Elon Musk previously announced that he would be using the dirt excavated from making the hyperloop tunnels to make bricks. This was to be another way to raise funds for the Boring Co. but we still haven’t seen them come to the market. A recent Twitter war with Elon Musk shows that he has not forgotten his promise and it is still in the offing.
The Boring Company will be using dirt from tunnel digging to create bricks for low cost housing
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 7, 2018
Musk was challenged by the content creator Cody Johnston who pointed out that Musk’s projects were not contributing towards helping the community and challenged him to create a feasible housing project. The answer from Musk showed that they were still thinking about contributing the dirt towards housing projects.
.@elonmusk out there really engaging with the important ideas. pic.twitter.com/1rRCKEpsQX
— Cody Johnston (@drmistercody) May 6, 2018
Even though Musk answered that they were, in fact, planning for it, Johnston was not convinced and fired back once more.
Your solution for affordable housing is selling dirt to poor people?
— Cody Johnston (@drmistercody) May 7, 2018
Johnston may have a point there. The merchandise released by Musk like the hats and flamethrowers were a means to raise funds. Back in March, he tweeted, “New Boring Company merch soon. Lifesize LEGO-like interlocking bricks made from tunneling rock that you can use to create sculptures & buildings. Rated for California seismic loads, so super strong, but bored in the middle, like an aircraft wing spar, so not heavy.”
That tweet prompted users to ask him to consider using the dirt for sustainable housing. The idea has been in the works for some time now. “The Boring Company is investigating technologies that will recycle the earth into useful bricks to be used to build structures,” the company noted. “This is not a new concept, as buildings have been constructed from Earth for thousands of years including, according to recent evidence, the Pyramids. These bricks can potentially be used as a portion of the tunnel lining itself, which is typically built from concrete.”
Elon Musk has still not revealed when we might expect the bricks on the market. But, if he says they will be on the market, then we can be assured that they will be.