The city of Las Vegas, Nevada, is widely recognized as one of the top tourist attractions in the whole globe. However, a great deal of knowledge about the city is unknown to the general public. As an illustration, there is a population of thousands of people living under the city in tunnels that are designed to protect the town from sudden floods.

The construction of the tunnels started many decades ago, but it is still ongoing today since flash floods are such a severe problem in the area. Because rainwater rushes down from the surrounding hills and mountains, even a moderate amount of precipitation might result in significant difficulties. As a direct consequence of this, the streets and several of the casinos are flooded.

Therefore, municipal authorities concluded that the most effective approach to remedy the crisis would be constructing hundreds of miles of storm drains. They did not anticipate that individuals living on the streets would enter the tunnels and make houses for themselves there. Continue reading to learn more about the complicated tunnel system used to safeguard the city and other information.

You Drive Over Tunnels Without Realizing It

If you have ever been to Las Vegas, there is a good chance that you have driven over the storm drain tunnels without being aware that they were there. They are buried beneath the majority of the city's thoroughfares and pass through the majority of the town. Even parts of the system buried beneath the world-famous Las Vegas Strip may be found.

Underground Tunnels Use Prefab Concrete Squares

Technically speaking, the storm drains are not tunnels. That is, they are not completely buried below the surface. Instead, building personnel excavated certain places to create a way for enormous prefab concrete cubes. This was done in some of the regions. They proceeded to cover certain sections to construct highways on top of them.

Tunnel Water Enters Las Vegas Wash

The water makes its way through the network of storm drains and eventually ends up in the Las Vegas Wash, as well as other washes throughout town that are essentially artificial rivers. Wetland river systems contribute, in a manner that is more consistent with natural processes, to the operation of filtering dangerous chemicals and silt from the water.

Tunnel Water Flows To Lake Mead

The water will eventually make its way down the washes and into Lake Mead, a vast body of water that acts as a recreational attraction for the area and a source of water for the city when it is in need of it. It isn't easy to imagine that this stunning setting does not have a natural lake when one is there.

Storm Drains Have Underground And Open Channels

The storm drain tunnels consist of both underground passageways and aboveground channels. Because these portions are open, the water that collects on the streets and in other locations can drain into the system. The city can construct roads on top of the tunnels thanks to the areas that have been blocked up.

After Life-Threatening Floods, City Officials Planned It

In 1975, a catastrophic flood posed a risk to human life. The Las Vegas Wash was flooded, significantly damaging the area near Caesar's Palace. The city's leaders understood that something needed to be done to ensure that a catastrophe like this would never happen again, so they immediately began planning the storm tunnels.

Construction Began Towards the End of the 1980s

In the late 1980s, after several years of planning and consulting with industry experts and city engineers, construction crews eventually broke ground on the massive project to save the city. The undertaking had been in the works for quite some time. Teams completed the bulk of the current storm drainage system during the 1990s when the decade was in its entirety.

Vegas Has Hundreds Of Miles Of Storm Drain Tunnels

Tunnels spanning tens of thousands of feet may now be found in many locations across Las Vegas. They roam the entirety of the city, making their way through residential neighbourhoods as well as commercial and industrial areas. To put that into perspective, the length of the Las Vegas Strip is only 4.2 miles, yet the city's total size is 153.9 square miles.