Two Prufrocks Are Chewing Nashville Limestone Right Now

Nashville’s Music City Loop just stopped being a single-machine construction story.

So basically: on Sept. 7–8, The Boring Company posted drone footage of Prufrock-MB1 and Prufrock-MB2 tunneling simultaneously — cutting 10,000+ psi limestone while spoil rides continuous conveyors into a rock pit. That’s the freshest primary proof the dig is real, plural, and loud.

What’s under construction (not a render)

Company posts in early September show both named machines working side by side. An Aug. 6 post said the tunnels were separated by roughly 20 feet laterally. A Sept. 12 Friday-night clip bragged about MB2’s 1,000,000+ lb axial thrust and 4,000,000+ lb of lateral grip. On Sept. 14 the company even toured U.S. Army Reserve visitors through the MB1/MB2 site.

The Aug. 1 Music City Loop blog is the cleaner construction log: MB2 launched from Lot 16 after commissioning; a second vertical cassette is online for rock removal; core samples were reading about 14,000 psi compressive strength (“Nashville has great rock”). Prufrock-MB3 was on track to arrive in September, built with lessons from the first two.

FOX17’s Sept. 10 local piece matches the shape: two Prufrocks digging now, a third due this month, rideshare-style Tesla tunnels aimed from BNA toward downtown and from I-440 / West End toward Broadway, with partial operation targeted for 2027. Critics still doubt congestion relief. That disagreement is allowed.

What’s approved vs still design

Keep the buckets honest:

• Approved / executed (earlier 2026, still governing): TDOT tunnel permit/lease (company says Feb. 25) authorizing up to 25 miles in TDOT right-of-way; Metro Nashville Airport Authority 8–0 for a BNA connection/station (design/permitting still underway per the Aug. blog); Music City Convention Center Authority 8–0 on a tunnel easement (station design ongoing).
• Station deals named: first residential agreement for Prime, Alcove, and Paramount; terms agreed with JW Marriott downtown for hotel-guest access. Tennessean coverage (Aug. 5) puts the JW stop and MB2 launch in the local record. Company line: 40+ stations in various planning/design stages — which is a pipeline claim, not an open-station count.
• Not open yet: passenger service. 2027 is the company’s stated partial-ops aim, not a ticket you can buy today.

The filter

Vegas Loop already has millions of rides. Nashville is still in the digging and permitting chapter — but twin machines in hard limestone is a different sentence than a groundbreaking photo-op. Believe the drone footage and the TDOT corridor. Soften every skyline-to-airport minute-count until a station opens and a Tesla actually boards the public.

Three Prufrocks would compress the schedule. One stubborn rock face or a stuck permit still owns the calendar. Dig more tunnels — and keep the labels straight.