This exhibit was written and curated by Greg Fleming and Barbara Kern
Below the surface of downtown Chicago is a fascinating and complex underground maze of tunnels. Chicago has been able to use these tunnels to solve various infrastructure problems, thanks to an easily excavated layer of blue clay underlying the city. Dug at different depths and stretching for miles, they were designed to move water, freight and people throughout the city. Under Your Feet explores the system—from the first water tunnels completed in 1867, to the now defunct freight tunnels of the early 1900's, to the subway system we use today, to the Deep Tunnel project and storm tunnels of the future.
