The Secret $4BN Tunnel Network Under Chicago

[@SirFloofy001]

4:10 for 8 years as a OTR truck driver i drove past this absolutely massive pit next to the interstate near chicago and had no idea what it was. Now i know!> And trust me, its soooooo much bigger then it looks on camera. The ground just vanishes on either side of you for half a mile, freaked me the heck out the first time.

[@fourthright]

How to find it on google maps

[@joeschulp1342]

@@fourthright search for Thorton Illinois. The massive hole in a limestone quarry. It was not built for the Deep Tunnel Project.

[@gobbletegook]

@@fourthright Type in McCook Reservoir, Bedford Illinois. This one of three is about 11 miles west of the Loop...and west of MIDWAY airport along the Stevenson exp.. From what I've read, completion is expected in 2029. Also search Thornton Quarry ,for another one. I think Thornton is 1.5 miles long.

[@fourthright]

@@gobbletegook thanks

[@Grintor]

wrong hole in the ground lol, you are probably thinking of the limestone quarry. It is much bigger than the resevoir and still actively being worked.

[@scenicdepictionsofchicagolife]

I really love how much attention Chicago gets on this channel. It's so cool to see my home town, essentially my own backyard on such a high profile KZbin channel.

[@jeffreyestahl]

Chi-town is an engineering city. The Sanitation Canal is the 4th star you know.

[@chitownlov3er0623]

We actually barely get attention on here we only have like 4 videos while new york has like 20. I want videos on the Vista tower or one chicago

[@jeffreyestahl]

@@chitownlov3er0623 Just one on the architecture alone would be cool. Chicago is home to 6 of the world's biggest and most well-known architectural firms. Buildings there are art, not just Tinkertoy sticks stuck in the ground and calling it Billionaires' Row or some other dumb title.

[@tabitha_phoebe_rose275]

Your hometown is BEAUTIFUL I Love Chicago it's also my second home as my aunt lives in Naperville ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@Thetechgeek2100]

@Edson Silva I love to hear someone else still calling it Vista Tower! It'll always be the Vista Tower in my heart.

[@psschroe42]

In the 70’s and 80’s it made the local news regularly. Not so much these days. I remember the first time lapse video of the Thornton quarry filling up. Just stunning.

[@dalegaliniak607]

Yeah, it's less a secret and more that we're now fifty years into the project, so it's no longer talked about it, which means younger people probably don't know about it. I gotta give the city credit though for continuing on anyway, even if there isn't any popularity in it.

[@unl987]

I definitely remember it being on the news a lot in the 90s as well. But last 20 years pretty much silence. They do have a great website that allows you to look at webcams and see other information on the project

[@gobbletegook]

Yes. In the late 1980;s, when they approved a 2nd part to the project, it was pretty much well know because of the cost & involvement of the Army Core of Engineers. And of course, if you lived anywhere near the reservoirs, you heard it.

[@virginiawoods4796]

there is a reason for that check into the tunnels Dumbs Labs Homes pools stores restraint beauty salons all built for the one world order. As 85% will go to the FEMA. It depends on who you are what you do if you can provide subsistence 🍽️🍷and their type of joy and play for the New one world order gods of human and the Earth.

[@virginiawoods4796]

@@unl987 only what they want you to know. If you know too much you will become a doorknob hanging.

[@michaelmains6785]

I love that you guys are doing more tunnel projects. Underground construction is one of the most complex and interesting disciplines in civil engineering. Nice work!

[@kellybrandon1179]

You should see utahs mountains.. well it's what you can't see. I'm going to be a mountain engineer when I grow up!

[@ipersley]

Zoning rules in Chicago require any new construction over a certain site area to handle its own storm water internally on site. I have worked on several projects in the city that have required tanks in new buildings or underground reservoirs to store storm water and release it gradually into the system. This should help to reduce the amount of runoff into this project and help make a more sustainable storm water system in the future for the city.

[@BlownMacTruck]

Yep, this was incredibly contentious when it was first implemented, and now it's just a thing people know has to happen. I'm pretty thrilled the city stuck to its guns on making sure this happened, because now no one even bats any eye at it - it's just a thing you do. And it's incredibly helpful for the entire population.

[@mattmichael2441]

@@BlownMacTruck it’s gonna increase the cost of building and expand their environmental impact. The city did not stick to its guns it put the problem on someone else. The city needs two separate sewers a sanitation and storm one. Anything else is not practical and very wasteful.

[@BlownMacTruck]

@@mattmichael2441 I'd disagree that they didn't stick to their guns. They did pretty well given the constraints. Could it be better? Of course. But that's always the case in these situations. Too many NIMBYs and special interest groups fully opposed ANY solution, so I'm willing to give the city credit here.

[@word42069]

Yeah that’s been the case in here NYC for a while now. It’s important as we also have a combined sewage and drainage system throughout much of the city which is problematic when there is a massive amount of precipitation. A similar system to this project but at a much smaller scale is being built around the Gowanus canal in Brooklyn to prevent as many “overflow events” from happening and dumping the waste into the recently dredged and cleaned up canal.

[@jaredsilvers2782]

Pretty much any new development in the midwest requires some kind of stormwater detention system, it's just in less populated areas that's a detention pond(large depression in grass) and not a tank or artificial reservoir. But they serve the same purpose.

[@pianistprodigy1072]

As rail operator in Chicago for CTA i found this very fascinating because as I operating in the tunnels their are some tunnels that are completely gated off so its pretty cool knowing their is another huge tunnel maybe below where we operate the train in the tunnel in chicago downtown

[@randpherigo9724]

CTA DEI Hire.. lol

[@randpherigo9724]

CTA and the city itself is the most racist ive ever seen.. Blacks run chicago, so you can expect it to only get worse., cause they vote for theyre enslavers EVERYTIME!

[@greekfire1875]

It's always a treat when B1M covers your hometown.

[@SSNESS]

Is this going to help get rid of the crime too

[@hybbfr727]

@@SSNESS why would it

[@jermainejohnson3465]

I drive past the Reservoir every single time I’m driving on I-294 southbound. I never knew what it was for but now I do. Thank you for that!

[@goblue710]

"deep tunnel" is a very known project for us who live in and around Chicago!!

[@whoishim2998]

Damn fr feel like my circle doesn’t know about it guess we just slow

[@guitarmike6757]

My stepfather worked on this tunnel for many years in the 80’s it was called the deep tunnel project he was extremely proud of it and has many many pictures in frames in his den still to this day 😊😊😊

[@litesaber54yi3]

There used to be this incredible magazine called 'Invention and Technology Magazine'. One issue was focused on the Chicago Sewer System. What chicago accomplished is astonishing. Many of tye people who helped design and build the original network and reversal of the river went on to design and build the Panama Canel. Fun fact: St. Louis sued Chicago when Chicago reversed the river. They belived the waste water fron chicago would polute thier drinking water. As mentioned in the video the waste was pushed into the Mississippi instead of naturaly following into the Lake. The reversed chanal system had hundreds of mini water falls as it stepped down over its length. This caused the oxygen to get stirred up and that oxygen killed much of the bacteria and viruses naturally. By the time the waste water would reach SL. It was so clean that it was actually cleaner then the water SL was drinking in the first place.

[@josephking6515]

Cool! 👍

[@flilguy]

I don't believe that. It was actually a huge mess. It went to the Supreme Court. When they started chlorinating water in the 1900s the situation got a lot better. In the 21st century there really is not a need to do this. Sewage water is treated before it goes back into rivers or lakes.

[@blackpanther_era905]

👑💪🏿💪🏿

[@equals42]

That process is true for organic materials, but there are plenty of things that go into the river in Chicago that don’t get “killed by oxygen”. Now the fear is invasive Asian carp invading the Great Lakes through the connection. I guess St Louis should be grateful for the Chicago wastewater that’s so much cleaner than the rest of the Midwest watershed?

[@dickdastardly5534]

This is why I love watching this channel. Other viewers with first hand experience and local knowledge augment what as been shown with information that could make the video too long. I have never been to Chicago but if I ever did then I would definitely look into the engineering projects that have been carried out. On a more sober note I wonder how much CO2 was produced for the cement manufacture out of curiosity and how long this would take to offset? This aside I think the project is excellent and a bold positive move in dealing with environment change.

[@mycroft16]

This is an impressive project I've never heard of until now. Smart, well thought out. Well done Chicago. And I love that they are trying to emulate nature more and more going forward. More cities need to look to things like this.

[@Willstangv6]

Thank you for doing a video on this, I have lived in Chicago all my life and I learned the most about this project from your video.

[@buggyfun123]

Chicago crime rate: 40 per one thousand residents With a crime rate of 40 per one thousand residents, Chicago has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes - from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One's chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 25. Let that sink in. Chicago sucks because it is run by Democrats. Period. Have a nice day.

[@Jeschitown]

Awesome another great Chicago video! Keep them coming please do some on the several huge mega projects under works like, the 78, Lincoln yards, Burnham Lakefront, the River District.

[@buggyfun123]

Chicago crime rate: 40 per one thousand residents With a crime rate of 40 per one thousand residents, Chicago has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes - from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One's chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 25. Let that sink in. Chicago sucks because it is run by Democrats. Period. Have a nice day.

[@johnbrant2454]

Seems like a brilliant solution to a major problem. And the city of Chicago ought to be acknowledged for carrying out such an important project that took years to build.

[@MrSquirrelboy]

The City of Chicago did not have a hand in building The Deep Tunnel Project. It was done entirely by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. The MWRD is it’s own municipality and does not fall under the control of the city or county.

[@TheAxeman225]

@@MrSquirrelboy Thanks for highlighting this, I would not have known otherwise.

[@joelsandler1119]

A handful of people died building this thing.

[@Accounting4Cycling]

@@MrSquirrelboyThis also is the same method Milwaukee did to remedy our own flooding issues. Chicago even took the name straight from Milwaukee's Deep Tunnel project. It's a great way to handle such an issue without major overhauls above ground!

[@raymondlemming8994]

A very nice video! When we first planned the system in 1975 the plan was to have dual parallel tunnels, the second to be built after the first was completed. That has been dropped. Kevin does a good job of explaining the current theories on TARP.

[@trapical]

I always assumed the Great Lakes cities were the one and only spot in the world that was immune to flooding. Because like, yeah, no storm is going to overflow the capacity of the Great Lakes. I never thought about the sewage/drainage problem though! Makes senses to be concerned about how localized flooding would make your sewage pollute the Great Lakes. Props to Chicago for getting ahead of the problem. (and I still think the Great Lakes region is going to be the most resilient region in the world to climate change. They have infinite fresh water and plenty of farmland to use it)

[@jeffreyestahl]

Flooding occurs anytime incoming rainwater exceeds the ability of the drainage system to compensate. This can occur in 'flat' areas too. It all depends on the volume of rainfall. Freshwater availability is dependent on rainfall patterns (as is the entire river basin of 2/3 of the US draining out into the Mississippi eventually. If rainfall drops off, so does the level of fresh water.

[@K4R3N]

Yeah once the South, Southwest and southeast are too hot to live and California has burned up, all those folks that fled the Midwest will need to move back. Give it 10-15 years. Decent schools and universities also in the Midwest. Good folks overall.

[@Nphen]

The levels of the "big lakes" as we sometimes call them in Michigan, do rise & fall over time and can cause problems with beach erosion. They don't rise with sea level (due to the basins being above sea level), but paved areas in general cause flooding because roads & parking lots channel water into sewers instead of into wetlands, which are themselves now paved over. Grand Rapids digs a pit in between street & sidewalk, filling it with stones, topping it with rocks, mulch & plants. Tiny bioswales. That's what Chicago is probably starting to do now. A company called Parjana can implant tubes into the ground which speed up flow from surface to water table. They tested it on Detroit's Belle Isle, which floods a lot. The fields they tested drain so much faster! If states & fed gov had sense, those tubes would be going into all flood areas along with millions of swales & wetland restoration.

[@marke8323]

The Lake levels do rise and fall slowly over time, it's a long way to the Atlantic from here through various other Great Lakes and the St Lawrence Seaway, a few years back high water and waves were doing damage to the lake shore and can be rough as an ocean at times.

[@K4R3N]

@@Nphen the Chicago lakefront beaches half washed away in the past 5 years.

[@charlieheckman]

That street artwork around Tbilisi reminded by of Bansky and it looks marvelous.

[@armaniwebb4467]

Yet another reason chicagonis a world class city. From reversing the river, to night clubs and nightlife, world class museums and architecture, and historic locations and sports players/teams.

[@buggyfun123]

Chicago crime rate: 40 per one thousand residents With a crime rate of 40 per one thousand residents, Chicago has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes - from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One's chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 25. Let that sink in. Chicago sucks because it is run by Democrats. Period. Have a nice day.

[@omnipitous4648]

Dude I've been watching for years. I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate you. This is one of my favorite channels. Thanks.

[@colormedubious4747]

I thought you were going to talk about the narrow-gauge freight rail tunnel network under Chicago, but that's old news. This was much more interesting. Major Fun Fact: when Chicago finished their work on the river and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC), they created a connection for barge and recreational traffic to travel between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River, thence to the Gulf of Mexico. It is a key component of the 6,000-mile Great Loop journey along America's intracoastal and inland waterways (a trip that is prominent on many retirees' bucket lists). Minor Fun Fact: there are electrified fish barriers in the CSSC to limit the spread of invasive carp species into the Great Lakes.

[@MN12warbird]

In the 80s n 90s my father worked on the deep tunnel project. Great video clips of downtown Chicago in this video

[@chrispnw2547]

Chicago has one of the worlds greatest skylines. Not overly dense but several clear vantage points where one is awe-struck by the powerful structures. Returning from a trip on the East Coast, OHare was stacked so the pilot stated he would sit over downtown Chicago for several minutes till he received clearance to land. The pilot circled over the lake in near silence 7/8 times providing an incredible view of the city one would pay $500 to experience in a helicopter. From an engineering perspective, Chicago deserves the title 'The City That Works!'. Update: @10:28 The siting of the Trump Tower off the Chicago River and Wacker Drive is one of the best new buildings on the Chicago skyline. The architect created a modern structure but carried forward many of the traditional design elements (multiple setbacks).

[@LUIS-ox1bv]

Trump originally intended the tower to be Chicago's tallest, but 9/11, halted those plans and the building took a height reduction. Wacker Dr, is on the opposite, southern side of the Chicago River.

[@LouisEmery]

I've been one a few of these circlings at twilight in winter; looking at the silvered glass high-rises is absolutely amazing. It looks likes everything is made of shiny silver.

[@buggyfun123]

Chicago crime rate: 40 per one thousand residents With a crime rate of 40 per one thousand residents, Chicago has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes - from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One's chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 25. Let that sink in. Chicago sucks because it is run by Democrats. Period. Have a nice day.

[@kagreen2k]

Most people in Chicago see that building as a giant middle finger.

[@History_Buff]

The Thornton limestone quarry, half of which became the reservoir, great for Chicago, stinks for the suburbs. I recommend rolling up your windows if you ever drive that stretch of !-80 or the town/shopping in the area after a heavy rainstorm. The whole area stinks for the next couple days.

[@jsyjay]

"It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses."

[@jonathanthompson5710]

We're on a mission from God.

[@texaswunderkind]

@@jonathanthompson5710 I hate Illinois Nazis.

[@randerodr7389]

On lower Whacker drive ?

[@nathanielhunter1280]

Hit it!

[@shanereiter2542]

My girlfriend and I live an hour and a half from downtown Chicago, in South Bend IN, and we go to Chicago 3-4 times a year. We actually just did a day trip this past weekend and i have gone past those reservoirs multiple times and always wondered what they were for. Thank you for the video and answering my lifelong question! Great video. Great city!

[@ynerrad9291]

I love how we went from 3.45km twin tunnels in Auckland last week to 175km+ tunnels in Chicago this week. The amazement and wonder is real. Folks, only on the definitive channel for construction will you get some serious range. ❤ The B1M

[@igrim4777]

Ironic that a week ago Auckland didn't have a flooding problem but this week a system like this might have saved 3 lives and 1000 million dollars of property damage.

[@SmallWonda]

And I do have to wonder how the Auckland tunnel faired in last week's heavy storms & flooding rains. Regardless of the potential increase for flooding rains & heavy storms, I think cities should be emulating Chicago's lead here - taking the storm water run-off, holding it safely away from residents basements, cleaning it up before releasing plus, using good landscape design principles to capture run-off & inundations before they cause property damage - just encouraging people to have gardens & proper soil instead of covering everything in concrete & blacktop would be a start. I'd forgotten all about this, so good to hear it's heading towards completion & how it's improving the waterfront.

[@dontcomply3976]

Roughly the same cost Told you infrastructure in NZ is ridiculously expensive.

[@Jules_73]

I live near the Thornton quarry pictured in this video. They basically turned the old quarry into Chicago’s toilet and it smells terrible during the warm months.

[@HarryPorpise]

Huh, I’ve driven past one of the reservoirs before, I’ve always been super curious about what it was! It just felt odd that there was a massive, nearly perfectly rectangular hole in the ground at least 100 feet deep!

[@anlemeinthegame1637]

I assumed they were salt mines when I saw them flying in to Chicago. It's too late for Chicago to separate their combined sewer and runoff systems, but newer systems do keep them apart, as much as possible.

[@HarryPorpise]

@@anlemeinthegame1637 yeah I thought that they were some type of quarry, but it didn’t feel right. Why weren’t there ever any minerals in storage nearby? Why did the ramp to the bottom not wrap around the quarry at all? Why would it be in a suburban area? It just didn’t really line up haha

[@tylerkochman1007]

@@HarryPorpise they ARE quarries. Part of the Thornton/McCook quarry complexes

[@HarryPorpise]

@@tylerkochman1007 huh, that’s interesting

[@ghoffmann821]

@@HarryPorpise It's part of a limestone quarry complex, which is still in use. I believe it's the largest one in North America.

[@TruckinDavo]

So all these years driving on I-80 & passing the Quarry on the south side of the interstate around South Holland, I thought that digging to the north was just an expansion of the Quarry, nope it's a Reservoir!!... Damn, I love this channel. Literally learn something every episode

[@DennisCaffey]

There's an episode on PBS about this project. It's truly stunning the scale of the tunnel system and then the temp storm water storage reservoir.

[@tomsenft7434]

Also, I think this video missed that cities downstream, like New Orleans and St. Louis, sued Chicago after the Chicago River was reversed, and the outcome of that suit was a mandate to build a system to slow storm water that was overwhelming the sewage systems, and thus, the Deep Tunnel Project was required by Law.

[@K4R3N]

Solid engineering. Please visit our beautiful city in the summer months, stay in a downtown hotel and explore our river and lake front areas.

[@lawrencejob]

By 2/3 through I can’t remember how to say the word “reservoir” any more

[@willdarling1]

waar NOT wire

[@spockhozzer7207]

Rizzler vore

[@flightmaster999]

Nice to hear about good projects once in a while, thanks!

[@tylerkochman1007]

Wild fact: in 1986 an incident occurred where the system flooded in such a way that 75 foot geysers spurted up at two locations. One in the near-north suburb of Wilmette near the Baha’i Temple (a building whose construction history would make a great B1M installment, side note). They’ve since installed watertight bulkheads to prevent that.

[@gratedcampbell9553]

New B1M always makes for a good morning!

[@danielcookeb90]

True that!👍👍

[@mzuggy]

I'm a Chicago resident, but had no idea this existed! What a clever and cool system. 😄

[@IWrocker]

This has been in the Chicago news since I was a kid lmao 😂

[@pauldarbishire7226]

I knew about this project back in 1981 when I was driving 1 of the 1st TBM's ever to be used in the UK. It was a Robbins hardrock TBM similar but smaller than those shown but built by the same manufacturer. The Tideway project is doing the same job for London - storing excess rainwater and sewage for later processing at the Beckton treatment works.

[@mikehindson-evans159]

An excellent and informative view of large-scale construction - along with the fact that infrastructure definitely doesn't happen overnight. Long-term planning is vital. Well done for delivering this video.

[@JeffDeWitt]

I liked the shot of Big Red, Holland Michigan's lighthouse at 2:34. Have you considered doing an episode on Holland's Snowmelt system? It uses waste heat to keep the streets and sidewalks of downtown Holland free of ice and snow all winter long. Which is a REALLY big deal in western Michigan.

[@AntneeUK]

Well, that's a new definition of "reverse engineered" on me

[@Alex-zi1nb]

Omg I always wanted to see an Ariel shot of the stretch of highway by the quarry’s! I didn’t know if it was a bridge, or solid and now I know. Crazy how this massive engineering project happened without people even knowing

[@vice.nor.virtue]

Isn't the comparison Tokyo's emergency-flood-storage-cavern a necessary addition to this one? Literally that reservoir is big enough to store Godzilla and every city with flood problems could learn a thing or two from them... Chicago seems to have quite a similar system where once the reservoir is full, storm water goes to the river instead. [also, I hate being that guy but "reser-vwyre" ??]

[@c.falcon5045]

I was involved in managing one of those MWRD tunnel projects between 2017-2021. 😊It was quite the experience for sure.

[@stevensam7800]

The TARP was a great forward thinking solution. the back up during rainfall caused all kinds of problems including when water backed up into basements and bathrooms. great video. ps : apologies to st Louis for sending our crap downstream

[@jonathansheats3583]

Damn I worked for 4 years in Chicago at a engineering company as a surveyor. I was certified to go into the tunnels under the streets and have done more than a few surveys down there. I think they were old freight rails or something. There is definitely tracks through them. We used to take lawn chairs with us because the whole tunnel system has 6"-12" sitting water in it. Then when it's break time you can actually relax. When you go under the Chicago river there is a water tight bulkhead on each side. It's kind of a weird feeling when you're locked under the river in between the 2 doors. If it was too flood at that moment... Well that's a wrap. You go into the tunnel system in the basement if city hall. Used to be multiple openings but all the rest are welded shut now. The tunnels are full of communication trunk lines and Comed transmission packages.

[@AlecSchwengler]

There are old narrow gauge freight tunnels underneath some parts of the Loop. There used to be a small railroad that delivered coal to various buildings before electrification. Most buildings have sealed their entrances to those tunnels but some of them flooded like 25 years ago and shut down the loop for a few weeks.

[@SimulatorBoss]

Nice to see more Water and Sewage projects! Nice Job!

[@steveanderson9290]

I grew up in Chicago. The deep tunnel had an astonishingly positive effect on storm water mitigation. I remember when they started it and everybody was bitching about the expense. The north Des Plaines river still gets out of hand from time to time, but maybe they have something up their sleeve for that.

[@RealCivilEngineerGaming]

Our secret's out!!! 😂

[@ShawnNewEarthCreations]

Great program. Awesome method to normalize the massive amount of under ground tunnels that exist and connect all parts of the world. For a LONG TIME.

[@functionSam]

uhm B1M, if you tell the world about the secret tunnel, then it isn't a secret anymore...

[@TheB1M]

ah whoops

[@pepitalacoja3870]

@@TheB1M: This channel is cool !! I love it 💯 % 👍

[@Thorcat001]

It was never a secret as it’s been in the Chicago news since the 70s. He’s just using the word secret as Clickbait.

[@2HN.]

@@TheB1M construction people are simpletons indeed

[@mltnetwork]

Great video. Thank you for sharing this video. Great pre-planning and vision for the future---thank GOD for ENGINEERS!! Keep seeing to the future!!

[@TheDavidlloydjones]

Famous story from New York, just as applicable here: guy standing inside the construction site asks "But where does the pipe go? You hang it from the walls?"| "No, fella. You are standing in the pipe." And the 500-foot deep grouting of these reservoirs reminds me of a slow steady project that has been going on in the Niagara Peninsula for many years: back in the late 19th and early 20th century, before Sir Adam Beck's time, the peninsula was a huge source of natural gas -- which people accessed through thousands of holes drilled in the impermeable sedimentary overlay. Well the gas ran out, and sixty or seventy years later people started to think "Hey, we've got this huge useful storage hole here...." I don't know whether they plan to use it for water, or maybe hydrogen or ammonia generated from future atomic power -- but they need to grout up all those holes and cracks. So that's what they're doing: creating a huge tank that used to be a gas field.

[@danielcookeb90]

Wish I had your knowledge David. But, thinking big and far ahead, is a must!

[@The4lexO]

@@danielcookeb90 would look for some sources

[@babystepsgarden6162]

Genius! Respect to the inventer(s), designer(s) engineer(s) and workers! This is awesome for pollution control. The earth's creatures thank you all! ❤❤❤

[@ptrs]

Always excited to see a new B1M video, unbelievable quality every time ❤

[@anthonymcneill1465]

Brilliant plan.

[@PhilipMurphy8Extra]

New B1M would always make for good content.

[@wilkesjournal]

The water "discharged to the Mississippi River" travels more than 300 miles to the southwest via the Illinois River, which then finally flows in to the Mississippi at Grafton, Illinois, about 40 miles north of St. Louis Missouri.

[@stevelawson68]

I spent a lot of time down there between 1995-99. The deepest shaft i was in was at Bechwith and Narragansett. That was 290 feet deep. You get used to the fact that if there is a cave in and you survive,you're never going to be rescued before you run out of oxygen.

[@vjaneczko]

Not sure "Secret" is the right word to use? Growing up in the 80's in the Chicago 'burbs, we always heard about the tunnels and why they were getting built. It felt like the TV stations would run reports on their slow days. Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy to see you post about it and will always find the project fascinating.

[@_Tommmmmm_]

My uncle used to do a ton of building work in Wrigley and I remember him saying they had access to some of the tunnels running through that area. He also said that apparently there are tunnels that run from ohare airport all the way to the city and when Chicago was pushing for the 2016 Olympic bid they had planned on putting conveyor belt systems in the tunnels to transport people’s luggage from the airports to the city/hotels. Obviously that never happened but he said there are more tunnels than people think.

[@ryanjohnson8960]

Fun fact, the reservoir with the highway over it is I-80 and used to be a limestone quarry until it was retired for this specific purpose. I used to live 15 minutes away from this huge quarry, it was so fun to drive over it as a kid

[@tburrrg2502]

Thank you for sharing this, I was going to comment the same thing!

[@andrewhastings6813]

Still is an active quarry my friend.

[@MrMajikman1]

@@andrewhastings6813 The quarry is on both the North and South side of I-80. The North side was dedicated to the reservoir specifically, and the South side is still an active quarry. However, it is the same quarry...The Thornton Quarry.

[@juliahelland6488]

I never knew anything about this! Very informative and interesting! 😊

[@willcwhite]

I'm almost 40 years old and until today I never knew that British people pronounced "reservoir" like that. Also, I haven't lived in Chicago for a while, but I'm pretty sure that The Italian Village does not serve deep-dish pizza. I don't think they have pizza at all!

[@fiofofionomoto]

(that's not a British thing, believe me!)

[@scottk1214]

@@elorani1714Italian Village is a restaurant in the Loop, not a neighborhood.

[@tburrrg2502]

@@elorani1714 little Italy is not a Mexican neighborhood- it’s basically on UIC campus

[@LUIS-ox1bv]

@@elorani1714 Italian Village is a restaurant in the Loop business district, not a residential neighborhood.

[@adrianhopper3287]

We do not, I came to the comments just to see if anyone else mentioned it. Very odd.

[@eskercurve]

I grew up in Chicago as this was going on and I never learned this! Bravo!

[@jackbouman7351]

I absolutely love the contrast between your posh accent and his chicago accent. "Rack"

[@MikMoen]

Reminds me of the massive flood water tunnel system levels in the game Mirror's Edge. Giant tunnels and chasms deep underground is a terrifying image.

[@randerodr7389]

Loved this video. I worked on the deep tunnel project for 3 years. We moved there in 1979 after the excavation on the Eisenhower Tunnel in Colorado was completed. Yes the blizzard of 79. Many great memories of my time there. My nephew was born in Chicago.

[@lorenzoknox2945]

I actually walked from 111th to 115th street in that 1979 blizzard 🥶 as a kid not even a teenager yet at that time 😯was fun for about one block after that it was the hardest task I had ever set off to do. I was to young to know what I was doing 🙄

[@randerodr7389]

@@lorenzoknox2945 Yes it was a brutal winter. Looking back I sometimes wonder how we made it. Youth has its advantages for sure.

[@K4R3N]

I was just an infant in 79 but my my parents will never let me forget that winter! ❄️ 🥶

[@randerodr7389]

@@K4R3N Having just moved there we didn't really know how unusual it was. We found out later. I have seen shows about it on the weather channel.

[@K4R3N]

@@randerodr7389 Chicago winters have steadily gotten more milder in the past decade. Barely any snow this year.

[@gregcarlson4843]

Here in Omaha, Nebraska, problems with Saddle Creek are being addressed with an underground 3 million gallon reservoir that will process stormwater before it travels into Papillion Creek and (I think) downhill and on to the Missouri River.

[@nylexmo9019]

I live in Chicago and this is the first time I ever hear of this project. Now I feel like I know a top secret haha

[@LUIS-ox1bv]

It's been an open, "secret," for decades. Know your city.

[@nylexmo9019]

@@LUIS-ox1bv Okay good for you…I’m sorry I’ve only been alive for 2 of those decades

[@xxxx7451]

Is it like a giant septic system? I don't understand completely.

[@MrSlaidback]

This is fascinating right now, Auckland, Aotearoa just had a major flooding areas , like, worse in a lifetime. Some places handled well, other places did not.

[@lucioismyname1]

Much love from Chicago 💯

[@BonesyTucson]

OMG that is amazing! We have something similar going on in Toronto but at a much, much smaller scale. Man I would have loved to get a tour of the system down in Chicago before it went live!

[@jtd8719]

The system was also known as CUP - Chicago Underflow Plan. The site between the I&M canal and the river (McCook) was part of (and is still surrounded by) a MWRD biosolids drying facility where they dry out sludge (microbes that 'eat' the sewage) from the water treatment plants. I worked on this part of the project as a 3rd-party inspector briefly (around 2003?) when the cutoff wall was being constructed in the overburden. Stunk real bad on some hot summer days.

[@s0urce.ow0]

Pestily's Hardcore music in the background tripped me out.

[@heroryan321]

3 tunnel videos in a row and they’re all amazing!!

[@jamaljames2578]

Always watching from Georgetown Guyana south America 🇬🇾🇬🇾🇬🇾🇬🇾

[@Shopsmith10er]

Well informative vid. Ironic but the precipitation and snowfalls in the last 5 or 6 years in Chicago, west and northern regional has been nominal. The patterns of storms are mostly north in Wisconsin and further south of the city. That said, just having a few heavy storms and it's the same old flooded areas. The west suburban and northwest especially.

[@tristianwilson3497]

So with a capacity of 16B gallons it'll be at capacity with 4in of rain the question is how fast can the water be processed

[@timelessadventurer]

@@tristianwilson3497On July 2nd, 2023 there was so much rain at once that they had to send water into Lake Michigan as it couldn’t be processed fast enough. The reservoirs couldn’t take any more water either!

[@cyberpunk.386]

I can’t imagine the tons of excavation material and cutting created for those massive tunnels and reservoirs.

[@emilrogengellschwaner3555]

Sing it with me, "SECRET TUNNEL!"

[@notthebestname]

Lmaoo I didn't even get the reference until I read it

[@andrewapurcell]

Thats right little arrow head.

[@BB-bp7vx]

Missing Chi-town. Beautiful city. Great video.

[@Hollandstation]

I find this very interresting as a Dutch guy

[@ronblack7870]

they need separation between storm sewers and sanitary. they need a program to build storm sewers.

[@ToMgRoEbE]

I feel like people always brush right past the "Chicago raised the entire city by a number of meters" point, like it's no biggie. My brother in Christ they literally put jacks under buildings and cranked them to a higher level, even moved entire buildings without damaging them. 🤯🤯

[@eric_has_no_idea]

It's even crazier, they never closed the buildings. They made temp wooden sidewalks and stairs. People were in the buildings working through the moves! The people inside said they felt nothing.

[@annatravis3648]

I specifically looked through the comments to see if anyone else was going to talk about raising the city. Only 2 other people. Wow are we really going to just ignore this. Where did all the fill dirt come from?

[@NeilsKruse]

Our basement in a northwest suburb of Chicago flooded a few times in the 50's. When a storm was predicted, my father would put a bundle of newspapers on the floor drain and wedge a 4x4 to the ceiling beam to keep the water from coming in through the drain. This was working until he died in 1986. Then the basement flooded again. I guess the deep tunnel wasn't completed yet. We sold the house and it was torn down. I wonder if the tunnel is working or if the new house basement floods.

[@bubcat54]

I own a house next to the desplaines River in river Grove ill. The basement got 3-4 feet of water a half dozen times b4 I just eliminated the floor drain altogether. Problem solved. Any ground seepage is directed to an ejection pit I installed for just that purpose. There are other ways of addressing it that are much more expensive but no more effective. Best $3500 i ever spent. I actually fully finished the basement and have a nice man cave now, without fear of it getting flooded.

[@RowanMackenzie]

Oh yes just casually raising an entire city a couple of feet into the air, sure why not

[@Snowboundless]

Also wouldn't it be nice if the river flowed the other way?

[@stefi300972]

brilliant idea, we need more of these around the world, I hope this project saves many peoples property's

[@jessiebullock]

Now I have the song from Avatar The Last Airbender stuck in my head 😂

[@patm01231]

Same! 🎶Through the mountain 🎶

[@danwentz]

This should be front page news! Way to go Windy City!

[@GeographRick]

Just 180 miles southeast of Chicago, the city of Indianapolis has also been building its own tunnel system which will be 27 miles in total. The project is nearing completion. kzbin.info/www/bejne/g6bIoIKXZdxgpZY

[@onemoreguyonline7878]

Video editor for the video needs a raise. Great job team.

[@BlueRam15]

Good job for keeping it a secret. :)

[@raulduke6105]

It actually connects all the pizza joints

[@AzathothNyxkind]

What’s a rezzev wire? How’s it related to a reservoir?

[@CJ_102]

So refreshing to see the USA doing great civil engineering that directly helps society, and not just endless war and corporatocracy nonsense

[@lumberjackimok]

This project was hardly a secret in the Chicago area - drilling and blasting affected some homes, so it was in the news. Deep Tunnel was also in the news most frequently for it effectiveness in reducing or eliminating flooding during large storms.

[@thecookziggy]

Great stuff

[@gregoryhomesldn]

What an incredible project.

[@IndySidhu88]

Great video, but I was distracted by the way Fred kept saying Reservoirs like Reh-Zuhv-wires instead of Reh-Zuhv-waaz.