
How The Boring Company is increasing tunneling speed - zackhsi
https://www.boringcompany.com/faq#tbm
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Traster
I was kind of shocked to see their illustration was tunnelling under a road.
It may have been a misapprehension but I thought they were aiming much longer
tunnels. Obviously the fact they think they can deploy much quicker than
traditional TBMs means that has a huge impact on total time.

Also, if you tell me you can sell cornflakes cheaper than kelloggs, I don't
expect you to deliver me 60% less conflakes. So why is the diameter redution
being counted as a way to reduce cost?

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brudgers
Boring under roads is a big market. Suppose you need to upgrade a water or
sewer line but the main runs on the other side of a road. If it's a very minor
road made of asphalt, cut and cover is an option. If it's a significant road
paved with concrete, boring is usually the only option and it's expensive.

All kinds of services need to cross roads and the need is ubiquitous. The
market is somewhat like the power wall for battery technology.

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Andys
They're developing an upgraded tunnel boring machine that is 10x faster than
existing ones, and can be launched directly from the surface instead of
needing excavation.

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jakedata
I wonder if the autopilot has special emergency modes for driving in half-
duplex tunnels like this. Could a following car be instructed to push a
disabled vehicle to safety? Can the autopilot drive backwards out of the
tunnel? There's no room for escape from a fire, flooding or various kinetic
failures. Imagine a defective wheel letting go in that little tunnel.

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antman
For those asking it's only for autopilot cars that use a specific app not the
usual car app. They had released a demo ride here
[https://youtu.be/FrgdvvgvI_I](https://youtu.be/FrgdvvgvI_I)

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growlist
If they really can get the cars running at 150 mph regularly these might be
competitive for long journeys in Europe. Obviously it will depend in some part
on the self-driving technology.

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patagurbon
Aren't their tunnels low diameter? Self driving seems an absolute necessity.
If someone clips the tunnel wall that's an enormous traffic jam just waiting
to happen.

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awalton
Unless they've pivoted again since the last time it was
discussed/demonstrated, the cars don't steer themselves through the tunnel
like a car on open road, but instead are steered by the tunnel itself, more
like a roller coaster on a track.

~~~
patagurbon
How does that work with rubber tires? I'm just having trouble visualizing it.

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ricardobeat
> TBC’s current tunnels are designed and built in preparation for their
> eventual transition to Hyperloop.

One would expect no less... exciting times ahead.

~~~
Joker_vD
Ah, Hyperloop. Always wondered what they planned to do with the passenger
safety. Say, the passenger capsule depressurizes, and the air escapes into the
tunnel, that'd be nasty. Or the capsule gets stuck in the middle of the
tunnel: now you have to break it out, reseal the tunnel and then remove the
air out of it _again_ (its hundred of kilometres long), that sounds pretty
expensive and time-consuming. And what if it crashes into the wall instead? At
the proposed speed that'd be a pretty heavy impact, would people survive it?

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L_226
The same problems are mostly faced by airliners, I imagine that similar
solutions will be found for this transport implementation. e.g. \- drop down
oxygen masks \- dedicated evacuation tunnel infrastructure \- ergonomic safety
rated seat restraints and capsule superstructure

