Early soil borings start at the Nashville's tunnel Music City Loop project

In a new project update about Nashville's tunnel Music City Loop, the Boring Company reported that the work includes geotechnical borings as part of its permitting and design process. Crews have also completed an exploratory pit near the State Capitol at the planned Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) launch site, known as Lot 16. That site is being prepared with shoring, excavation, utility hookups, and construction of an operations hub.

The borings are intended to help characterize subsurface conditions, such as rock layers, soil behavior, and groundwater conditions, to support design engineering, alignment decisions, and risk assessment. According to the update, the tunneling team is coordinating these investigations with permitting agencies, local utilities, and environmental review entities.

As Nashville moves toward implementation, further geotechnical and engineering updates are expected every few months. The data collected from these borings will inform final alignment design, risk mitigation plans, and structural solutions tailored to local geology.