Hobby tunneling
When civilians dig tunnels, it may be for criminal purposes (like smuggling or hiding illegal goods),[2] or gaining unauthorised access to an area.
[4] Dutch graphic designer Leanne Wijnsma[1] digs short, shallow tunnels as an art form and for fun.
A Swiss contemporary of Altmann named Peter Junker dug in his garden, searching for water,[7] but continued digging after finding some, excavating a tunnel length of 220 metres (720 ft).
[6] Psychiatrist Anton Tölk believes that tunnel digging can be interpreted as a desire to return to the security of the mother's womb,[7] and that as an activity it allows contemplative satisfaction.
[7] In 1962, he installed steel doors on the tunnel system and added a store of emergency rations, with the intention of making it usable as a nuclear bunker.
[6] When completed, he continued to dig and kept at it for some 23 years, constructing an extensive complex of tunnels, rooms and stairs which extended 21 metres (69 ft) deep into solid rock.
An extensive network of underground spaces was constructed at his Welbeck Abbey estate in the 19th century, with a total length of around 24 kilometres (15 mi).
"[14] The American entomologist Harrison Gray Dyar Jr. constructed a network of tunnels on two occasions, with a length of 400 metres (1,300 ft) combined.
While working elsewhere, Forestiere dug a maze of underground and below ground spaces to escape the summer heat of the San Joaquin Valley.
[19] Havens started out in 1949, enlarging his barbecue pit, but ended up digging roughly 200 metres (660 ft) of tunnels and underground rooms.
[21] Eventually, several tunnels on multiple levels led in all directions, under the property and surrounding grounds, some of them 18.2 metres (60 ft) long.
[21] After complaints by neighbours, a power supply interruption and a sinkhole in the pavement, the borough had a survey carried out that revealed the extent of the tunneling.
[21] William "Burro" Schmidt was an American miner who spent 38 years drilling a 636-metre (2,087 ft) tunnel through solid granite.
[22] Costa Rican miner Manuel Barrantes has built an underground family house, consisting of hallways, bedrooms, conference rooms and a bathroom.
In Butler, Pennsylvania, US man Ron Heist created a 50-room dwelling made of salvaged materials from abandoned places in the vicinity.
[1] In late 2003, steeplejack and television personality Fred Dibnah began to dig a replica coal mine in the back garden of his home.
Using traditional shaft-sinking techniques and the labour of mining friends Alf Molyneux and Jimmy Crooks, the shaft was sunk to a depth of 20 feet (6.1 m) and lined with brick.
[27] 'Sandland' is a tunnel complex in western Wisconsin created by Eric Sutterlin, a contract mechanical engineer from the Minneapolis area.
Sutterlin began digging tunnels in the Jordan Sandstone after purchasing the property in 2011, aided by a network of volunteers in the years since.
The site also hosts a number of aboveground attractions, including a decommissioned monorail from the Minnesota Zoo and a treehouse, the latter of which was moved to ground-level for safety reasons.
[1] YouTube personality and inventor Colin Furze has constructed an underground bunker and tunnel system under his home and workshop in Stamford, Lincolnshire, initially in 2015 as part of a promotion for Sky television's You, Me and the Apocalypse series.
