Lawson Adit

{{Short description|Mine tunnel in Berkeley, California, US}} {{Use American English|date=June 2025}} [[File:Lawson Adit 1917.PNG|thumb|300px|Dean Andrew Lawson (''far right'') and 1917 School of Mining students sitting in front of the mouth of Lawson Adit.]]

The '''Lawson Adit''' is a horizontal mine tunnel, or adit, on the UC Berkeley campus, near the Hearst Mining Building, dug directly through the Hayward Fault.<ref name=lore>{{cite news |title=The lore of Lawson Adit |url=http://berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/2002/09/19_lawsna.html |access-date=5 November 2011 |newspaper=Berkeleyan |date=19 September 2002}}</ref> Started in 1916, the adit is named after Andrew Lawson, one-time Dean of the College of Mining at UC Berkeley.<ref name=ucop>{{cite book |author=((University. Regents, University of California (System). Office of the President, University of California)) |title=Report of the President of the University on behalf of the Regents |year=1916}}</ref>

== History == The adit was dug under the direction of Frank H. Probert, who had just previously been appointed Professor of Mining.<ref name="correspondence"/> It was dug primarily for instructional purposes, with secondary hopes that it would represent a new source of water for the campus.<ref name=lore/><ref name=arch/> Much of the equipment to dig and use the tunnel was donated by the mining industry in the San Francisco Bay area.<ref name=arch>{{cite book |last=Helfand |first=Harvey |title=University of California, Berkeley : an architectural tour and photographs |year=2002 |publisher=Princeton Architectural Press |location=New York |isbn=978-1-56898-293-9 |edition=1st}}</ref> Although an initial report said that it was to go 1,800 feet into the Berkeley Hills,<ref name="correspondence">{{cite journal |journal=Engineering and Mining Journal |volume=102 |publisher=American Institution of Mining Engineers |year=1916 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WoUgAQAAMAAJ&q=%22lawson+adit%22&pg=PA805 |title=Editorial Correspondence, Oct. 20 |page=805}}</ref> the actual construction resulted in a mine tunnel of about 200 feet.

[[File:Lawson Adit 1918.PNG|thumb|left|200px|Berkeley School of Mining students at the entrance to Lawson Adit in 1918 during a mine rescue drill. One of the men is carrying a box from the Hercules Powder Company.]]

Between 1919 and 1930 the adit was used to give mining and metallurgy students hands-on training, specifically to provide "sound, practical training in drilling, drifting, blasting, timbering, and mine surveying."<ref name=lore/><ref name=arch/> This training included instruction in the use of dynamite as well as the extraction of precious metals<ref name=lore/> and practice and demonstration of rescuing techniques.<ref name=BDG>{{cite news |title=Unique Parade is Engineer's Opener |newspaper=Berkeley Daily Gazette |date=14 March 1924}}</ref>

In 1935, Berkeley engineering students celebrated the annual March 15 Engineers' Day by putting together "a museum of historical electrical equipment," holding a dance at the Hotel Claremont, and engaging in a "mine rescue" in the Lawson Adit next to the Hearst Memorial Mining Building.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Tri-Valley Herald |date=March 11, 2010 |department=My Town |title=Berkeley history: UC Berkeley sought support in 1935 |author=Steven Finacom |access-date=October 20, 2012 |url=http://www.allvoices.com/news/5385586-berkeley-history-uc-berkeley-sought-support-in-1935 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130116174339/http://www.allvoices.com/news/5385586-berkeley-history-uc-berkeley-sought-support-in-1935 |archive-date=January 16, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Around 1939 the adit was extended to around 900 feet so that it intersected the Hayward Fault and could be used for a direct study of the fault<ref name=lore/> by George Louderback, a seismologist at UC Berkeley, to help determine the safety of building a new women's dormitory, Stern Hall. Louderback's studies in the adit revealed that the Hayward Fault at this point is surrounded by a particularly unstable mélange of serpentine and other metamorphic rocks.<ref name=BDP>{{cite news |last=Curtis |first=Garniss H |title=Emeritus Professor of Geology Weighs In on Memorial Stadium |url=http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2008-10-16/article/31367 |access-date=5 November 2011 |newspaper=Berkeley Daily Planet |date=16 October 2008}}</ref> He suggested that Stern Hall be built approximately fifty feet away from its original planned location.<ref name=lore/><ref name=arch/>

After 1939, much of the extended adit eventually collapsed, with most collapses around the point where the adit intersects the fault. Today the adit is only maintained to a length of about 260 feet,<ref name=lore/><ref name=arch/> and is not in use due to safety reasons.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hearst Mining Building |publisher=Berkeley Seismological Laboratory |url=http://seismo.berkeley.edu/seismo/geotour/mining.html |date=October 24, 2000 |access-date=2012-10-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508215532/http://seismo.berkeley.edu/seismo/geotour/mining.html |archive-date=May 8, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [http://news.berkeley.edu/2017/07/27/hidden-berkeley-inside-the-lawson-mine-shaft/ Inside the Campus Mine]

Category:History of mining Category:Former mines in California Category:Underground mines in the United States Category:University of California, Berkeley buildings and structures