The Boring Company Creates Tunnel Network for Autonomous Vehicles in Las Vegas
The Boring Company is going to realize a tunnel network under an exhibition hall in Las Vegas that will allow people to be transported quickly. Transport will be in autonomous, electric vehicles based on Tesla cars. The Boring Company is an Elon Musk company.
The choice for The Boring Company will be announced by the lvcva in a news item. According to the report, the company can build the transport system faster than ‘traditional’ above- or underground systems. It would also be cheaper to build and less disruptive to other transportation. The tunnel network must be able to transport a maximum of eleven thousand passengers per hour. The costs are estimated at about 35 to 55 million dollars, converted almost 31 to 49 million euros.
The tunnel network is to be located under the Las Vegas Convention Center. That building is now expanding to an area of 81 hectares. It should be ready in January 2021. Visitors to this extensive exhibition hall will soon have to walk about three kilometers to get from one end to the other. Therefore, a transport network would be needed.
The exact route is not yet known; this is still under negotiation. A decision on this is expected around June. As a result, it is not yet known when the transport system should be ready. According to the lvcva, the tunnel system does have the potential to connect the city centre, the international airport and the exhibition hall, among other things. Elon Musk writes on Twitter to expect the tunnel system to be ‘in service’ by the end of this year.
According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, the tunnel system will work with a modified chassis from a Tesla Model X. These electric vehicles should be able to drive autonomously and transport up to 16 people from point to point. Visitors could order a vehicle via app. Due to the limited length between stations, the vehicles would travel at a maximum speed of eighty kilometers per hour.
The tunnels will be built at a depth of about nine meters and have a diameter of about 3.7 meters. The segments are made of concrete, reinforced with steel fibers and polypropylene. This would make the tunnels resistant to fire and the concrete lasts longer. The Boring Company claims that 8.9 million euros is needed for construction per 1.6 kilometres.
At the end of last year, The Boring Company showed the first test tunnel in Los Angeles. The idea is that motorists can drive into the tunnel with their own car. For this purpose, cars are equipped with folding wheels on the side of the car. That concept therefore differs from the transport system that the company will realize under Las Vegas. The lvcva is talking about an underground tunnel network that can carry passengers in autonomous, electric vehicles. The Boring Company is working on a similar initiative to connect the city of Chicago to O’Hare Airport.
This is what a tunnel vehicle could look like, according to The Boring Company. Lvcva posted this image online this month.