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Why did Garden Shaft collapse? Internet calls out 'The Curse of Oak Island' team's 'cheap' work flooding 'extremely valuable' key to treasures

Although first discouraging, a setback in the form of water intrusion in the Garden Shaft results in a revolutionary discovery for 'The Curse of Oak Island' team

NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA: Season 11 of 'The Curse of Oak Island' featured another gripping episode in the Lagina brothers' never-ending search for the centuries-old mystery surrounding Oak Island. However, the latest installment also featured flooding of the famed Garden Shaft, prompting several viewers to criticize the team for their shoddy job.

The Dumas group had informed the Lagina brothers that completion of the Garden Shaft would take longer than projected. An urgent conference in the War Room gave insight into the persistent challenges of deepening the Garden Shaft in the Money Pit location.

The revised timeframe is due to weather issues. There are several vacancies behind the shaft. There are several ancillary concerns, which is concerning.

This was alarming news because the Garden Shaft was likely one of the biggest projects they intended to complete this year, but the Dumas company's completion deadline for only the deepening has been pushed back into the autumn.

For the last three weeks, Dumas Contracting Limited representatives have worked relentlessly to stop a mystery influx of water into the building, which now has a depth of 87 feet. The crew is unsure whether the water flow is related to the mythical flood traps that have tormented treasure hunters in the Money Pit area for over two centuries.

It has slowed their efforts to extend the Garden Shaft down to a final depth of around 95 feet. The crew is preparing to breach a seven-foot-high wooden tunnel.

A tunnel leading straight west into the "Baby Blob," where water testing has revealed high-trace evidence of gold, silver, and other metals at depths ranging from 80 to 120 feet.

Disappointed to learn about the delay in completion of the Garden Shaft, fans on X wrote, "Curse of oak island missed the mark tonight fam. Step it up Leginas!" While another user went as far in calling the team "idiot," as they wrote, "I wonder if this is the opening we've been looking for... Shame you dropped a huge Caisson down on top of it and made it collapse!!!" 

Further slamming Dumas and Marty Lagina, one tweeted, "Doofus Drilling, “We got a Leak Marty!” “We could use Flex Seal but it’s $9.99.. But we will stall it out for more money”." A fourth user also asked, " Honest Question: If you know you're dropping a big caisson down on top of a voided area, why wouldn't you go more slowly in the last few feet to maybe...prevent a collapse?" 

One user also quipped, "Oh this episode just gets better by the minute!!!" While others joked, "We would certainly like to extend the shaft if possible..."

Some sighed, "We've just found out that it's going to take months to continue work on the Garden Shaft..."

Rick Lagina plans to go 95 feet to use more of Garden Shaft

Rick and Marty Lagina, Craig Tester, and the crew must discover another means to get to the riches, which have been confirmed to be hidden deep in the Money Pit region. The Dumas firm has made every effort to reduce water penetration, but it has caused them to fall short of their goals.

Their primary focus has been on ensuring the Shaft's long-term sustainability. Rick expressed his desire to work on expanding the Shaft.

He stated that he would want to proceed to 95 feet so that they could evaluate whether it was original depositional work. As of today, they are not going to stray from that.

Craig stated that he would like to get deep enough to place that drill-down hole and travel horizontally at those depths.

Dumas Company to use Geofoam to prevent Garden Shaft from future flooding

Craig wanted to know if the machinery that would be available would be able to block those wells once they were drilled without causing water difficulties. Dumas informed them that they had the Minova guys coming in to help them with Geofoam filling, which would cover the holes below the Shaft and stabilize it again.

This procedure would take one additional week.

If Dumas can safely extend the Garden Shaft into the tunnel below, the team will be able to deploy a probing drill capable of reaching up to 40 feet outside the structure to locate the position of the identified valuable metals.

But first, Dumas officials will use Geofoam, an industrial-grade material that can expand up to 40 times its size, to fill holes in the structure's walls, therefore stabilizing the Shaft and potentially stopping the current flooding.

Marty Lagina calls Garden Shaft 'highly valuable' to find treasures

Marty believes it is critical to be able to use the Garden Shaft for horizontal drilling. The crew wants to uncover the treasure, assuming it exists, and the Garden Shaft is still "highly valuable in that exercise."

Rick wonders if they can get the 40-plus feet out and see what's outside in an 80-foot-diameter circle.

New episodes of 'The Curse of Oak Island' Season 11 air on Tuesdays at 9/8 pm Et/Pt on History