Prufrock

Prufrock is targeting a speed greater than 1 mile per week, which is 6 times faster than The Boring Company's previous-generation TBM (Godot). This is still 4-5 times slower than a garden snail... but Prufrock is catching up! Besides increasing speed, TBC is targeting an all-in cost of a Loop Transportation tunnel of less than $8M/mile. In order to do so:

Porpoising: To start the tunnel, Prufrock arrives on a truck, tilts down, and launches into the ground within 24 hours. To finish the tunnel, Prufrock emerges from the ground and mines onto a trailer (called "The Monster"), which then drives to its next launch site. This eliminates the need to excavate expensive pits or use enormous cranes.

Continuous Mining: All soft-soil TBMs mine ~5 feet, stop, erect the precast concrete tunnel liner, and then start over. Prufrock is designed to install the tunnel liner simultaneously with mining, eliminating the need to stop the TBM every 5 feet.

Zero-People-In-Tunnel (ZPIT): Prufrock is designed to have zero people in the tunnel during normal operations. This is the safest, fastest, and least expensive method of tunneling. The ZPIT operation is controlled from the Operations Control Center, which supports the expanding fleet of Prufrock tunnel boring machines.

Vertical Integration: TBC designs and manufactures the TBMs and tunnel liners, designs the Loop transportation system, builds out Loop, and operates Loop. This promotes rapid iteration and large cost reductions.

Tunnel/TBM Size and Design Standardization: TBC maintains the same tunnel design for all projects to avoid "reinventing the wheel" for every tunnel. In order to accommodate different geologies with a standard design, TBC maintains conservatively large structural factors of safety.