The Boring Company expands its reach with wider freight tunnels

Elon Musk’s Boring Company might be working on 21 ft tunnels to transport standard-sized freights side-by-side. Wider tunnels could expand The Boring Company’s business.

Bloomberg obtained information revealing that The Boring Company (TBM) was pitching 21 ft tunnels to potential clients. On TBM’s website, only 12 ft. tunnels are listed in the company’s product offerings, including a 12-foot inner diameter tunnel to move freight underground.

“Fits a standard shipping container (barely)[!],” wrote The Boring company in its description of the freight tunnel.

A copy of TBM’s pitch for 21 ft. tunnels shows that it would accommodate up to two standard 40 ft. freights side-by-side. The wider tunnel will allow exactly 1 foot of space between the two standard-sized freights. The Boring Company will transport the cargo on top of “battery-powered freight carriers.”

Wider tunnels might mean a bigger boring machine. The Boring Company quietly introduced Prufrock after updating its website earlier this year. Prufrock was designed to tunnel much faster than its predecessor TBM Godot+, bringing the company closer to beating Gary the garden snail’s pace.

If clients are interested in wider tunnels, TBC might start to offer two standard sizes for tunnels. Customizing widths could increase costs, according to the executive director of the Moles, Tom Groark. However, sticking to standard sizes could keep costs down. “They’re making the job fit the machine, and that’s huge,” noted Groark about the 21 ft. tunnel.