The tail shield of the tunnel-boring machine that will dig twin 1.1-mile-long tunnels for the $1.6-billion Los Angeles Regional Connector transit project was lowered into a 45-ft-deep pit at the site of the First and Central station on Oct. 19. The 1,000-ton, 450-ft-long TBM will take weeks to assemble, with tunneling set to start in January. The mole’s name, Angeli, was chosen by a Long Beach, Calif., high school student in a contest. The 1.9-mile project, which will link the existing Blue, Expo and Gold subway lines in the city’s downtown, is set to be completed by 2021.