Aggressive Construction Methods Will Expedite Completion
The required TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) would dig roughly 50 feet per 24 hours and the tunnel could be expected to take approximately 4 years with one machine. Two machines could work together and possibly take 3 years. The overburden will be transported to the tunnel exit for processing and disposal.
The overburden will be processed by local aggregate companies and used in the construction of the project. Approximately 2,190,946 yards of aggregate will be produced from the tunneling operation.
With very rough estimates of $10 million per mile to operate a TBM, at 15.85 miles, the cost of the tunneling operation could be as low as $160 million.
Due to the trains being light weight, a concrete bed will be poured in 20 foot sections to eliminate ballast and the estimated cost of this will be $224 million.
The steel rails will cost approximately $360 million.
Adding in an additional $3 billion for the trains and infrastructure for the trains, the estimated price will be around the $3.6 billion mark.
With an estimated cost of $3.6 billion, the train will take 16 years to pay itself off. With the money saved by not needing to build a lot of the infrastructure for the Olympic Games, the payoff time frame might be a lot less.
The proposed Little Cottonwood Canyon Gondola has an estimated cost of $1 billion, however it will only be able to go to Snowbird and Alta ski resorts. The trail will cost a lot more and take a lot longer to build, however it will take people to 12 locations along its journey.
The construction of the train network will take a lot of planning and current plans have it completed by 2031.
