A CHRONICLE OF CALIFORNIA TUNNEL INCIDENTS

Boring tunnels is not always boring. Presented here is an historical r ecord of unusual events and incidents that have occurred in more than fifty California tunnels. Some tunneling events are tragic, some are h umorous, and some are truly heroic. Remarkable occurrences include tun nel cave-ins causing sinkholes in a taxiway at LAX and in busy city st reets (fortuitously non-disastrous); the geologic relation to an outbr eak of boils; an elaborate underground home and gardens; flowing groun d; the effects of earthquakes in tunnels; lethal gases and explosions in tunnels. Other noteworthy events include some world records, such a s the longest, wettest, and hardest rock tunnels; the fastest excavati on by blasting and by tunnel boring machines; and, arguably, the great est diversity of geology in a tunnel. Lastly, a Bibliography of Califo rnia Tunnels is presented.