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The Boring Company's LA test tunnel is almost complete
Today, Elon Musk announced via Twitter that the first Boring Company test tunnel under Los Angeles is almost finished. When it's complete, the system will be able to carry pedestrians, cyclists and private vehicles at speeds of 155 mph. People will be able to try the loop out for free at a special event at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, CA, on December 10th.
Also at LA Times, The Verge, and The Washington Post.
Previously: Elon Musk's Boring Tunnel Near Los Angeles
Elon Musk pitches $1, 150 MPH "Loop" Rides under Los Angeles
Related: Washington, D.C. Granted Elon Musk's Boring Company an Excavation Permit for Possible Hyperloop
Elon Musk's Boring Company Wins Chicago O'Hare International Airport Transportation Contract
Elon Musk's Boring Bricks
(Score: 4, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday October 23 2018, @04:49PM (1 child)
I don't know about sand wearing smooth. You may be right, you may be wrong. But, oceanfront beach sand contains sea salt. Salt is corrosive. During WW2, the Seabees built a lot of stuff in the Pacific, using beach sand in their concrete and mortar. They fully expected stuff to fall apart prematurely - and most of it did exactly that. There are ways to get around corrosion, but most of this wasn't in use during the world war era, not to mention that it would have been prohibitively expensive.
http://www.claisse.info/2013%20papers/data/e172.pdf [claisse.info]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 26 2018, @09:55PM
I talked to a Lebanese man a few years back. Where he lives all the houses are built out of concrete, up to three stories tall, with the first story usually built as a reinforced 'foundation' building so that other members of the family (usually sons) can build their own house on top of the parent's house as their own family grows.
He said one of the major problems will less reputable contractors there, especially in the regions nearer the coast, is the use of beach sand for construction instead of desert sand. The beach sand's salt interferes with the proper curing of the concrete and causes its strength to be much reduced compared to the desert sand, since Sodium Ions replace Calcium Ions in key concrete formations. He stated this was common knowledge among the literate in Lebanon, although the poor and some cheap rental owners would use those questionable contracts with the risk of the buildings collapsing.