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This is really why flying cars will never be a thing. That and I don't want Doc Brown running out of fussionable materials over my house. The future of transp

This is really why flying cars will never be a thing. That and I don't want Doc Brown running out of fussionable materials over my house. The future of transportation is moving it all underground in densely populated areas, We need to free up the land for humans to walk and cycle and skate. And free up the sky for the birds. Yes, without robotic construction to build cheaply underground, that is an expensive proposition. But the alternatives have a lot of costs too, many of which are borne by those who don't reap the benefits.

mschuster91 11y ago
> Yes, without robotic construction to build cheaply underground, that is an expensive proposition. That's not a perfect solution either: all the rock you dig out has to go somewhere. Dump it in the ocean and you destroy the sea life. Dump it on the country side and you'll have NIMBY squads in arms.
- Symbiote 11y ago
  You just need to plan where you put the spoil. There's plenty of ruined shore than can benefit. London used the spoil from the most recent tunnel to make a 680ha wetland / nature reserve. There's some pictures at the bottom: http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/articles/crossrails-final-shipment-of-earth-arrives-at-wallasea-island http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/articles/crossrails-final-sh...
  - zimpenfish 11y ago
    > The RSPB will require more than 10 million tonnes of excavated material to create the reserve and is currently seeking partners to provide the remaining 7 million tonnes. If Crossrail is only providing 3M tonnes from 42km of tunnels, where on earth do the RSPB think they're going to get another 7M from?
- stretchwithme 11y ago
  Is there a big "I don't want a hill in my backyard" movement?
  - detaro 11y ago
    It is an issue in big construction projects, especially since you neither want to store the stuff for ages nor ship it large distances. If you build something like a highway it's relatively easy to balance dirt production with dirt usage, but for projects that heavily skew in one direction it can be difficult. The put a hill somewhere you need to own the land, transport everything there, probably do landscaping, ...
    - stretchwithme 11y ago
      So it can be done. As long as the value created is much greater than the costs, it works.
danellis 11y ago
> I don't want Doc Brown running out of fussionable materials over my house. The fusion reactor was to provide the 1.21GW of electricity for the flux capacitor, replacing the previous fission reactor. The other flying cars did not have any visible fusion reactor, suggesting that the hover conversions used a different power source.

mschuster91 11y ago

> Yes, without robotic construction to build cheaply underground, that is an expensive proposition. That's not a perfect solution either: all the rock you dig out has to go somewhere. Dump it in the ocean and you destroy the sea life. Dump it on the country side and you'll have NIMBY squads in arms.

Symbiote 11y ago
You just need to plan where you put the spoil. There's plenty of ruined shore than can benefit. London used the spoil from the most recent tunnel to make a 680ha wetland / nature reserve. There's some pictures at the bottom: http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/articles/crossrails-final-shipment-of-earth-arrives-at-wallasea-island http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/articles/crossrails-final-sh...
- zimpenfish 11y ago
  > The RSPB will require more than 10 million tonnes of excavated material to create the reserve and is currently seeking partners to provide the remaining 7 million tonnes. If Crossrail is only providing 3M tonnes from 42km of tunnels, where on earth do the RSPB think they're going to get another 7M from?
stretchwithme 11y ago
Is there a big "I don't want a hill in my backyard" movement?
- detaro 11y ago
  It is an issue in big construction projects, especially since you neither want to store the stuff for ages nor ship it large distances. If you build something like a highway it's relatively easy to balance dirt production with dirt usage, but for projects that heavily skew in one direction it can be difficult. The put a hill somewhere you need to own the land, transport everything there, probably do landscaping, ...
  - stretchwithme 11y ago
    So it can be done. As long as the value created is much greater than the costs, it works.

danellis 11y ago

> I don't want Doc Brown running out of fussionable materials over my house. The fusion reactor was to provide the 1.21GW of electricity for the flux capacitor, replacing the previous fission reactor. The other flying cars did not have any visible fusion reactor, suggesting that the hover conversions used a different power source.