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EIGHT MILE TUNNEL

’OT'flA'T .is said to be the longest tunnel in the Western 'Hemisphere 'has just 'been opened in the State -of Washington. It is eight miles long, and is part of the ■Great Northern Railway system th'at connects 'St. Paul and Minneapolis, and eastern points, with the Pacific, Coast. The new Cascade Tunnel. as it is called, 'passes through the Cascade Mountains from the small town of Herne, the eastern terminus, to Scenic, village noted for its medicinal hat. springs. Tlu* completed tunnel is 24 feet high and Hi feet wide. .For the last three years, 1500 men have been at work on this giant tunnbu. It lowers the mountain grade by more than 500-feet. The old road, now to be abandoned, followed a track feur\aturc of seven complete circles. The now road follows a straight line through the mountains, thereby reducing the mileage between eastern ciAiies and Pacific Coast towns.

The new tunnel eliminates.more than six miles of snowsheds. The maintenance of snowsheds through mountain passes, is a heavy expense item on railroad treasuries. Bill' the shed's must be there to protect trains from avalanches of rock, snow, and timber. It is calculated that the annual cost of maintaining snowsheds will be greater than the interest charges. A temporary tunnel was sunk alongside the new one as a line of communication for the hundreds of workmen drilling, and .blasting along the main line. The temporary tunnel has been kept well ahead of the work on the main tunnel.

By means of side drifts cut over to the route of the main tunnel as often as practicable, it is explained, many working faces were created. Ordinarily there are but two working faces in a tunnel—one at each end. Inasmuch as only a limited number of men. can work one face, these extra faces, together with -the additional transportation facilities afforded by the pionecr (temporary) tunnel, have enabled the contractors to shatter all world records for speed in this kind of tunneling. The pioneer tunnel also serves as a drainage .channel, earrving off 'the water which seeps in and sometimes pours in

OPENED UNDER ROCKIES

from the newly-opened seams in the granite. To construct the Cascade Tunnel with, the speed desired, it was necessary to’ station large forces of men through the centre of the 'Cas-cade Range. This” was -accomplished by means 'of the pioneer temporary tunnel. To facilitate work, a shaft was sunk from the main tunnel. In this way, the contractors were able to send their huge shovels, mucking machines,' and rock trains into the heart of the mountains without waiting for crews driving in the main tunnel from the east. W hile the. new main tunnel will not -be entirely track- . cd and electrified until the end of the present year, it opened for the first party of inspectors on May -1. A member of this party describes the trip made on a temporary trolley-car. •

“There is a dull roar. As wo advance it becomes deafening. It sounds like a concentrated boiler shop. A dust that is nothing more than - condensed moisture fills the air; the electric lights converting it into a reddish yellow haze. We follow down the tracks to the drill carriage. Pour mounted drills are battering their way into the solid granite. Eight or ten men are working on this machine. The scene suggests four machine-gun nests operating under an enemy (barrage. ■ “The drill holes are driven from 10 to 14 feet into the rock, each machine accounting- for from 20 to 30 holes. When the facing is sufficiently penetrated to assure a sufficiently shattering of the rock—usually a three or four hours’ task—the drill carriage moves back, the -powder c-rew loads the holes, electricians instal a ma'ze of wiring, and the blast which follows advances the tunnel another 10 to 15 feet. ' “The drill \crews are the ‘shock troops, in this advance' under the' -Cascades. For two and a half years these machines, distributed in different places under the Cascades, have been battering at these ‘granite walls day and night, Sundays and holidays, without cessation. Shifts are changed at the handles of -the drills. “Enlargement operations follow closely on the heels -of the centre-head-ing crews. More drill crews, powder gangs, track layers, and shovel outfits bring the fffnnei t.o its.full size.”

Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HAWST19280728.2.90

Bibliographic details

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 28 July 1928, Page 11

Word Count
719

EIGHT MILE TUNNEL Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 28 July 1928, Page 11

EIGHT MILE TUNNEL Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 28 July 1928, Page 11

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