Government St., Part II
After the impressive (though otherwise disappointing) tunnel visited in Part I, we went down the street to another tunnel that I hadn't been through in quite a few years.  I noticed this one back when I was just starting grad school one summer, so I dragged my friend Shane down in this one with me.  However, after so many years away, it turned out to be a lot different than I remembered, so it was just like seeing it all for the first time... and that's why I do this to begin with!
This is another double-barrel tunnel, but it has lots of breaks through the midwall to allow water or explorers to cross over as desired.

This opens into a canal behind the photographer (Kurt). and unfortunately, I've never had the time or resources to follow it in search of more exploration opportunities.

Above me is a parking lot to an old shopping center.
Curiously, this tunnel was filled with more debris than any other I have ever been in.  There were chunks of broken concrete, piles of concrete that looked as though it was all poured in, and loads of bricks that made me worry about what was happening to the structures upstream.
This was the first of several feeds into this main shaft.

We detoured and went up this one a little way (see below)
To the left is the one we came through.  For whatever reason, this tunnel only went about 20 ft., then opened into this room, then continued again at a different angle. 

Behind Kurt are rungs leading up to a manhole cover, presumably opening somewhere near the front of the parking lot
Not too much further upstream was effectively the end of the main shafts.  This was how the one we came in on (the one on the right) ended.

I'm standing on a pile of topsoil deposited during the heaviest of rains.  The flow never reaches here to wash this pile away, so, gardeners, come get some!
This is the end of the tunnel on the left corridor.  These culverts poured in from the leftmost wall.
There were a couple interesting "ramped" tunnels just downstream from the culverts pictured above. 

I went up one of these and found that it ran along a curb, but otherwise just continued at the same height (a backbreaking, hunched over level).
Here was the find of the trip: a clean, fully inflated, brand new Wilson footbalI!  How this thing made it down here in such good condition (aside from the fact that, obviously, it floats) is a mystery.

A little further downsteam we also ran across a muddy old portable tv.  I wonder how the reception is down here?
There were also loads of drain grates (and pieces of them) down here.  Fortunately, all of them had been replaced in the parking lot above.
After this, we headed over to the LSU campus to check out the famous utility tunnels.
Alexplored 1/3/04.
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