4 ms·

Last I knew the Boring company wasn't making full size tunnels, but weird undersized tunnels that just barely fit a Tesla and have zero room for emergencies.

ragebol 3y ago
Good point. I know next to nothing about making tunnels, but I wonder how hard it is to increase the tunnel diameter after it's originally dug out.
- Arrath 3y ago
  Quite likely more time consuming, expensive and dangerous than digging entirely new tunnels if the existing ones have a lot of concrete lining, shoring, soil nails, or other structural features that must be removed as part of the process.
- atoav 3y ago
  It is probably a major engineering project. Normally you choose a tunnel boring machine with a certain diameter and it basically drills your tunnel and seals the walls with concrete at the same time. That is a concrete layer that is built to both seal potential water/rockslides out and to not have the tunnel collapse. That means in order to make the tunnel wider you'd have to destroy that concrete layer over the whole length and add a new one. I am not an expert, but my guess would be that drilling a new one and using the smaller one as a maintenance tunnel might be more reasonable and cheaper.
  - ragebol 3y ago
    That sounds expensive and slow. And sensible. So I'm guessing the Boring Company does things differently, but I have no basis for that. Those tunnel boring machines that dig and put the concrete etc up are super cool though
    - atoav 3y ago
      They are the fastest way to dig tunnels, their only limitation is that they can't do narrow radii.
mindracer 3y ago
I saw a video of one and it looked terrifying. absolutely no room, if there was a fire no one would get out
- tracerbulletx 3y ago
  Looking forward to the future Vegas Catacombs tourism.
kjellsbells 3y ago
That is certainly the case for the existing tunnel that links the Las Vegas conference center to the hotels nearby. Its a tiny narrow one way tunnel that holds one car width. You meet the Tesla and driver from the entry point and they, slowly, drive you through the tunnel, at about 25mph. Mass rapid transit it is not.

ragebol 3y ago

Good point. I know next to nothing about making tunnels, but I wonder how hard it is to increase the tunnel diameter after it's originally dug out.

Arrath 3y ago
Quite likely more time consuming, expensive and dangerous than digging entirely new tunnels if the existing ones have a lot of concrete lining, shoring, soil nails, or other structural features that must be removed as part of the process.
atoav 3y ago
It is probably a major engineering project. Normally you choose a tunnel boring machine with a certain diameter and it basically drills your tunnel and seals the walls with concrete at the same time. That is a concrete layer that is built to both seal potential water/rockslides out and to not have the tunnel collapse. That means in order to make the tunnel wider you'd have to destroy that concrete layer over the whole length and add a new one. I am not an expert, but my guess would be that drilling a new one and using the smaller one as a maintenance tunnel might be more reasonable and cheaper.
- ragebol 3y ago
  That sounds expensive and slow. And sensible. So I'm guessing the Boring Company does things differently, but I have no basis for that. Those tunnel boring machines that dig and put the concrete etc up are super cool though
  - atoav 3y ago
    They are the fastest way to dig tunnels, their only limitation is that they can't do narrow radii.

mindracer 3y ago

I saw a video of one and it looked terrifying. absolutely no room, if there was a fire no one would get out

tracerbulletx 3y ago
Looking forward to the future Vegas Catacombs tourism.

kjellsbells 3y ago

That is certainly the case for the existing tunnel that links the Las Vegas conference center to the hotels nearby. Its a tiny narrow one way tunnel that holds one car width. You meet the Tesla and driver from the entry point and they, slowly, drive you through the tunnel, at about 25mph. Mass rapid transit it is not.