A new project in Missouri is changing how infrastructure is built. The Missouri Hyperloop Coalition recently developed an agreement to move forward with a feasibility study of an ultra-high-speed Hyperloop route along I-70 in Missouri.
The Missouri Hyperloop Coalition is a public-private partnership dedicated to advancing a Hyperloop route linking Kansas City, Columbia and St. Louis, and would connect five million residents in under 30 minutes. A Hyperloop is an update on the idea of moving vehicles at high speeds through low-pressure tubes.
The History of Hyperloop
It is a new mode of transportation that moves freight and people quickly. Located in a pod, the system accelerates gradually via electric propulsion through a low-pressure tube and quickly lifts above the track using magnetic levitation and glides at top speeds of up to 670 miles per hour.
The idea for Hyperloop in general started back in January 2013. Venture investor and entrepreneur Shervin Pishevar and Elon Musk talked about Musk’s idea for the Hyperloop. A few months later at a tech conference Shervin urged Musk to share his ideas with the public.
In 2014, Hyperloop Technologies—which later changed its name to Virgin Hyperloop One—started in a garage in Los Angeles, and then started a campus late that year. In 2015, Hyperloop One received $8.5 million in Series A investment funding, followed by $80 million in Series B investment round in 2016, and $85 million raised in Series B-1 investment round in 2017.
In 2016, Virgin Hyperloop One, FS Links, and KPMG published its first study of a Hyperloop system, proposing a 28-minute link between Helsinki and Stockholm. Later that year, the company broke ground on a full-scale Hyperloop test track in Apex, Nevada called DevLoop. On the test track, Hyperloop recently set a record of nearly 240 miles per hour during its third phase of testing.
Today, the company is working aggressively to meet a goal of having three production systems in service by 2021—one of which is in Missouri.
Advancing Transportation, Advancing Construction
Black and Veatch will conduct the study in partnership with Virgin Hyperloop One and the University of Missouri System. The study will analyze the technical alignment and the potential economic impact and benefits of Hyperloop in Missouri, and will outline the next steps for a project, including development of a high-level cost estimate and funding model recommendations to enable the project to move forward.
This is one example of how infrastructure and transportation is advancing, and will change how construction companies do work in the future.
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