Elmhurst Quarry Flood Tunnel
In operation 9/13/08. This is part of the Salt Creek flood protection for Elmhurst and downstream. A tunnel connect Salt Creek to the old quarries. When the water is high some of the creek is diverted down the tunnel into the old pit. When the creek gets back to normal level a series of pumps return the water to the creek.
While I was watching a number of people stopped to take a look. One guy asked about the old tunnels wondering if they had been sealed off. When they were mining limestone here the limestone played out somewhere over 300 feet deep. The operators decided to cut some shafts through a thick layer of shale (100 ft ?) and found more limestone under the shale. So this quarry is a combination open-pit and tunnel mine. Rumors said that some tunnels went as far as downtown Elmhurst.
Large Playlist Of Elmhurst Flooding... www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCFF9D8DB69302B46