The dark underground world that exists beneath the Twin Cities of Minnesota

It is known as the Labyrinth and several people have died walking through it

The dark underground world that exists beneath the Twin Cities of Minnesota

@explorandoinfo Esp 6·20·2024 · 22:31 0

The state of Minnesota, in the north central area of the US, has a large urban area that is known as the Twin Cities.

A recording showing the effects of a storm on a sewer network
Sailing underground through Standedge, the longest channel tunnel in the United Kingdom

That name of Twin Cities was given by the two main municipalities of that urban area: Saint Paul, which is the capital of the state, and Minneapolis, which is the most populated city in Minnesota. Both cities are very modern by European standards: Saint Paul was founded in 1854 and Minneapolis in 1867 (I write this from a city, Vigo, whose origins date back to ancient Rome).

Despite being relatively recent, beneath the Twin Cities there is a dark world of underground galleries, popularly known as the Labyrinth. This network of tunnels is found mainly under Saint Paul and is made up of old constructions that intertwine with each other: old abandoned service galleries, storm tunnels, basements, sewers, telephone galleries...

The Labyrinth is a dangerous place, especially when it rains. In 2007, two sewer workers died in the Maze due to flooding. In 2009, an urban explorer, Ian Talty, also lost his life there, while traveling through a tunnel storm sewer due to a storm. Despite the risks, urban explorers continue to venture into that dark underground world.

A few weeks ago, the YouTube channel Free4All published a video of some explorers exploring the Labyrinth on a rainy day:

Below these lines you can see some screenshots of the video, as a preview. It must be noted that these explorers were not well prepared for an adventure like this, especially on a rainy day (without even wearing rain boots), as a civil engineer who traveled and mapped those areas has warned them. tunnel systems for 20 years in the comments. This engineer has added: "the reason it's mostly a dead end now is the result of our work. The City came in to shut down areas that could be trouble or problematic if someone just happened to end up so far in that they couldn't get back out... or panicked..."