Ilon Musk may in October start laying a test tunnel in the direction of the airport LAX

Read more about how and what will dig can be found in the previous article "Mask dug . "

The first tunnel for the movement of cars on an electric drive trolley, which will be designed and built by Ilona Mask by The Boring Co., may begin construction in October by starting to lay a tunnel from the SpaceX office in the city of Hawthorne in southeast Los Angeles.

Late in the evening, the city council unanimously approved an agreement between The Boring Co., an international firm, the WSP designer, and the city to identify and offset any potential environmental consequences of the project.

According to officials, this review will last up to three months, but may end next month. Then, the city council will have to decide whether to apply more thorough environmental assessments.

“The rest of the world is looking at Hawthorn on this test site,” said counselor Haidar Awad. “We will be the first to implement it, but we just started. We are at the very beginning of the road. We are going to enter uncharted territory, so we just make sure that everyone is safe. We want to protect each of the parties in this situation. ”

The Boring Co. presented plans for the first three kilometers of the tunnel from SpaceX headquarters on Crenshaw Boulevard, north to 120th Street, and then west to Hawthorne Boulevard. However, further permits will be required to continue outside this section.

Advisor Angie English said that she didn’t like this idea very much.

"What are the future aspirations that this so-called The Boring Co. hopes to implement in our city? ”- asked Angie English. “It’s really amazing to us that we are discussing The Boring Co., which appeared like a bolt from the blue, today.”

Musk likes to move fast

Last week, the mayor of Hawthorne, Alex Vargas, met with Mask to inspect the entrance to the tunnel, which was built fairly quickly after The Boring Co. Acquired a second hand tunnel complex in May.

The entrance to the tunnel in the old parking lot SpaceX goes down to the ground to a depth of 20 feet (6m), and the length is about 500 feet (150m). The company is currently completing the construction of a pedestrian bridge at the same intersection that connects the office with the new garage across the road.

On Wednesday morning, Musk shared a video on his Instagram account about a newly built car-sized elevator that will deliver cars to the tunnel. As soon as he is inside, they will be put on carts that move through the tunnel, he said.

Functional elevator near the entrance to the tunnel, located in the parking lot of the SpaceX office

Ultimately, he hopes to provide access to the elevators of the tunnel network for cars, bicycles and pedestrians.

Vargas said that Musk gave him a tour of the system and praised him for stimulating the flow of finance for the city, as it helps to fight the budget deficit.

“Elon Musk likes to move fast,” said Vargas. "This is good. We need continuous progress. We want this project to succeed. We stand behind it. My concern is to ensure the protection of the city and make sure that everything goes without a hitch."

The temporary manager of the city, Arnie Schadber, who is also the city’s public works director, works closely with government agencies to approve the tunnel project.

The State Department of Occupational Safety and Health and the Los Angeles County Fire Department are already exploring plans, Schadber said. The Federal Aviation Administration must also approve it, because next to it are optical fiber lines.

According to Shadber, the tunnel is planned to be gradually deepened under the ground, from a depth of 20 feet to 43 feet, in order to avoid conflicts with the engineering networks.

"We will carry out independent calculations related to emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere from the construction of the tunnel and other submitted sources, and assess the potential impact on the environment in all problem areas," - said in a letter to WSP to the city council.

The surrounding population did not even notice the tunnel drilling, because vibrations from construction do not reach the surface, Schadber said. The excavated rock is likely to be collected in the old SpaceX parking lot and taken out by truck.

“We love SpaceX. We are proud of her. We will work with them, but, as noted by the city council, we must ensure that all rules and regulations are respected, ”Schadber said. "SpaceX should prove to us that all problems have been solved."

Verbal permission

Musk said he wants to extend the Hawthorne tunnel a total of up to 6 miles, connecting with Los Angeles International Airport. He also held positive discussions with White House officials about building a high-speed Hyperloop tunnel network from New York to Washington, DC, according to public statements by Mask and federal officials.

“I just received verbal permission from the government for The Boring Co. on the construction of the NY-Phil-Balt-DC Hyperloop underground tunnel. NY-DC in 29 minutes, ”wrote Musk on his Twitter account on July 20. Verbal permission was given at the federal level. There is still a lot of work to be done before official written approval, but this opens the door for discussion in the state and city. ”

Representatives from the White House confirmed the discussion, saying, "We have had promising conversations to date that are pursuing transformative infrastructure projects."

The concept of Hyperloop, introduced by Ilon Mask in 2013, is being developed by several commercial companies, including Hyperloop One in Los Angeles. In May, the company completed the first full test of its Hyperloop electromagnet drive. They are currently working on increasing the speed of the system to hundreds of miles per hour.

Although Musk said the East Coast tunnel network would be built for Hyperloop, he did not mention the use of this system in Hawthorne.

“He also talks about the construction of tunnels in Culver City and San Francisco. All that is beyond our borders is another’s concern, ”said Vargas. “The synergy created by Elon Mask for the city of Hawthorne is phenomenal - with reusable rockets, Tesla’s design center, solar panels that are being developed here, and now we have The Boring Co.”.

Source Daily Breeze