Elon Musk finishes digging Las Vegas 'Loop' train amid Covid-19 crisis

Not all of Elon Musk’s projects have been thwarted by the coronavirus pandemic. While the billionaire clashed this week with local officials over restarting production at a Tesla factory in California, his tunnel-drilling company hit a new milestone.
 

A giant drill called Godot Plus broke through a wall near the spot where it will connect to the Las Vegas Convention Center. The event marked the final phase of excavation for the project’s two main transportation tunnels and will allow Musk’s Boring to collect its next portion of a total $48.7 million in payment from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
 

“From a construction standpoint, we’re comfortably in the schedule,” said Steve Hill, the authority’s chief executive officer. In fact, he said Boring Co. is “somewhat ahead,” making him confident that the company’s planned transportation network will be open to the public on time, by January.

The milestone comes just one year after the LVCVA approved the project, and the completion of both tunnels signals remarkably speedy progress for major infrastructure construction.