Bergmann Water Tunnels: Difference between revisions

The first and the most important tunnel in the network, providing over 90% of the fresh water to the city, that among the citizens of Stalburg is commonly known as the "Bergmann Water Tunnel", the tunnel connects the Hammer Valley river to the [[Stalburg Central Water Plant]], moving water to the main reservoir. The tunnel hosts two major facilities lenghtwise, a [[Tunnel4|hydroelectric power plant]] build and operated in the past by [[Hammer Valley Hydro]] and a [[Tunnel2|Pine Fell Water Plant]] operated by [[Stalburg Water]], whose underground section controls the water flow rate in the tunnel, another minor water flow control facility is located between the major two. Throughout the tunnel at least 4 [[Main-Six|Water Flow Monitors]] are installed that radio communicate the state of the flow to the main control board at the [[Watertreatment|Pitheath Water Treatment Plant]] office.

[[File:Freshwater Tunnel 1 Cave.jpg|left|400px|thumb|''Parts of the tunnel no.1 bored through a natural caves system'']]

The tunnel is around 14,5 km long and parts of it were bored through an underground cave structures, in which during the initial construction a species of [[Stalburg Mushroom Virus#Green Mushrooms|green glowing mushrooms]] was discovered, which thanks to the water reach of the tunnel, had spread to other parts of the Stalburg. The tunnel was conceived in the first half of 20th century after the second world war, as a response to a lack of potable water in the city due to pollution, and was constructed in under a decade, being the biggest tunneling project in the city to that date.

After the bankruptcy of the Bergmann Group in mid-February of 1980, the only remaining worker maintaining the tunnel was [[Erik]], where he did work completely alone until another worker, [[Robin]], was also assigned to this tunnel. Erik remained in position until the retirement on December 17, 1997, Robin continued to maintain the tunnel until his departure in 2010s, leaving the tunnel mostly unsupervised. After falling into an disrepair this tunnel along with tunnel no.2 were started being used illegaly by smugglers to move various goods, such as moonshine, with a makeshift dock raft from upper Hammery Valley to [[Obenseuer (district)|Obenseuer]]. According to the last performed maintenance reports, the tunnel was in a very bad shape, which was speculated to be in an imminent danger of collapsing. On August 8, 2016, a routine inspection of the floodgate controls at the Pine Fell Water Plant, performed by [[Markku Siltanen]], caused this section of the tunnel to collapse, blocking the flow of the water, and starting a chain reaction of unstability in the tunnel that caused multiple more collapses throughout its whole lenght.

Second tunnel connects Obenseuer's open water canals, that branch off from the Fisch River, with the Freshwater Tunnel No.1 and is around 4,9 km long. The tunnel acts as an auxililary supply of water to the tunnel no.1, however the open canals the water goes initilly through has been contaminated with mining slag, from the past mining operations, and sewage, dumped into the canals directly by the district residents. The tunnel also provides water intake for various factories south of it, splitting into multiple smaller tunnels, and has at least one major facility lengthwise.

Not much is know about construction circumstances of this tunnel, however it is possible that it was constructed during a 20 years gap between the construction of first and third freshwater tunnels, between around the late 1950s to the late 1970s. This second tunnel is a continuation of supply route used illegaly by smugglers to deliver goods from upper Hammer Valley, through the tunnel no.1, to the Obenseuer.

Third tunnel was considered in the 1970's and later approved for construction, the boring work on the tunnel began on May 26, 1979, under a new management of [[Jeff Walter]], and the project was expected to be completed in 1983, after which the Bergmann Group was contract-obligated to provide maintenance for the next 25 years. The tunnel was meant to house multiple hydroelectric power plants, built by Hammer Valley Hydro, and would be 7,2 km long, running from Ilanka to the Freshwater Tunnel No.1, however due to bankruptcy of the Bergmann Group in mid-February of 1980, only a small portion of the tunnel was completed.

The construction of the tunnel sparked several controversies, [[Greenwar]] has opposed the tunnel project since its conception, raising concerns about decrease in water level of the Lake Stalburg and the affect on the groundwater along the tunnel's path. The tunnel construction also raised some concerns among on-site management regarding the possibility of excavation work putting tunnel no.1 in danger of collapse. After the bankruptcy of the Bergmann Group, two workers shared insight into the poor working conditions, dangerous work site and rushed preparation work during the construction.