Most People Have No Idea This Unique Tunnel In Hawaii Exists
Approximately 450 feet underground, below the streets of Oahu, sits a true feat of engineering: a massive, little-known tunnel, a rail car and subway named the Howling Owl and 20 massive fuel tanks the tunnel system was built to store. This is the Red Hill Underground Fuel Storage Facility, a top secret military facility built during the early 1940s for wartime use.
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The facility was decommissioned in the 1990s, and is now considered to be one of Hawaii's greatest engineering feats, placed alongside the Hoover Dam, Eiffel Tower, and the Panama Canal as an important historic landmark. But yet, very few people actually know much about the secret facility, and even fewer have been inside.
That's because tightened security after 9/11 made the underground tunnel off limits to the general public. The only pictures we could find are courtesy of the United States Navy, and civilians are almost never granted access to the facility.
Construction on the underground facility began in 1940, and was completed in 1943, as a means to protect Pearl Harbor's fuel supply in case of an attack.
The impenetrable, bombproof facility is home to 20 reinforced concrete fuel tanks hollowed out of volcanic rock, each roughly the size of the 23-story Ala Moana building. Red Hill can hold approximately 252 gallons of diesel and jet fuel, and can provide fuel to Pearl Harbor, Hickam Air Force Base, and even Barbers Point Naval Air Station.
Located 100 feet under a ridge in Honolulu, construction on the facility continued after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and though more than 3,900 workers were involved with construction, Red Hill's existence remained classified for five decades.
Though the facility is now known to the public, Red Hill's history is a relative mystery. It is said that dozens of fuel leaks occurred at the site throughout the last seen decades, and while testing suggests that the water found near the facility is safe for drinking, the jury is still out on the environmental impact of this massive, secret underground tunnel system.
For a more comprehensive lesson about the tunnels history and construction, be sure to watch this video uploaded by the U.S. Fleet Forces Command in 2011, less than 20 years after the site was declassified.
Did you know about this impressive fuel storage facility hiding underneath the island? Learn about another little-known little know feat of engineering and wartime relic, the Waikiki Natatorium, here.
With more than 10 years of experience as a professional writer, Megan holds a degree in Mass Media from her home state of Minnesota. After college, she chose to trade in her winter boots for slippahs and moved to the beautiful island of Oahu, where she has been living for more than five years. She lives on the west side but is constantly taking mini-road trips across the island and visits the neighboring islands whenever she can getaway. She loves hiking, snorkeling, locally-grown coffee, and finding the best acai bowl on Oahu.
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