Source: City of Santa Barbara
Each year, City Public Works staff go underground to walk the entire 3.7-mile span of Mission Tunnel to inspect its condition. The tunnel was originally constructed in 1910 and conveys water to the City from Gibraltar Reservoir.
Watch the video below:
Feel my claustrophobia clutching at my innards.
Collapses. Urg.
Interesting tunnel..
Ugh..
So much un-necessary destruction.
Typical.
Who do they send to do this, the newest employees? Would not want to be in the middle of that tunnel during an earthquake.
Different strokes for different folks, I’d LOVE to have the opportunity to do this hike! In my opinion, one only needs to take into account earthquakes for places one spends lots of time (home, work), not an hour’s hike.
Much, much less destructive than pipes across many more miles of landscape requiring HUGE pumps (and huge associated maintenance cost) to get the water over the mountains.
All of this talk of claustrophobia but no one seemed to mind the fact that Jerry Brown’s trail to nowhere was going to cross multiple active earthquake faults with miles of tunnels under the San Gabriel Mountains. Would have been a catastrophe in addition to a boondoggle.
In my late teens, we would hike by the entrance on our our way to 7 Falls. I used to say that I’d love to walk through the tunnel. Years later I found out that my stepfather had the key to the lock while he was a superintendent for the City of SB. Darn it! Missed my chance!
Neal Graffy’s presentation about water history in Santa Barbara is terrific. If I remember correctly, he goes into the tunnel.