In Los Angeles a Tunnel under construction partially collapsed: the accident, which took place on the night of July 9 in a Wilmington construction site, involved 31 workers who were in 121 meters deep. To collapse, in particular, it would have been a part of the tunnel located between the perforator machine, which was at a distance of 8 km from the only entrance, and the workers who were working more than 9 km from the exit itself. The mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, confirmed with on X that all the workers involved in the accident were rescued, thanks to the timely intervention of beyond 100 firefighters of the Los Angeles Fire Department. Fortunately, the debris fallen following the collapse did not completely fill the tunnel, allowing workers to climb over them and reach a escape.
The tunnel, which should be completed by 2027is about 5.5 meters and will reach a total length of 11.3 km: for the project they have been invested beyond 630 million dollars and the work will be intended for the transport of waste water From the county of Los Angeles to the Pacific Ocean.
Specifically the project, called Clearwater Projectwas started in 2019 with the aim of Improve the sewage system of Los Angeles, which collects and treats the waste water of over 5 million people. At the moment, in fact, the plant of the town, the Joint Water Pollution Control Plant (Jwpcp), uses two large tunnels to transport waste water to the ocean: these tunnels, however, were built in 1937 and in 1958 And, precisely because they are dated, they have already undergone several faults.
In 2017, for example, the two tunnels were unable to contain the large quantities of rain fall during the strong thunderstorms that had hit the city of Los Angeles, pouring the waste water into the surrounding waterwayswith the consequent degradation of water quality. The two tunnels, among other things, do not respect the current seismic standardsdespite being in an area crossed by Two seismic faults.
By 2027, therefore, the New tunnel That the other two will replace: first, however, it will be necessary to understand the extent of the damage caused by the partial collapse of last night. The causes of the accidenthowever, are not yet known: according to what reported by the press agency Reutersbehind the partial collapse there may have been one land compression conditionwhich can occur during large excavations.
Local authorities intervened to reconstruct the dynamics of the facts: further updates are therefore expected in the next few hours.
