The owner of factories, Newspapers, steamships, Elon Musk, it seems, wants not only to settle people on the moon and Mars and to address the global energy crisis, but also to cope with a headache the entire world of logistics – the problem of traffic. Founder and owner of a Boring Company proposed to dig a tunnel in the Australian Blue mountains. In response to the Australian policy question about how much will cost the construction of a tunnel through the mountains in the state of New South Wales, Musk said that his company would be willing to engage in such a project and build a high-speed two-way transit route, combining Sydney and the West of Australia, at a surprisingly low for projects of such magnitude the cost.
This is not the first time Musk offers its services to Australian officials. Recall that in 2017 Musk proposed to build in Australia, the energy storage system of the Tesla Powerwall. At the same time, he promised that his company will cope with this task in 100 days, and if in time to meet will not work, the country of a kangaroo to pay for the project is not necessary — the company will take all expenses on myself. And what do you think? Built and kept within the promised time, raising $ 50 million.
The new company Mask company Boring Company, just a few years, but it is ready to take on the project on a global scale. Just last December, the Musk had inaugurated a test tunnel with a length of 1.83 km and a width of 4.3 meters directly under the headquarters of SpaceX in Hawthorne. Today Musk discusses the logistical problems with Australian officials.
Member of the upper house of the Parliament of New South Wales Jeremy Buckingham via its page in the “Twitter” referring to the Mask asked how much it could cost the construction of a 50-kilometer tunnel under the Blue mountains, which will allow to solve the problem “soul of Sydney traffic.”
About $15M/km for a two way high speed transit, so probably around $750M plus maybe $50M/station
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2019.
Musk said that the construction of each kilometer of tunnel for laying high-speed two-way transit route will cost approximately $ 15 million. That is, the total project cost will be about $ 750 million. The owner of a Boring Company also explained that the construction of the stations of entry and exit from the tunnel will cost an additional $ 50 million for each object.
Officials liked the idea. He promised to discuss it with other members of the Australian government and in particular with Prime Minister of New South Wales Gladys Berejiklian, and then to inform the decision.
The branch reviews the idea of Mask is also found positive responses:
This would change Sydney forever and bring unlimited economic prosperity to the west. Would solve the housing crisis. Enable growth of manufacturing. Allow for us to cope with the influx of migrants even increase intake. #brilliant
— Gavin King (@gavinking77) 16 Jan 2019.
“It will forever change Sydney and will bring unlimited economic opportunities for the West. We can solve the housing crisis in the region, to accelerate the growth of production. Solve the problem of influx of migrants,” wrote a resident of Sydney Gavin king.
The key purpose of Boring Company is to reduce the overall cost of tunnelling. Built by Horton in the tunnel Mask is estimated at $ 10 million, including installation costs of a tunnel, internal infrastructure, ventilation, lighting and security systems. For comparison, the cost of the same miles of tunnel built by conventional methods, is, according to the Mask, up to $ 1 billion. The company proposes to use the underground tunnels for high-speed movement of electric vehicles at speeds up to 240 kilometers per hour.
If Boring Company indeed sign a contract for the installation of a tunnel under Australian mountain, then the company will be the first project outside the United States.
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