20 Things You Didn't Know About...

Tunnels
New York has a forgotten one, Texas has a $2 billion wasted one, and Switzerland's building the longest.

Al transit !otthard "T#. 1 This $onth $arks the %&th anni'ersar( of the longest underwater tunnel in the world) the *%+$ile ,hunnel linking -ran.e and /ngland. 2 ,onstru.tion took se'en (ears and .hewed through %% tunnel+boring $a.hines and about $0.0 billion123 er.ent o'er budget. 3 4uantu$ bu$$er) 5n %66*, $2 billion and %7 $iles in, ,ongress axed the Su er.ondu.ting Su er.ollider, whi.h was designed to .reate the world8s greatest arti.le a..elerator in a &7+$ile+long .ir.ular tunnel beneath Texas. 4 The #e art$ent of /nerg( de.ided to seal the tunnel, re9e.ting ro osals to $ake it into a drug .o$ an( distribution de ot, antiterroris$ training fa.ilit(, .an.er treat$ent .enter, or $ushroo$ far$. 5 So thats what the( were holding out for. The abandoned .ollider buildings were finall( ut to use as the set for the s.i+fi fli.k Universal Soldier: The Return. 6 :a(be a tunnel for eo le will ha'e better lu.k. The Swiss are .urrentl( .onstru.ting the Al Transit !otthard rail link ;shown abo'e<, s.heduled to o en in 23%=. 7 >hen finished, it will in.lude the world8s single longest tunnel, *&.7 $iles in length. 8 To $ake sure the( are tunneling in the right dire.tion, Al Transit engineers use a g(ros.o e that alwa(s oints north. Satellite na'igation is useless underground, and $agneti. .o$ asses are not a..urate enough. 9 Sin.e the %6=3s, New York ,it( has been working on a new a?uedu.t s(ste$ to re la.e its .ru$bling, leaking s(ste$ of water tunnels. 10 ,alled >ater Tunnel @*, the new one will not be .o$ leted until 2323A it will in.lude $ore than 03 $iles of tunnels %3 to 27 feet wide.

11 New York ,it( has so $an( tunnels that so$e get lost. >hat is said to be the world8s oldest subwa( tunnel, built in %277, la( forgotten under Brookl(n8s Atlanti. A'enue until %6=6. 12 Natural 'ol.ani. tunnels, .alled la'a tubes, $ade .oz( ho$es for rehistori. hu$ans in ,hile %2,333 (ears ago. 13 At the subato$i. s.ale, nature $akes tunnels all the ti$e. A s ook( heno$enon .alled ?uantu$ tunneling lets arti.les a ear in la.es where the( should not be, as if the( had burrowed through the s a.e in between. 14 This effe.t is the basis of the s.anning tunneling $i.ros.o e, whi.h .reates i$ages so detailed that indi'idual ato$s .an be seen. 15 Cu$an nature $akes tunnels all the ti$e too) 5n 233& federal agents shut a drug+s$uggling tunnel between British ,olu$bia and >ashington State1the first one found between the Dnited States and ,anada. 16 Authorities realized so$ething was going on when the( noti.ed large a$ounts of wood and iron disa earing into the s$ugglers8 shed. 17 #uring the Eietna$ >ar, Eiet.ong soldiers .reated an intri.ate, %&3+$ile+long network of tunnels northwest of Co ,hi :inh ,it(. 18 D.S. soldiers who bra'ed the tunnels fa.ed boob( tra s, in.luding false floors abo'e its that had oisoned wood stakes at the botto$. 19 #uring >orld >ar 55, A$eri.an FG>s tunneled out of Stalag "uft 555 b( ex.a'ating 233 tons of sand under the noses of their .a tors. 20 The FG>s ut the sand into ou.hes $ade fro$ old so.ks, then s rinkled the sand down their trouser legs as the( walked around.