WorldWide Drilling Resource

Is Futuristic Travel Closer Than You Think? Compiled by Caleb Whitaker, Associate Editor WorldWide Drilling Resource ® Typical modes of transport tend to be relatively slow (road and water), ex- pensive (air), or a combination of relatively slow and expensive (rail). In 2013, Elon Musk, cofounder of PayPal, Tesla Motors, and founder of Space X, proposed an ultra-high-speed transportation system called Hyperloop, which is seeking to become both a fast and inexpensive option for the transportation of people and goods. Musk's design for an electromagnetic transportation system consists of pods traveling in a low-pressure tube. The system achieves its speed and cost- effectiveness from the tight vacuum seals of its tubes, which allow magnetically levitated pods to glide through the frictionless environment. Musk’s original Hyperloop proposal was for transportation between Los Angeles and San Francisco, California. His idea was for pods to depart as often as every 30 seconds from each terminal, carrying 28 people each. If ever built, the 350-mile ride would take approximately 35 minutes, reaching speeds in excess of 700 miles per hour. After Musk released his idea to the public as an open source transportation concept, numerous groups and companies were formed to spur innovation of the concept while exploring the technical challenges of the Hyperloop system. Small-scale tests have been successful, proving the technology works when deployed for short distances at lower speeds; however, the concept has yet to be implemented on stretches of land extending hundreds of miles or at the desired ultra-high speed. Tubes carrying the pods could be built aboveground on columns alongside a current highway corridor or potentially underground. Due to the speeds of the Hyperloop, the tubes need to be constructed in a straight line. In areas with a lot of current infrastructure, it’s difficult to buy enough of the land needed to travel in a straight line, so this has become one of the biggest obstacles. Musk’s start-up company, The Boring Company, is looking to tunnel along the northeast U.S. corridor with a tunnel bor- ing machine (TBM). The Washington, D.C., Department of Transportation recently issued a permit to Musk's com- pany to start tunneling underneath an abandoned parking lot near the Bureau of Alcohol , Tobacco, and Firearms. Musk’s vision is to build an underground Hyperloop connecting New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. Increasing tunnel ing speed and dropping costs by a factor of ten or more is the goal of The Boring Company. This would make Hyperloop adoption viable and enable rapid transit across densely populated regions, enabling travel from New York City to Washington, D.C. in less than 30 minutes. One day, the abandoned parking lot in Washington, D.C. could become a Hyperloop station, where people would get on and off the futuristic pods speeding through a tun- nel on a cushion of air. Look for more information in an upcoming issue. Courtesy of The Boring Company. Conceptual design of a Hyperloop passenger pod. 38 APRIL 2018 WorldWide Drilling Resource ®