10 million to construct the demonstration tunnel. By June 2019 the tested cars went to astonishing high speeds of 90 mph (140km/h) for autonomous control with even higher speeds of human control up to (187km/h) (TheBoringCompany, 2020). References Used:
TheBoringCompany, 2020. Hawthorne Test Tunnel. [Online] Available at: https://www.boringcompany.com/testtunnel [Accessed 27 February 2020]. TheBoringCompany, 2020. FAQ. [Online] Available at: https://www.boringcompany.com/faq [Accessed 27 February 2020]. WallStreetJournal, 2020. Inside the Tunnel That Elon Musk Hopes Will Solve 'Soul-Destroying" Traffic. [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL03r5TfitI [Accessed 27 February 2020] |