Elon Musk’s Boring Company announced on Sunday that it was conducting its final tests on the unique tunneling equipment that will be used to bore the Music City Loop, a point-to-point transportation project that will connect the Nashville International Airport to downtown Nashville.
The Boring Company announced in a post to Musk’s social media platform, X, that its first-ever “hard rock” Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) was undergoing its final tests before being sent to Nashville, which will be the company’s first experience boring through hard rock.
A video posted by the company shows the TBM operating in a time lapse, claiming it will be capable of gripping more than 4 million pounds, and thrusting more than 1.5 million pounds, while a second video shows a test of the company’s dust removal equipment.
Final acceptance testing of TBC’s first hard-rock TBM before it ships to Nashville! The TBC tunnels built in Vegas, Austin, Bastrop and Los Angeles were in mostly soft soil, while Nashville is hard rock. Shown is:
-Dust removal system, equipped with 15 high capacity… pic.twitter.com/oW2QGvPMBn
— The Boring Company (@boringcompany) November 10, 2025
After praising the utility of the project and the eagerness of state and local officials when the project was announced in July, Boring Company President Steve Davis appeared to suggest the rock would be a more difficult challenge than the political process.
“You have extremely hard rock, like way harder than it should be,” Davis humorously informed the crowd. “It’s an engineering problem that’s fairly straightforward to solve, but very hard rock.”
He added that Nashville’s ground is also inconsistent, explaining, “It’s not like the rock is at the same level—this inch you go 500 feet and the rock is a completely different place.”
BORING NEWS: The Boring Company President Steve Davis speaking at the announcement of the Music City LOOP in Nashville, Tennessee. pic.twitter.com/WjFrK0MltM
— S.E. Robinson, Jr. (@SERobinsonJr) July 29, 2025
The Tennessee State Building Association in August approved a lease of a state-owned parking lot to the Boring Company to bore the tunnel, and Musk’s workers broke ground at the site later that month to analyze the geology before bringing in more equipment.
While the project was met with immediate approval by state leaders, Metro Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell reportedly asked the Boring Company to keep him at a “distance” after Musk endorsed President Donald Trump last year, according to a leaked memo from Governor Bill Lee’s office.
“Metro Nashville stated, while they believe this initiative would help mobility and they would not oppose the project, they needed to distance themselves and we should not plan to cross or proceed under any street that is city-owned,” according to the memo, which noted that since the last time O’Connell was approached, “President Trump was elected and Elon Musk, the founder of the Boring Company, became a more visible public figure.”
The Boring Company originally predicted the Music City Loop could begin operations as early as next year, but the company has since revised its estimate to 2027.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “The Boring Company Construction” by The Boring Company.Â
