Vegas Loop worker suffers ‘crushing injury’ near Strip

A worker with Boring Co.’s Vegas Loop transportation project suffered a “crushing injury” late Wednesday night just east of the Strip.

The Clark County Fire Department, in a statement, said the accident happened at 10:12 p.m. at 3987 Paradise Road, just north of Flamingo Road.

The department said it received a call for an “industrial/machinery accident” at the site.

Fire crews were met by Boring Company employees who noted that a co-worker had suffered a crushing injury and was being moved from within the tunnel to an entryway in order to be assessed and transported.

The crews entered the tunnel opening and made contact with the patient and began to assess his injuries before placing him in a stokes basket — a sturdy wire or plastic litter made for transporting injured people in difficult terrain — for safe transport.

Fire crews used an on-site crane to lift the injured worker out of the tunnel opening to the surface, and he was taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.

The Boring Co., in a statement provided to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, said the safety and well-being of its employees and contractors are a top priority, while praising the response by the Fire Department.

“Last night, a construction-related injury occurred, and the employee is in stable condition and doing well,” Boring Co. said in a statement on Thursday. “We are actively investigating the incident and extend our gratitude to the Clark County Fire Department, with whom we work closely, for their swift response.”

The department said tunnel boring operations at the site have been temporarily halted pending an ongoing accident investigation.

Officials with the Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration were dispatched to the accident site to open an investigation, OSHA spokeswoman Teri Williams said.

Vegas Loop project

Tunneling has been underway on Vegas Loop’s University Center Loop, which runs from a site on Paradise Road just south of a planned apartment complex to the Westgate, with stops at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, and provides multiple sites to serve Sphere and the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The address listed by the Fire Department as the site of the accident is the former site of the brewery and restaurant Gordon Biersch, located in the Hughes Center. Boring Co., through its subsidiary Object Dash, purchased the 2.5-acre site in June for $10 million, according to Clark County property records.

Boring Co. Plans to build a loop station at the site that will, in part, provide ride service to patrons of Sphere, which is next door to the Hughes Center. In January, Boring Co. also purchased the 1.29-acre site of the former Firefly Tapas Kitchen & Bar, located just north of the Gordon Biersch site, for $8.75 million. Boring Co. plans to build a loop station there, as well.

Aside from the University Center Loop tunnel being dug, Boring Co. is also working on a tunnel from Encore to Caesars Palace. The first portion of that tunnel was bored from the northern edge of the Wynn Golf Course to Wynn West, vacant land Wynn owns across from its namesake property.

The loop will tie into Elon Musk’s Boring Co.’s larger plans for 68 miles of tunnels with 104 stations between the Strip and downtown Las Vegas, with planned stops at most major resorts, Allegiant Stadium, Chinatown and Harry Reid International Airport.

The Vegas Loop operates loops and stations at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Encore, the Westgate and Resorts World. The point-to-point system uses Tesla model vehicles to transport passengers between stations. Rides between the convention center’s four stations are free, with those to the three operating resorts costing $4.25 for a single ride, $7 round trip and $12.50 for a day pass.

Building violation

On June 25, Clark County issued a work stoppage to Boring Co. related to remodeling operations taking place at the Gordon Biersch site. The notice of violation stated Boring Co. had started to work on the structure without receiving a building permit.

The county levied a $990 fine on Boring Co. tied to the violation, with the issue listed as active on Clark County’s public records site.

The violation notes the building is slated to become an operations center for the Vegas Loop. The county also took multiple photos of the building being gutted during the June site visit.

Boring Co. filed for a building permit the next day for interior remodel and demolition of water damage. The permit has yet to be issued by the county, according to public records.

The Boring Co. was issued various permits tied to tunneling from the Paradise site near UNLV to the convention center and on to the Westgate.

Claims of little oversight

In January, a ProPublica article noted various times Boring Co. has been cited by regulators for workplace issues tied to the Vegas Loop project, noting the project was hardly being regulated by area and federal officials.

Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President and CEO Steve Hill pushed back on those claims, noting that the Vegas Loop undergoes the same processes as other privately funded projects in Clark County and the city of Las Vegas do. Hill called ProPublica’s article “sometimes inaccurate and often misleading,” and highlighted that the system wasn’t able to further expand at the time because of ongoing discussions relating to fire safety. Those issues have since been resolved, leading to the opening of the Westgate and Encore stations.

Contact Mark Davis at mdavis@reviewjournal.com. Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.