- Elon Musk’s The Boring Company is expanding a tunnel system beneath Las Vegas.
- Fortune reported that the company accidentally exposed the base of a pillar supporting the Las Vegas monorail.
- The monorail was temporarily shut down and the company was issued a violation, Fortune reported.
The Boring Company, a startup owned by Elon Musk that is expanding the network of underground tunnels in Las Vegas, has received several issuances. The violation comes from Clark County, where it is accused of exposing the Las Vegas Monorail’s structural foundation and creating a “potential hazard,” according to a new Fortune report.
The Boring Company opened a 1.7-mile tunnel project in 2021 to transport passengers under Tesla’s Las Vegas Convention Center. The company is currently expanding its tunnel system to build the Vegas Loop, which will include the LVCC Loop and airport, downtown Las Vegas, and more, with 108 miles of tunnels approved by the county and city.
However, this expansion was not without its problems. Fortune, in part under a Freedom of Information Act request, shows Boring Company workers accidentally dug too close to pillars supporting the monorail, a 6.3-mile public transit line along the Las Vegas Strip. I got the document.
According to the newspaper, Clark County issued three violations against the company in connection with two incidents in June and October of last year that exposed the base of monorail pillars.
Following the June 15 accident, the county ordered a temporary suspension of the monorail system. Fortune reported that an engineering firm was brought in to assess the risks, and a construction company poured a cement mixture at the base of the pillar the next day. The monorail reopened on the night of June 16th.
The Boring Company, Clark County, the monorail and the Las Vegas Tourism Authority, which owns the monorail, did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
A spokesperson for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau confirmed the incident to Fortune, saying that the boring company was “repairing a broken irrigation line and inadvertently exposed the foundation of the monorail, which caused us to take action in June.” We have taken appropriate measures to repair it. We will be closed for one day.”
Regarding the October incident, a spokesperson said concerns had been raised “unfounded” and the monorail was not shut down.
A former Boring Company employee who worked near the June incident told Fortune that the incident “put the people who were riding the monorail at the time at risk to the public.”
This incident is not the first time safety concerns have been raised regarding the Boring Company. Fortune also published a survey in February in which former employees said they felt unsafe working there.
Bloomberg also reported in February that Boring had suffered safety violations that could expose employees to chemical burns and other dangerous accidents.
Some workers were forced to move through two feet of chemical-laced mud, Bloomberg reported, citing an Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation. As a result, he was left with scars and his skin felt “burned.”
