TikTok’s Tunnel Girl is digging again—much to the internet’s delight

More than a year after her viral project was shut down, TikTok’s “Tunnel Girl” has officially been given the green light to resume digging a massive tunnel beneath her home.

On her TikTok account @engineer.everything, the woman—who identifies herself only as Kala—has built a following of over 657,000 by documenting her ambitious, off-the-books tunnel project in Herndon, Virginia. Despite the handle, Kala has no formal engineering background; she began digging in 2022 as a hobby.

While many viewers were fascinated by her underground progress, others questioned the legality of the endeavor. “Are we… are we allowed to build tunnels?” one commenter asked under Kala’s one-year anniversary recap video. The answer, as Kala eventually discovered, is no—not without proper permits. After nearly two years of work, her project was shut down in January 2024.

“They did give me a stop work order and are requiring an immediate evaluation by a professional engineer. Fortunately, contrary to rumors here, it is constructed entirely below the slab of my house and it shouldn’t be too hard to get the permits and approval,” she explained in a TikTok video posted shortly after.

Turns out, she was right. The permits have now been approved, and the tunnel is officially back in progress. A video posted last week shows Kala receiving a phone call and unrolling stamped construction plans. “You have permits now, so clearly you did a good job!” one commenter wrote. Another added: “Digging is one thing, but navigating a complex permitting process after the work has been done is nearly miraculous.”

If you’re inspired to dig your own tunnel, don’t expect the process to be easy. “I’ve had to go and get a lot of engineering certifications, a lot of tests, and provide a lot of documentation and provide a lot of calculations and information for the permit process,” Kala told the news station WUSA9.

The tunnel system currently extends 22 feet below ground with a 30-foot entrance below her house on her property. Where does it lead? Nowhere—yet. “The permits that I submitted for only goes about where I wrapped up right now,” Kala told WUSA9. “My permits have a note that [the tunnel] may be expanded in the future, of course, I’ll have to go through the engineering process, the permit process, but I would like to potentially go a little bit further.”

Kala hopes to finish the tunnel within the next six months. The end goal? A self-contained underground shelter just outside the footprint of her home—because, well, why not?

https://www.fastcompany.com/91299852/tiktoks-tunnel-girl-is-digging-again-much-to-the-internets-delight?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss