Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stated in a series of social media posts that he wants to build tunnels beneath the streets of Miami to alleviate traffic.
Recently, Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed that he had spoken with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) about his Boring Company project which builds small, short tunnels for cars. In a tweet, Musk stated:
“Cars & trucks stuck in traffic generate megatons of toxic gases & particulate, but @boringcompany road tunnels under Miami would solve traffic & be an example to the world.” Musk added: “Spoke with @RonDeSantisFL about tunnels last week. If Governor & Mayor want this done, we will do it.”
Cars & trucks stuck in traffic generate megatons of toxic gases & particulate, but @boringcompany road tunnels under Miami would solve traffic & be an example to the world.
Spoke with @RonDeSantisFL about tunnels last week. If Governor & Mayor want this done, we will do it.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 18, 2021
Almost immediately the Mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez (R), replied “count me in,” stating that the project was a “no brainer.”
New York Magazine‘s Curbed commented on the situation noting a number of obstacles the project faces, stating:
Now before we write this off as yet another example of Musk’s perpetual grift of making empty promises to city leaders that are amplified by his 42.6 million followers, let’s consider that there might be a reason why Miami doesn’t have a subway. Or why many of its homes are built without basements. Or why the city has already spent hundreds of millions of dollars just to make its streets navigable to cars today — building a pump system to mitigate the flooding Miami now faces even when no storms are on the horizon.
“It’s the sinkhole capital of the United States, let’s start from there,” says Mika McKinnon, a field geophysicist and disaster researcher based in Vancouver. The ground beneath Miami is a highly dissolvable limestone karst that’s filled with cavities and caverns just like the sea floor. “If you want to have a tunnel, you need to pump the water out of the tunnel as you go,” she says. “And when you hit a cave or you puncture a cavity, it changes the pressure. It’s like popping your car into neutral while you’re on the highway.”
Miami does indeed have tunnels, but they’re extremely expensive which essentially negates the point of Musk’s Boring Company which is to make digging tunnels much cheaper. The Port of Miami built less than a mile of tunnel below a shallow channel and that alone cost $1 billion.
But a major issue with tunnels in Miami is the risk of collapse. Mika McKinnon told Curbed: “I’d be asking them what their legal liability plan is. Because part of the issue with the changing of the water table is that it won’t be a direct cause and effect — 30 blocks away is what is going to sink. This is not a feasible project without sinkholes, so what will they do when they get sued?”
McKinnon added: “Miami is arguably one of the most vulnerable cities for sea-level rise. It’s a lost city. It’s a zombie city. Buying coastal property in Miami is like throwing your money into the ocean.” It is reportedly estimated that by 2100 a large portion of Miami-Dade county will be rendered uninhabitable by up to five feet of rising ocean.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com
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