TLW's Tunnelscope™ (Tunnel Historyscope) |
By T.L. Winslow (TLW), the Historyscoper™ |
© Copyright by T.L. Winslow. All Rights Reserved. |
Original Pub. Date: Mar. 14, 2020. Last Update: Aug. 10, 2020. |
Westerners are not only known as history ignoramuses, but double dumbass history ignoramuses when it comes to tunnels and tunnel history. Since I'm the one-and-only Historyscoper (tm), let me quickly bring you up to speed before you dive into my Master Historyscope.
On May 22, 1882 the 9.3-mi.-long double-track Gotthard Rail Tunnel (begun Sept. 13, 1872) opens, becoming the first major railroad tunnel through the Alps.
In 1904-8 the North River Tunnels under the Hudson River are built, connecting Penn. Station in Manhattan, N.Y. with Weehawken, N.J., opening for passenger service in 1910 and carrying 20% of all U.S. commerce by 2020; too bad, they become a ticking time bomb after failing to be renewed?; watch video.
On Nov. 13, 1927 the 1.7-mi. (8,558 ft.) (2,608.5m) Holland Tunnel for vehicular traffic from Manhattan, N.Y. to Jersey City, N.J. under the Hudson River opens, named after chief engineer Clifford Milburn Holland (1883-1924), who died of overwork during its construction, after which designed by Norwegian-born civil engineer Ole Knutsen Singstad (1882-1969) finishes it, adding an innovating ventilation system, and later inventing the sunk-tube method of underwater vehicular tunnel building using prefab sections.
In Feb. 1928 the Great Moffat Tunnel through the Rocky Mountain Continental Divide in NC Colo. opens, named after Colo. railroad financing pioneer David Halliday Moffat (1839-1911), who laid out the right-of-way in 1902, used by the Denver and Salt Lake Railway to give Denver its first W link through the Continental Divide; it incl. a water tunnel serving Denver.
On Dec. 22, 1937 the center tube of the 1.5-mi. (8,216 ft.) (2,504m) Lincoln Tunnel (named after Pres. Abraham Lincoln) for vehicular traffic between midtown Manhattan, N.Y. and Weehawken, N.J. under the Hudson River opens, designed by Norwegian-born civil engineer Ole Knutsen Singstad (1882-1969), becoming the 2nd major tunnel between the two states along with the Holland Tunnel; originally named the Weehawken Midtown Tunnel, the George Washington Bridge to the N causes the name change to keep up with the Georges?; the north tube opens on Feb. 1, 1945, and the south tube on May 25, 1957.
In 1973 the 1,693-mi. westbound Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel (first bore) 60 mi. W of Denver, Colo., providing a direct highway route through the Rockies and over the Continental Divide along I-70 opens, becoming the highest tunnel in the U.S. (11,158 ft.) (until the Fenghuoshan Tunnel in 2006); 2nd bore opens in 1979 going E, called the Edwin C. Johnson Memorial Bore.
On May 6, 1994 the $15B 31.35-mi.-long Chunnel (Channel Tunnel), connecting Folkestone, England and Calais, France in Europe by rail is opened to commercial traffic two years behind schedule, with freight service beginning in Aug, and passenger service on Nov. 14; the time for a Channel crossing drops from 1 hour to 30 min.