Just to turn the battlefields in danger theme around 180degrees....

http://www.hero.ac.uk/uk/research/archives...rmine_yp833.cfm

Very interesting, thanks for that. The same thing happened several years ago near Chilly (southern French Somme sector) after heavy rainfall. Old dugouts caved in, causing damage to property and gardens. The same apllied to the TGV line when it was built between Paris and Lille.

Do you think they will fill the tunnels in, or just replace the timbers?

Andy

I hope it survives until after my Hols in July

They back-fill with foam concrete. All the tunnel systems unearthed in Flanders in recent years have been back-filled in this manner.

I understand that the local authorities concerned in the link posted by Chris remained in a state of denial about the existence of the tunnels, even when presented with the plans which exactly explained the incidence of subsidence.
S

Does anybody have a clue how many km of tunnels were dug underneath the Ypres Salient? A farmer once told me about 3000 km...

3000 km!!!

Luxembourg fortress was the biggest in Europe and had 26 km of tunnels.

The western front was, what, 400 miles? I doubt that there were 8 times the length of tunnel.

So do I!
But still: how long was it (just the salient)?

That reminds me. Aren't there still a few mines out there which never went off? Scary thought if they try to build on top of one of those.

Yep. Has been discussed many times before

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/i...l=messines+mine

And the 'building on top of one' has in fact become reality, as you will discover...!