from the when-bricking-a-machine-is-a-good-thing dept.
Elon Musk's Boring Company unveils bricks being produced from dirt dug in its tunnels
Elon Musk's Boring Company has been releasing side products mostly unrelated to the company's main purpose, like hats and flamethrowers. The latest product has more to do with boring tunnels since they plan on selling and/or giving away bricks made from dirt dug in the company tunnels.
The Boring Company is now showing a glimpse at how the bricks are being produced. They estimate that the cost of moving the dirt can represent up to 15% of the total cost of a tunnel, which is why they want to turn the dirt into a product itself.
Musk claimed that the bricks are more solid than cinderblocks and he suggested that the company could sell them for just 10 cents in order to get rid of the dirt.
Related: Company Proposes Giant Concrete 'Lego' Bricks to Build Houses 80% Faster
Washington, D.C. Granted Elon Musk's Boring Company an Excavation Permit for Possible Hyperloop
California's Efforts to Restrict Elon Musk's Flamethrowers Go Down in Flames
Elon Musk's Boring Company Wins Chicago O'Hare International Airport Transportation Contract
Related Stories
The Daily Mail reports that:
'The block allows for faster, cheaper, more precise, and stronger building than is available through traditional building methods,' continued the firm.
'Architects consulted in brick development see a whole new world of possibilities and opportunities with the brick for making inexpensive, revolutionary structures, from single homes to multi-storey towers.
'The brick's patented design is flexible enough to be relevant from Vietnam to London.'
Other benefits quoted by the company include a 50 per cent reduction in building costs, controlled room temperatures for significantly lower running costs and 'virtually no debris left at building sites'.
However, it is unclear if mortar is required or if it's based on other familiar toys.
In November, Washington, D.C.'s Department of Transportation granted the Boring Company a permit to excavate at a parking lot within the city:
Washington, D.C., has issued a permit allowing Elon Musk's Boring Company to do preparatory and excavation work in what is now a parking lot north of the National Mall. The company says the site could become a Hyperloop station.
The permit, reported Friday by the Washington Post, was issued way back on November 29th of 2017. The permit is part of an exploratory push by the city's Department of Transportation, which according to a spokesperson is examining the feasibility of digging a Hyperloop network under the city. The Hyperloop is an as-yet theoretical proposal to use depressurized tubes and magnet-levitated pods to move passengers at very high speeds.
From The Washington Post:
Asked about the permit, issued Nov. 29, a Boring Company spokesman said Friday that "a New York Avenue location, if constructed, could become a station" in a broad network of such stops across the new system.
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) visited the Boring Company in California this month, walking in a tunnel to learn more about the technology the company says will make tunneling faster and cheaper.
The District's Department of Transportation is figuring out what other permits the Boring Company would need to cut under city roads and other public spaces, according to Bowser's chief of staff, John Falcicchio.
Previously: Elon Musk Claims to Have "Verbal Approval" to Build New York to Washington, D.C. Hyperloop
NY-Philly-Baltimore-DC Hyperloop: Not Vaporware?
Related: Hyperloop Pod Competition Winner Exceeds 200mph (324 km/h)
Sir Richard Branson Invests in Hyperloop
Elon Musk's Boring Tunnel Near Los Angeles
Elon Musk's Boring Company Sells Flamethrowers
Submitted via IRC for SoyCow8093
California's efforts to restrict Elon Musk's flamethrowers go down in flames
A California state bill that would have more heavily regulated the use of flamethrowers has now effectively fizzled out in a legislative committee.
In light of this development, there's nothing to stop Boring Company customers in California from receiving the company's sold-out flamethrowers.
On May 26, the day after the bill died in committee, CEO Elon Musk tweeted:
About to ship. @BoringCompany holding flamethrower pickup parties in a week or so, then deliveries begin. Check https://t.co/WTl3TOTOkt for details.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 26, 2018
Previously: Elon Musk's Boring Company Sells Flamethrowers
Elon Musk's Boring Co. Wins Chicago Airport High-Speed Train Bid
Elon Musk's Boring Co. is the winner in a bid to build a multibillion-dollar high-speed express train to O'Hare International Airport, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The result gives the young company a big boost in legitimacy as it tries to get transportation projects underway in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
The company beat out a consortium that included Mott MacDonald, the civil engineering firm that designed a terminal at London's Heathrow Airport, and JLC Infrastructure, an infrastructure fund backed by former basketball star Earvin "Magic" Johnson, said the people, who declined to be identified because they weren't authorized to speak publicly. The city is expected to announce the news as soon as Thursday, one person said.
It's a sizeable victory for a company that was launched just 18 months ago, is working with unproven futuristic ideas, and—aside from a test tunnel it is digging in the Los Angeles suburb Hawthorne, California—lacks construction experience.
Also at Chicago Tribune, CNBC, and The Verge.
Previously: Elon Musk to Compete for High-Speed Rail Loop in Chicago
Related: Elon Musk Claims to Have "Verbal Approval" to Build New York to Washington, D.C. Hyperloop
Washington, D.C. Granted Elon Musk's Boring Company an Excavation Permit for Possible Hyperloop
Elon Musk pitches $1, 150 MPH "Loop" Rides under Los Angeles
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
Local leaders cooling to Boring Company tunnel promises
Virginia state transit officials are telling The Boring Company "thanks but no thanks," at least for now. The Virginia Mercury reported yesterday that the state's chief of rail transportation, Michael McLaughlin, was not sufficiently impressed by his recent visit to Elon Musk's test tunnel in California to recommend that the state work with the startup.
"It's a car in a very small tunnel," McLaughlin reportedly told the state's Transportation Board public transit subcommittee this week. "If one day we decide it's feasible, we'll obviously come back to you," he added.
[...] In February, Musk tweeted that the company was working on improving its test tunnel. "Focus right now is getting to high speed, tight follow distance in test tunnel," the CEO tweeted. He said that "Line-Storm," The Boring Company's second-generation boring machine, would start getting updates "in a month or so."
But even as The Boring Company says it's trying to improve on tunneling efficiency and design, Chicago may be looking to take a step back from the express line that Mayor Rahm Emanuel pledged to build with the company. The mayor's office announced in June 2018 that it would work with The Boring Company to build a long-awaited express line between O'Hare International Airport and the Windy City's downtown area.
Previously: Elon Musk Claims to Have "Verbal Approval" to Build New York to Washington, D.C. Hyperloop
Elon Musk's Boring Tunnel Near Los Angeles
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
The Boring Company Announces Dec. 10 Debut for First Los Angeles Tunnel
The Boring Company Won't Pursue Los Angeles Tunnel Under 405 Freeway
Elon Musk Startup Picked to Build Las Vegas 'People Mover'
(Score: 2, Funny) by takyon on Saturday July 14 2018, @11:13AM (10 children)
Damn boring.
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(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 14 2018, @11:30AM (9 children)
At these prices, even Mexico can afford to build walls.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday July 14 2018, @11:34AM (8 children)
Just make sure to buy the generic flamethrowers from Home Depot.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 14 2018, @11:54AM (7 children)
Flamethrowers?, glorified blowtorches more like....
(I've an area of ground which is completely overgrown, it laughs at the efforts of commercially available gas/paraffin weed torches...20-30 minutes with a WWII era Flamethrower and it'd be nice and clear, alas, these beasties are illegal here..)
(Score: 2, Funny) by Arik on Saturday July 14 2018, @11:59AM (5 children)
Sounds like a job for a GOAT.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 4, Funny) by MostCynical on Saturday July 14 2018, @12:13PM (2 children)
After that one time, with that one goat, other goats won't go near him now..
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 14 2018, @12:59PM (1 child)
Aye, and as the sheep figured out lang syne what the rustling o' the kilt meant...looks like we'll be joining the Welsh wi' their alpacas [amazingalpacas.co.uk] next.
So, '..They quickly respond to gentle handling..' do they, eh?
Boringly on topic, goats are out (unless they're of the enormous mutant star-goat variety, they'd struggle with the nature of a lot of the scrub and trees..), once the weather gets back to normal, it'll be lots of chainsaw action and controlled burns.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 14 2018, @02:28PM
I watched a neighbor's goat eat his newly planted tree (a spruce I think), so I rather doubt they'd have much trouble, especially with the way he seemed to enjoy it.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 14 2018, @02:04PM (1 child)
I've seen the results of a team of goats. They don't like to eat some plants, and in the end you need to make a pass with chainsaws or a bulldozer anyway.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Arik on Saturday July 14 2018, @06:37PM
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday July 14 2018, @12:34PM
The ones at the hardware store are nonetheless better than Elon Musk's Boring Company branded ones.
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(Score: 4, Interesting) by requerdanos on Saturday July 14 2018, @03:13PM (3 children)
The local Home Depot sells standard 16"x8"x8" (38cm x 19cm x 19cm) cinder blocks [homedepot.com] for about US$1.39 each.
If you have a project (say a 20' x 20' (5.75m2) storage building) requiring about 700 blocks, that's $973 for the cinder blocks vs. $70 for the Boring Musk* blocks.
The qualifications of the cinder blocks rest on the reputations of companies like Oldcastle [crhamericas.com] or Home Depot [homedepot.com] itself, companies with somewhere between decades and centuries of knowledge, engineering and specialization in building materials.
The qualifications of the Boring Musk* blocks rest on the reputation of Elon Musk, who claims that his bricks are "[totally] more solid than cinderblocks" and who has somewhere between fifteen minutes an five years dabbling in how they can get rid of a big and growing pile of dirt.
Let the system grind you out of over a dollar a block, or let the genius that is Musk Boring* revolutionize your bottom line with dirt blocks.
Be sure to decide in the spirit of the ancient Code of Hammurabi [engineeringdesignresources.com]:
Your call, builders.
----------
* or whatever. Plus maybe Musk has engineers who have spent their lives on quality building materials and I am just talking out of my hat; I do that a lot. I actually like and respect Musk and his seemingly genuine efforts to make the world a better place with technology+effort.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 14 2018, @03:35PM
Dirt bricks are ancient and very well understood technology. If you live in the southwest or any other hot and arid place, it's the best and cheapest building material there is. Adobe houses don't need AC and they're literally almost as cheap as dirt.
(Score: 2) by bziman on Saturday July 14 2018, @04:28PM (1 child)
For what it's worth, if Home Depot is charging over a dollar a block, they're probably working with a 90% profit margin. I'd guess that a pallet of cinder blocks is much closer to ten cents a piece, with the price almost entirely dominated by moving them around.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday July 14 2018, @04:32PM
Maybe Musk will run a special and just sell them/give them away to locals who show up with trucks.
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(Score: 2) by bitstream on Saturday July 14 2018, @09:16PM (9 children)
Are these bricks just dried or are they burnt in a kiln so that they actually resists wear and moisture?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday July 14 2018, @09:35PM (8 children)
From the video and this description it almost seems like they are not heated, just compressed:
https://gizmodo.com/elon-musk-is-jazzed-about-selling-bricks-now-1826133376 [gizmodo.com]
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(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Saturday July 14 2018, @09:57PM (3 children)
http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-boring-company-lego-blocks-buildings-homes-2018-3 [businessinsider.com]
https://cleantechnica.com/2016/02/29/huge-cuts-in-brick-co2-emissions-coming-from-startup-biomason/ [cleantechnica.com]
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(Score: 2) by bitstream on Saturday July 14 2018, @10:00PM (2 children)
I'll guess the Boring company don't do the "injects sand with microorganisms to initiate a process like the one that creates coral".
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday July 14 2018, @11:44PM (1 child)
Yeah, I just found it and it seemed interesting.
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(Score: 2) by bitstream on Sunday July 15 2018, @01:56AM
Maybe instead of "traditional brick making requires heating clay in kilns at 2,000 degrees for several days — which releases massive amounts of carbon emissions". They could well do the solar thing? it's enough to melt most other things so it should do for this too.
Huge Cuts In Brick CO2 Emissions Coming From Startup BioMason [cleantechnica.com]:
Seems these know the specific bacteria: "scientists at Research Triangle Park in North Carolina"
Nutrients need to be supplied for 3-5 days.
"and experts in fermentation" - beer like bacteria?
"calcium carbonate crystals begin to form around it" (around sand grains)
Seems like given the right bacteria it might be DIY'd.
(Score: 2) by bitstream on Saturday July 14 2018, @10:02PM (1 child)
Doesn't seem reliable. Kiln please..
(Score: 3, Funny) by takyon on Saturday July 14 2018, @10:05PM
Trust me, if the shit don't work, there will be a hundred videos of L.A. YouTubers breaking bricks with their faces.
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(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Saturday July 14 2018, @10:22PM (1 child)
>adding a little bit of, a small amount of concrete
I'm guessing they meant cement, not concrete? It doesn't make sense to "add a little bit of concrete".
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday July 14 2018, @10:51PM
That looks like a word for word quote from Musk being interviewed, and he tends to stutter and maybe mix up some words (only endearing him to his legion of Reddit fans even more).
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(Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 15 2018, @03:08AM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compressed_earth_block [wikipedia.org]
These are what the boring company is producing. They are NOT as good as cinderblocks in all categories, but they are pretty good technology and superior in some categories to cinderblock. They have not been widely accepted in north america but see extensive useage in africa and the middle east.