Elon Musk's Boring Company excavates first tunnel for Vegas loop
The loop will shuttle people beneath the Las Vegas Convention Center campus starting next year.
All that work, just for a boring machine to break through it.
Elon Musk turned a weird idea into a real-world service, and now it's more of a reality than ever.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority of Friday announced the Boring Company has completed excavation of the first tunnel for a Vegas loop. This loop will carry passengers between different parts of the convention center, specifically to an expanded West Hall area. The entire campus covers 200 acres, and the Authority sought an efficient way to carry people to different areas more quickly. Musk promises the tunnel vehicles will go up to 155 mph.
Excavation is complete for the first of two tunnels that will comprise Elon Musk’s innovative underground transportation system beneath the LVCC campus. The project is scheduled to debut in January 2021. pic.twitter.com/CwpxEWDXYc
— LVCVA (@LVCVA) February 14, 2020
Video shows the Boring Company's drilling machine break through the final portion after three months of operation. The company's machine worked 40 feet under the ground and bored through nearly a mile in that amount of time. It's pretty remarkable to see, honestly.
Now, work continues. The machine will be disassembled and transported to the starting location of the second and final tunnel for excavation. The two tunnels will run in opposite directions, parallel to one another, to take passengers to and from the planned stations.
In total, plans call for three passenger stations across the campus in the $52.5 million project. Once onboard, a trip will take just one minute with "standard" autonomous electric vehicles or "high-occupancy" versions. The Boring Company said Tesla Model 3 or Model X vehicles will serve passengers. A modified Model 3 chassis will serve as the high-occupancy vehicle with room for 16 passengers. Everything should be operational come January 2021.
