Timeliner
Contributor
I just thought I'd update Diving in Downtown Paris, Texas.
It's been a really dry year and the water level is way down which has given us a window of opportunity to dig and develop the tunnel system linking the hidden old down town cellars of over 100 years ago before the Great Paris Fire of 1916 wiped out the town. The area was leveled but the cellars do remain in some places waiting to be discovered and brought to life again. Once the water level rises this chance may never come again in our lifetime so we are devoted and continue to be hard at it when ever we get the chance. When it does flood again , and it will, we hope to have in place a concentrated network of tunnels that will no doubt become an Adventure Diver's Dream!!!
***
This week of tunneling was a success. After a bunch of really hard work we finally broke through the 21 course thick brick layer in the old cellar next door built back in the mid 1800's. At a underground level of 15 feet below the surface the pocket is dry this year which I'm sure is a rare event. The area is small but should provide a good staging area for the next part of the dig. The compacted clay is like solid rock but at least we can make "Dry" and steady progress.
We'll be tunneling just a bit deeper on the next leg down to about 20 feet underground. We'll have to go under South Main Street ( Hwy. 24) There are a number of water/sewer/cable /electric conduits there that we have to avoid at all cost. If we tap into one of them then the gig is up and we'll be found out. Yes, We'll be installing supports along the way in case your concerned. If the dry spell holds we should be nearing the cellar of a large vacant old house one block over on Church Street within the next 3 weeks. Given the rate of progress we have held so far of 14 feet a day that should not be an issue. Getting rid of the tailings ( the dirt) has been a big problem. We have been doing it at night and since lots of folks seem to need fill dirt we get very few questions about where the dirt came from. We have actually turned a profit on it by selling it as Volcanic Garden Soil.
Once we hit the Church Street District we’ll be able to make rapid progress on the tunnels and extend the range of our future dive site 5 to 10 fold over the next 2 months.
This dry year has provided a opportunity like never before to open up the underworld of Paris for the Diving Community.
We are soliciting volunteers who would like to get in “Below the Ground Floor” and get first access to this fantastic new dive site.
Feel free to contact me (in strict confidence of course )
Code name: Paris Underground
It's been a really dry year and the water level is way down which has given us a window of opportunity to dig and develop the tunnel system linking the hidden old down town cellars of over 100 years ago before the Great Paris Fire of 1916 wiped out the town. The area was leveled but the cellars do remain in some places waiting to be discovered and brought to life again. Once the water level rises this chance may never come again in our lifetime so we are devoted and continue to be hard at it when ever we get the chance. When it does flood again , and it will, we hope to have in place a concentrated network of tunnels that will no doubt become an Adventure Diver's Dream!!!
***
This week of tunneling was a success. After a bunch of really hard work we finally broke through the 21 course thick brick layer in the old cellar next door built back in the mid 1800's. At a underground level of 15 feet below the surface the pocket is dry this year which I'm sure is a rare event. The area is small but should provide a good staging area for the next part of the dig. The compacted clay is like solid rock but at least we can make "Dry" and steady progress.
We'll be tunneling just a bit deeper on the next leg down to about 20 feet underground. We'll have to go under South Main Street ( Hwy. 24) There are a number of water/sewer/cable /electric conduits there that we have to avoid at all cost. If we tap into one of them then the gig is up and we'll be found out. Yes, We'll be installing supports along the way in case your concerned. If the dry spell holds we should be nearing the cellar of a large vacant old house one block over on Church Street within the next 3 weeks. Given the rate of progress we have held so far of 14 feet a day that should not be an issue. Getting rid of the tailings ( the dirt) has been a big problem. We have been doing it at night and since lots of folks seem to need fill dirt we get very few questions about where the dirt came from. We have actually turned a profit on it by selling it as Volcanic Garden Soil.
Once we hit the Church Street District we’ll be able to make rapid progress on the tunnels and extend the range of our future dive site 5 to 10 fold over the next 2 months.
This dry year has provided a opportunity like never before to open up the underworld of Paris for the Diving Community.
We are soliciting volunteers who would like to get in “Below the Ground Floor” and get first access to this fantastic new dive site.
Feel free to contact me (in strict confidence of course )
Code name: Paris Underground
