Could this be a base for another Gigapress (Austin footage)?

[Friday]

Saw this on Randy's latest upload. Could it be bases for the bigger Gigapresses (CT versions)? Or am I dreaming?
Tesla Gigafactory Austin 4K Day 317 - 6/4/21 - Tesla Terafactory Texas - WET DAY AT GIGA TEXAS!

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[Alan]

Saw this on Randy's latest upload. Could it be bases for the bigger Gigapresses (CT versions)? Or am I dreaming?
Tesla Gigafactory Austin 4K Day 317 - 6/4/21 - Tesla Terafactory Texas - WET DAY AT GIGA TEXAS!

Water retention vaults.

 

[Crissa]

These are infiltration vaults. They take stormwater and direct it to the ground, so it can wander off through absorption to the water-table.

With a building this close to the river (and this large) any water you block from the ground with has to go somewhere. Which just means bigger culverts around the site. And all those culverts have to go to settling ponds to pull out any silts or pollution they grab from the site, too. So bigger retention ponds.

Worse, the ground underneath the building with create a shadow in the water-table. Soil (even rock at the right scale) is like a sponge, if it's dry, it shrinks. So the shadow of the compressed soil under the building would shrink, creating a depression in the middle of the building.

Putting water into vaults like these means you replenish the water under the building (so it doesn't sink) and reduces how much water you have to deal with in culverts and less pollution and silt wanders off the site into the retention ponds and river.

-Crissa

(Like I said, grew up in the rainforest. Gotta know these things or your house goes sliding down the hill or sinking into the river.)

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