While we are wondering what Elon Musk’s Boring Company would do with the tons of rocks it’s excavating from the on-construction underground tunnels, the tech mogul has on Tuesday provided the answers after revealing that the Boring Company plans to package and sell the rocks as “Lifesize LEGO-like interlocking bricks” for the purpose of building and making sculptures.
Founded 15 months ago by Elon Musk, the Boring Company is currently championing the construction of underground tunnels in Baltimore and Los Angeles to solve traffic congestion problems in the cities using high-speed “electric skates”. Musk revealed that the rock materials from the company’s digging will soon be on sale, branded building materials in bricks, which will be very useful in various applications such as building things from the Temple of Horus, the Sphinx and ancient pyramids of Egypt.
The Boring Company had earlier suggested that it may use the bricks in building walls of the tunnels, as the materials are environmentally friendly compared to concretes, according to a statement on the company’s website.
“Since concrete production accounts for 4.5% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, earth bricks would reduce both environmental impact and tunneling costs.”
From Musk’s description, the life-size bricks will not be heavy; they’ll be “bored in the middle,” but strong enough to withstand earthquakes; as much as those recorded from the San Andreas Fault system, California. He didn’t specify structures created with the bricks or it’s dimensions. But he admitted that the bricks feature “a precise surface finish” when asked if they could be used for building affordable houses on Twitter. Musk said with the bricks, two people can build the outer walls of a small house “in a day or so”. When Musk was asked about environmental impacts, he said: “Uhh, it’s literally made of rock.”
“This is not a new concept, as buildings have been constructed from earth for thousands of years including, according to recent evidence, the Pyramids,” Musk wrote in a tweet. “These bricks can potentially be used as a portion of the tunnel lining itself, which is typically built from concrete.”
Details about the cost of the kits and sizes would be made known when the product is up for sale. Will there be enough earth materials to maintain the product’s availability? Sure! The Boring Company are currently digging a 2-mile tunnel in Los Angeles, a 12.4-mile transportation tunnel within Baltimore, and a 35-mile tunnel connecting Baltimore and Washington. The company is also expecting more approvals to dig other cities for tunnel transportation system.
Further details about the Lego-like bricks are expected to be released on the company’s website any moment from now. And Musk said he has the plan to ship the building materials around the world.
