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The Times of India
The Times of India
World
TOI World Desk

After San Francisco’s 1906 disaster, engineers built a 4,233-foot tunnel beneath the city

San Francisco NEMO

When the earthquake of 18 April 1906 struck San Francisco, the four-day fire that followed destroyed about 28,000 buildings and killed at least 3,000 people. The disaster prompted an overhaul of the city's water supply and wastewater collection. Among the results was the Mile Rock Tunnel, a 4,233 ft sewer and stormwater drain beneath the streets near Sutro Heights. Specified in 1914 by city engineer Michael Maurice O'Shaughnessy, it required workers to blast through more than 900 ft of solid rock and used compressed air to place concrete, a first successful application in San Francisco for the city. It went into operation by September 1915.

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