Inland feeder program

Enter the Inland Feeder, whose engineering is widely admired. In , the wildfires that swept through much of Southern California roared over the Waterman construction site, scorching everything in their path.

Three months later, a fast-moving mudslide plugged the front of the tunnel with 16 feet of mud and water. Work stopped for months. No workers were at the site during either disaster, otherwise there would definitely have been fatalities, Kightlinger said. The only death caused by the project came during a shoring accident as pipe was being installed. At top speed, the machine advances a bit over two inches per minute. Although laser technology helps guide the cutter face, a human operator must apply the right amount of pressure to various locations on the rock face to keep the machine -- and therefore the tunnel -- on course.

The tunnel is dark, hot and noisy. Seeping water is dripping from the stone walls, a normal occurrence but unnerving to a visitor. It is no place for someone with claustrophobia. A narrow-gauge train ferries workers and equipment to and fro, whistle blaring to warn people who might be in its path. Workers carry a breathing apparatus on their belts in case of fire. When bored out, the tunnel is 19 feet in diameter. Purified water from the advanced treatment facility would be delivered through 60 miles of new pipelines to four groundwater basins in Los Angeles and Orange Counties.

These basins currently supply water to 7. The overall program helps ensure regional water reliability through diversifying sources, in addition to conservation, local supply development and imported water. Principal Engineer, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Jay has been with MWD for 28 years and has over 37 years of engineering experience in planning, design, and construction of water resources projects.

With a main span measuring 1, meters, it is the first cable-stayed bridge with a span that passes the 1, meter mark. The bridge also has two side-spans that are meters, as well as four smaller cable spans. The bridge provides a vital link between the cities of Suzhou and Nantong in Jiangsu province.

It dramatically reduces the journey between Suzhou and Nantong — which used to require a four-hour ferry trip — to just an hour. Its two pylon foundations — each founded on piles, were the largest ever attempted, and, the meter bridge pylons were the tallest ever constructed.