FBI investigation: secret underground tunnel discovered in Florida

A vast, perfectly designed brick tunnel beneath the earth? Leading miles away? Looks even more impressive when you look at the bank’s location, literally surrounded by geometrically sound little lakes.


these lakes look like writing in some other language to me?

Well, if these tunnels do go for miles, these lakes had to complicate the excavation process by quite a margin.

Demolition work Tuesday (2018) unearthed the first new opening in 20 years to the old brick tunnels that serve as a reminder of Ybor City's smuggling past.

• But this one stirs new debate about the Latin District's underground pathways, in part because it doesn't appear it could ever have served the legal origin often ascribed to the tunnels — as a system of drainage into the Ybor Channel and Tampa Bay.
• Demolition work reveals first opening in 20 years to Ybor City's infamous tunnels

• USF digitally maps Ybor City tunnel before it's filled in

Where is the map ?

• Tunnels of Ybor explored, mapped for clues of their purpose

It reminded me covered river in my town. Some parts of the flow was covered in 1907 with concrete structure, and it appears that they also used an old brick tunnels to reroute the flow somehere. So, the river flows underground through the entire city now.
When they excavated some places in 2022, I didn't catch the moment they demolished the old brickwork on top of the river, but you can imagine how it looked like (I pointed it in yellow).

River appears to be still uncovered in 1840:


Concrete covering from year 1907:


In the back you can see the a new concrete version from 2022: