Lake Mead tunnel construction allowed to resume
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- The Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration says construction may resume on a dangerous intake tunnel project after a worker was killed in an blast on June 11.
The Southern Nevada Water Authority announced late Tuesday that contractor Vegas Tunnel Constructors will begin tunneling this week.
The $817 million, five-year project was plagued with flooding and other construction woes long before the death of 44-year-old veteran tunnel worker Thomas Albert Turner. He died after he was hit in the head by a pressurized stream of a grout mixture containing fist-sized rocks, water and cement.
When finished, the 23-foot-high tunnel will extend almost three miles.
Las Vegas gets 90 percent of its water from Lake Mead, which has shrunk in recent years amid ongoing drought and increasing demand from seven states.
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