00:00It's now been four years since I started building a tunnel system under my suburban house.
00:05This is a recap of what has become a huge project with hundreds of tons of rock excavated
00:12and many aspects of construction and engineering.
00:17At the beginning, pandemic-induced boredom reignited my childhood yearning for the mines
00:23and I cut into my basement wall and made a portal to the underworld.
00:28I quickly ran out of space to pile the rock, but fortunately have a large window well
00:34where I was able to build a hoist and hopper to raise loads of rock.
00:43250 tons so far, all loaded into dumpsters or saved for use.
00:49In fact, I struck several interesting layers of hardened metamorphic rock
00:53which can be used for building and crafting.
00:56I planned to use the larger pieces for constructing my castle.
01:01Until now, I excavated a 30-foot entry staircase, an antechamber, and another lower tunnel.
01:09All required electrical, plumbing, ventilation, and concrete work.
01:16A lot of concrete work.
01:18Either installed as blocks, pumped in by truck, or mixed by hand.
01:2650 cubic yards so far.
01:29During the second year, increasing public exposure as well as justified local concern
01:34caused the project to be shut down by the city for lack of permits.
01:38Basically, they said it's excavation.
01:41Now, you're pulling stuff out of the basement.
01:44Yeah, a little bit.
01:46We go down and take a look.
01:47I spent the next year going back and forth developing plans, responding to questions, and submitting documents.
01:54And it got approved.
01:56I reopened the mine, and since then I've been on a tear.
02:00Restored the hoist hopper, completed excavation of the lower tunnel,
02:05and the antechamber ceiling, which required a mountain of form lumber, and burned my pocketbook.
02:13To lower costs, I got trucks of aggregate and sand, and built a pipe to deliver the material into my
02:19basement.
02:20The sandpipe got clogged, so I added a vibrator.
02:24Now I can mix by hand.
02:26Recently, I completed three manual pours.
02:30A new sump basin, the lower tunnel staircase, and the upper staircase.
02:36The last took 21 hours.
02:39There is a little more work to do on the current phase of the tunnel,
02:42but I am already working on plans for the next, which will be more extensive,
02:47and require a systematic rethink of the tools and techniques used for excavation.
02:53I have ideas, but will need big infrastructure upgrades.
