A preliminary look into the tunnel

Looking into a ventillation shaft at
the side of the sewer. Click to enlarge.

AN initial investigation of New Norfolk's now-famous tunnel or sewer was carried out earlier today by a geophysicist from South Australia. A colonial-era sewer runs from Willow Court to the River Derwent via Burnett St but the questions around it include where it starts and ends, how big it might be, and is it in fact the secret "tunnel".

Today's preliminary exploration was conducted mainly above-ground, using sensitive equipment that detects underground infrastructure and archaeology.

I encountered mayor Martyn Evans in Burnett St, where he was discussing next year's full-scale investigation with archaeologist and geophysicist Dave Ross. Mr Ross is associated with Flinders University, which will conduct a full-scale investigation early next year, but he is presently in Tasmania on a private holiday and made contact with the mayor early this morning. He took some photos and made some measurements that will assist with later work.

It was great to meet Dave and his partner and I believe there will be further exploratory work later this year before the full-scale investigation is started next year by Flinders University.