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Alicante Provincial Firefighters, mine experts and engineers are carrying out extensive inspections of a tunnel unearthed by accident after an asphalting lorry fell into a sinkhole in Villena last week, but mystery still surrounds its existence.

 

A company that specialises in confined works, Rodes Espacios Confinados, has also been drafted in to help determine the purpose and origin of the tunnel around six metres below Calle Menéndez Pelayo which was being resurfaced until the discovery.

 

Villena Mayor, Fulgencio Cerdán, said he wants to "accelerate the tasks of inspection and review of the artificial underground structure" whose "origin, function and chronological dating are still unknown".

 

For the moment, the only thing that has been ruled out is its being a former Civil War shelter, due to the particular construction method and because it lacks the characteristic elements of anti-aircraft defences.

 

It's also unlikely to have been used as a conduit for subway water, as initially suggested, since this type of infrastructure used to have a coating on the walls to prevent erosion with the passage of water, and there's no evidence of this.

 

 

Four specialists have been in charge of carrying out inspections of more than seven accessible metres of the tunnel which steadily becomes more inaccessible as earth and stones have fallen over the years.

 

As it progresses, the inclination increases until it becomes steeper and steeper, which for the moment teams of engineers and mining experts have not been able to get through.

 

"Neither municipal archaeologists nor local historians were aware of its existence," said the mayor, suggesting that the presence of the tunnel "was not documented or registered by the services of the City Council's Urban Planning and Archaeology."

 

And then, of course, there are concerns about the safety of the road itself.

 

"The important thing is to confirm that there is no risk, secure the area, reinforce it, protect the subway structure for the future and continue with the improvement works of Menéndez Pelayo," added the city mayor.

 

The chance discovery occurred on May 6 when the front of a lorry literally sunk into the road.

 

 

At that time, the mayor explained that the "poor state of our subsoil is a reality, so from the beginning of the legislature – after the first meeting with the municipal technicians – the parties that form the coalition government had to give up some of our election program projects to divert funds for this purpose". It's not clear exactly how much.

 

 

Images: Ayuntamiento de Villena