Under the Ground We Stand: See What We Don’t See

I dare you go down!

At least go somewhere different. See something we don’t normally see.

It all started when my friend asked me out of blue:

“Let’s go to St James Lake!”

“Where is St James Lake?”

“Underneath St James in the city.”

“O_O”

That’s right! That’s what my face exactly looked like and what I responded him with.

It is no secret. Underneath Macquarie Street in Sydney CBD just to the north of the State Library there is an old disused railway tunnel collecting 5 million litres of stormwater runoff for decades – forming what is now known as the St James Lake. The lake is said to be 10 meters wide, 5 metres deep and 1 kilometre long. The state government has been using the lake as a reservoir of recycled water which supplies all the public buildings along Macquarie Street as well as irrigation for the Domain.

Of course our expedition to the lake didn’t happen (yet). But it intrigues me so much that it has led to a series of discoveries.

Apparently there are many more abandoned tunnels in the area connected to St James Station. There are lots of mysteries surrounding these tunnels (or not!) – the reasons why they were abandoned, the original, historical and current uses of them and, who knows, there might be secretive residents – be they substantial or spiritual. People have visited these tunnels both authorised and self-guided. The Australian Railway Historical Society gives tours occasionally. I wish I had discovered this earlier and spoke from actual experience as I am writing this right now.

And that led to my discovery of the extensive underground network system under Sydney CBD. Built about a hundred years ago, the system stretches from Circular Quay to New Town and is used for service maintenance including electricity, telecommunication, gas, water and sewage. 

Isn’t this very fascinating? Of all the things we see everyday – roads, buildings, green spaces, vehicles, people – all that have shaped our experience and perception of the place we live in, we are seldom aware of what goes on under the ground we stand and the processes we don’t see that sustain our daily experience. And did you know that in our very own Macquarie University there is an underground system used similarly for service maintenance?

Built with the University in the 1960s, the underground system is a network of tunnels with a diameter of 99 inches. Approximately 2,250 feet underground, the system stretches across the whole campus extending to beneath the M2 Motorway to the sports field to the north. It carries essential services which support the operations of the university. There are multiple entrances around the campus which access to the system. For security reasons I can not tell you where these entrances are. But by all means, if you are interested in where they are, look for securely locked doors with concrete structure behind when you are walking around the campus.

And that’s pretty much what my whole point is – be aware of the supportive services that are happening around us or underneath us which we don’t see! I am not encouraging you to sneak your way into any of these systems for safety reasons. But when opportunities come, with permission and guidance, giving these underground systems a visit will definitely be a worthy experience!