3 ms·

Even IF this means there are magically zero problems with tunneling rights... There's no way this gets approved without detailing fire safety. Tunnel fires are

Even IF this means there are magically zero problems with tunneling rights... There's no way this gets approved without detailing fire safety. Tunnel fires are NO JOKE. Especially with very, very long underground tunnels with particularly narrow diameters and primarily (or exclusively) elevator-based access. A thousand firefighting and evacuation questions there that I haven't heard a single reporter ask.

jitix 9y ago
Hyperloop is supposed to use vacuum or close-to-vacuum tunnels to achieve those speeds, so fire is not really a problem. Still I think the tunnels should be accessible section by section to enable disaster recovery crews to operate.
aquadrop 9y ago
If it's Hyperloop, there supposed to be very low amount of air in the tunnel. That theoretically solves many fire problems.
- abalone 9y ago
  The video does not illustrate an exclusively hyperloop system. But even if it is exclusively hyperloop, what if there's a fire or toxic gas release inside a pod and you have to escape?
  - aquadrop 9y ago
    Planes are dealing with this somehow, so I'm sure hyperloop can come up with the solution.
    - abalone 9y ago
      My claim is not that The Boring Company and related government public safety agencies can't figure this out. It's that the tunnel project is not going to get approved without detailing fire safety, which is a BIG deal and probably more complicated in terms of government approvals than "mere" tunneling rights. You mentioned planes. There are tons of regulations and engineering codes and procedures and training and on-board safety personnel that go into making airplanes fire safe. Including emergency landing and evacuation and firefighting procedures which need to be reimagined for deep underground, elevator-accessed tunnels. Even the existing procedures for subway systems probably need to be reimagined for deeper depths, narrower diameters and elevators which are the hallmark of The Boring Company's approach. And I should reiterate that the video shows cars using surface elevators and riding on electric sleds, not a more tightly controlled hyperloop system. So that further complicates safety.

jitix 9y ago

Hyperloop is supposed to use vacuum or close-to-vacuum tunnels to achieve those speeds, so fire is not really a problem. Still I think the tunnels should be accessible section by section to enable disaster recovery crews to operate.

aquadrop 9y ago

If it's Hyperloop, there supposed to be very low amount of air in the tunnel. That theoretically solves many fire problems.

abalone 9y ago
The video does not illustrate an exclusively hyperloop system. But even if it is exclusively hyperloop, what if there's a fire or toxic gas release inside a pod and you have to escape?
- aquadrop 9y ago
  Planes are dealing with this somehow, so I'm sure hyperloop can come up with the solution.
  - abalone 9y ago
    My claim is not that The Boring Company and related government public safety agencies can't figure this out. It's that the tunnel project is not going to get approved without detailing fire safety, which is a BIG deal and probably more complicated in terms of government approvals than "mere" tunneling rights. You mentioned planes. There are tons of regulations and engineering codes and procedures and training and on-board safety personnel that go into making airplanes fire safe. Including emergency landing and evacuation and firefighting procedures which need to be reimagined for deep underground, elevator-accessed tunnels. Even the existing procedures for subway systems probably need to be reimagined for deeper depths, narrower diameters and elevators which are the hallmark of The Boring Company's approach. And I should reiterate that the video shows cars using surface elevators and riding on electric sleds, not a more tightly controlled hyperloop system. So that further complicates safety.