[Omnibus]Elon Musk Scandals

Buck Turgidson · Aug 29, 2025 at 1:39 AM

Xerobull said: ↑

continued

Ken Ellis, Houston Chronicle
This diagram compares the proposed “Boring Co. Plan,” which would feature construction of two tunnels that are 12 feet wide and 30 feet deep, to tunnels the Harris County Flood District has studied that are 40 feet in diameter and 140 feet deep.

The county continued to engage with the company despite these concerns.

In March, Scott Elmer, who’s overseen the tunnel study for the past few years at the county’s flood control district, reached out to Boring executives to set up a meeting. In the following weeks, he and other flood control officials met with Boring engineers at least twice to discuss the specifics of Boring’s capabilities.

During one of the meetings, flood control officials pressed Boring representatives on whether the company could build tunnels that are at least 20 feet wide, according to an agenda shared with attendees via email.

The company was reportedly studying how to make tunnels as wide as 21 feet several years ago. But it’s unclear if Boring ever developed that capability or what it told county officials about its potential to make bigger tunnels. On its website, Boring notes it “maintains the same tunnel design for all projects to avoid ‘reinventing the wheel’ for every tunnel.”

An April 10 commissioners court meeting in Houston was a turning point.

That appears to be the first time county officials brought up in public the fact that Hunt had been pitching them on a smaller-scale version of the flood plan they’d studied for years. They referred to this idea as a pilot program that would focus on just a few sections of a larger, countywide tunnel system.

Ramsey, the panel’s only Republican, specifically mentioned the pilot program tunnels could be narrower in diameter, as small as 12 feet, and shallower — specifications that would fit the kind of tunnel Boring has typically built.

Commissioner Lesley Briones, a Democrat, said a pilot project may help kick-start a huge, expensive project that the county has struggled to get off the ground.

No one mentioned Boring or Musk explicitly until Commissioner Rodney Ellis, a Democrat, said he’d gotten wind that the tech billionaire might be involved.

“I’ve heard all of the stories about Elon Musk having a tunneling company,” Ellis said. “I’ve got pretty good ears. I’ve got good Republican friends, too, now.”

He questioned the pitch, saying he was worried it would take the county off track.

However, Ellis and all of the commissioners unanimously voted to produce a white paper studying the idea of a scaled-down pilot project. They also voted to ask the state for flood mitigation funds. The vote didn’t require the county to commit to a specific project.

Later that month, records show the county’s legislative liaison reached out to staff for state Sen. Joan Huffman, a Houston Republican who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance, to indicate the county’s support for a $60 million budget rider for “underground flood risk reduction systems in Harris County.”

A two-page memo explaining the pilot project included with the request did not mention Musk or Boring and still referenced the larger 30- to 40-foot tunnels.

Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle[/QuUOTE]
Click to expand...

Mango · Aug 29, 2025 at 1:41 AM

Buck Turgidson said: ↑

Bad Idea Jeans.
Click to expand...

You didn't specify which

Major Tunneling project under Houston and Harris County

Digging deep in Barker Reservoir

Both of the above

Buck Turgidson · Aug 29, 2025 at 1:46 AM

Bad idea jeans

Hey, I never wanted to go to Haiti again

Rocket River · Aug 29, 2025 at 9:07 AM

Mango said: ↑

TxDOT says SH-288 toll rates in Harris Co. will be cut by nearly half as soon as September
Click to expand...

and it will still be too high

Rocket River

Sajan · Aug 29, 2025 at 12:11 PM

Rocket River said: ↑

and it will still be too high

Rocket River
Click to expand...

Agreed. Only to go at 60mph and get a ticket. No thanks.
Want me to pay these ridiculous prices? Bump up the speed to 70-75mph.

also:
“Not only will this help people now, but we’re planning more free lanes in the next few years for faster and easier commutes between downtown Houston and Brazoria County,” Texas Transportation Commissioner Steven Alvis said.

LOLZ. more laaaaaanes.
https://www.txdot.gov/about/newsroo...for-sh288-drivers.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Forums

[Omnibus]Elon Musk Scandals

Buck Turgidson Member

Mango Member

Buck Turgidson Member

Rocket River Member

Sajan Member

Share This Page

About ClutchFans

Rockets Content

Support ClutchFans!