Fire officials said one worker died and another was hospitalized after a tunnel collapsed at the Canyon Tunnel Project worksite in Stanislaus County

By Dean J. Condoleo Deke Farrow
The Modesto Bee

STANISLAUS COUNTY, Calif. — One worker was killed and a second was injured when a tunnel collapsed in Knights Ferry on Tuesday afternoon, according to the Modesto Fire Department.

Modesto Fire Capt. Joe Spani said in a text message that crews from his department and the Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District were dispatched at 3:42 p.m. to a rescue in the area of Schell and Sonora roads near Knights Ferry.

“Firefighters and an ambulance crew arrived at a tunneling project where a collapse occurred,” Spani said. “One injured person was out of the tunnel when firefighters arrived and was transported to a local hospital with minor to moderate injuries. One person was still inside the tunnel and has been declared deceased.”

Stanislaus Consolidated gave the address of the incident as 16940 Schell Road. It’s a worksite of the Canyon Tunnel Project.

The project website says it is a partnership between the Oakdale and South San Joaquin irrigation districts. The two districts are constructing a bypass tunnel for their Joint Supply Canal. The project description says it will “increase water delivery reliability into the next century.”

The collapse “happened approximately 200 feet” into the tunnel, Spani told reporters. He said the incident is in the Copperopolis Fire District and is now in unified command by Copperopolis Fire, Modesto Fire, Stanislaus Consolidated Fire and the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Department.

An article on smartwatermagazine.com says the $84 million Canyon Tunnel Project is “an ambitious initiative to protect and modernize water delivery for thousands of Central Valley residents and farmers.”

Last July, the article says, SSJID awarded the construction contract to Drill Tech Drilling & Shoring, an Antioch-based firm “with significant experience in complex tunneling and infrastructure work.” The ceremonial groundbreaking for the project was Aug. 4 near Goodwin Dam on the Stanislaus River northeast of Knights Ferry.

The Smart Water Magazine piece says the “12,000-foot tunnel will bypass a vulnerable section of the century-old Joint Supply Canal, which has been increasingly threatened by landslides and rockfalls. A major slide in 2013 nearly halted early-season water deliveries — an event that underscored the urgent need for a long-term solution.”

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