Billionaire inventor Elon Musk tweeted on Monday that he spoke to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis about his plan to alleviate traffic in Miami by building tunnels:
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
Who wants to tell him?
they teach why this wouldn’t work in fourth grade in Florida https://t.co/H0O7dtuSON
— Meryl Kornfield (@MerylKornfield) January 18, 2021
There is a tunnel in Miami, but it’s at the port and construction was a challenge, to say the least:
Practically every inch under Florida is under water. The limestone bedrock beneath Florida is porous and basically all underwater caves, and can’t support tunnels. Level of naivety is astounding. https://t.co/BBmKJgrULf
— Ryan Deto (@RyanDeto) January 18, 2021
“Consult a geologist”:
Warning: Consult a geologist before drilling tunnels into a bedrock of porous limestone, dead corals and sand right next to the ocean https://t.co/nOSZ8nwdoa
— Peter?Brannen (@PeterBrannen1) January 19, 2021
And because it’s Twitter, a real geologist did weigh in and she’s not a fan. At. All:
Hi. Geologist here. That area is just plain bad for this idea. It's characterized by soluble rock, and layers of sandstone and sediments with either weak or no induration (not stuck together) which leads to sinkholes, underground rivers, and subsidence.
In other words: no. https://t.co/1mjRQPzACt
— Jess Phoenix ? (@jessphoenix2018) January 19, 2021
Coming soon, the Tesla submarine?
Miami is built on porous limestone so do you imagine folks commuting through your tunnels in tiny submarines? https://t.co/zNg4SxKPv3
— Bill Weir (@BillWeirCNN) January 18, 2021
And it may not even alleviate traffic issues:
More car tunnels would still cost billions, even with cheaper boring tech, & we KNOW that building more roads induces more driving, & winds up with the same or worse congestion. Look up #InducedDemand, #TheLawOfCongestion & Braess's Paradox.
It WILL help sell more cars though. https://t.co/qNwsgP54s3
— Brent Toderian (@BrentToderian) January 18, 2021
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But do you know what’s worse than this?
This is probably the most important and innovative human being alive today but somebody ought to explain the geology of Florida to him before some incredibly stupid shit happens. https://t.co/Qlxaa3BGP1
— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) January 18, 2021
It’s that local government is promoting it as a real solution:
Count me in! No brainer…we would love to be the prototype city. https://t.co/waRwj0dprJ
— Mayor Francis Suarez (@FrancisSuarez) January 18, 2021
We’re doomed:
We’d like to explore these options…@DeanTrantalis https://t.co/vhU2N9TDiX
— City of Fort Lauderdale (@FTLCityNews) January 19, 2021
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