Another boring day at work with Elon Musk

Elon Musk proclaimed in a tweet at the start of the year that his new venture, a tunnel boring machine, would start digging “in a month or so” – and he’s already made good on his word.

According to a report from WIRED.com excavators working for the entrepreneur have dug a ‘test trench’ measuring 30ft wide, 50ft long, and 15ft deep at SpaceX’s headquarters.

In April, images from an employee’s Instagram account revealed the Boring company took a significant step towards tunnel building – buying a machine. The instagram picture, spotted by Business Insider, revealed a large tunnel digger with the company logo and caption: ‘Just another boring day at work.’

While the post and accompanying pun have since been taken down, the slip-up gave an unofficial insight into the level of preparedness of Musk’s company to build his tunnels. While there has been no official comment regarding the Instagram post, as yet, such a behemoth digger is clearly built for purpose – and proves the company’s dedication to the project.

Recently, Musk hinted in a tweet that he was having “promising conversations” with LA Mayor Eric Garcetti about the possibility of digging tunnels underneath the city. Garcetti has suggested that tunnel digging tech improvements, including those being created by the Boring company could make it possible to create an express line to LAX airport from L.A.’s Union Station central ground transit hub. These express links would fall in line with Musk’s vision for the project.

The idea behind Musk’s tunnels is to relieve traffic on roads by creating an underground network. He told WIRED: “If you think of tunnels going 10, 20, 30 layers deep (or more), it is obvious that going 3D down will encompass the needs of any city’s transport of arbitrary size.”

“Traffic is driving me nuts. Am going to build a tunnel boring machine and just start digging…”

He said it isn’t possible for everyone to be using a “2D road network” but if you want to create more space you have to go up or down – with down being his preferred option. His comparisons are akin to flat 2D platform games versus 3D worlds.

Creating networks of underground tunnels isn’t easy. Cities already have complex structures underneath them; think building foundations, the London Underground, and carparks, all of which provide obstacles if you’re digging down.

Musk’s initial digging is taking place on private land but if the project gets to a stage where it expands, permissions will be needed from planning authorities. That seems to be a long way off, though. For now, he is focusing on what the potential impact may be: “Better tunneling tech improves everything: road, subway, Hyperloop”.

The SpaceX and Tesla CEO initially announced his plans for the boring machine and business via Twitter. The claims were met with scepticism and doubt, but the billionaire has consistently insisted he’s serious.

The original series of tweets began with Musk bemoaning the traffic in LA. “Traffic is driving me nuts. Am going to build a tunnel boring machine and just start digging…” he said, before adding: “I am actually going to do this.”

Musk then changed his Twitter bio to include: “Tunnels (yes, tunnels)” alongside the other companies he runs.

Tunnel boring machines (TBMs) are used to carve out underground routes and have been used extensively as part of London’s Crossrail project. For three years, from 2012 to 2015, eight 150m long TBMs (working in pairs) dug 21km of tube routes, to connect London’s East and West.

Each Crossrail TBM cost £10m and required a team of 20 to operate the machine 24 hours a day.

If Musk does move forward with this project, one thing is for certain: it is going to be expensive and need a lot of man power.

If Musk is serious about running a boring company, it would help make his Hyperloop idea a reality. Proposed as an alternative to California’s high-speed rail project, the levitating pods would travel in near-vacuum tubes at almost the speed of sound. The hyperloop could connect Los Angeles to San Francisco in 36 minutes.

As well as the technology needed to build the hyperloop, the two companies vying to create it, Hyperloop One and Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, need the land space to build it. The projects have already been hit with delays, legal battles and more. WIRED recently exposed some of the behind-the-scenes drama in the race to build the transport system.