24 OCTOBER 2023 WorldWide Drilling Resource® Vital Tunnel Open 50 Years Adapted from Information by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) The Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel (EJMT) is a vital connection to safely move people and goods from the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains to the western slope. Taking more than 50 years of discussion, planning, designing, and construction - with the Eisenhower Bore opening in 1973 and the Johnson Bore opening in 1979 - traffic has been flowing through the EJMT for 50 years. About 60 miles west of Denver, Colorado, on Interstate 70, EJMT traverses through the Continental Divide at an average elevation of 11,112 feet. “While motorists drive through the tunnel in a few minutes, they may not realize the monumental effort it took to plan and build such an infrastructure under the most challenging of circumstances,” said CDOT Executive Director Shoshana Lew. “Over a five-year construction period, 6000 people and heavy machinery worked a total of 4.9 million hours to bore through granite under the Continental Divide in harsh weather conditions. When construction started in 1968, it was the largest single federal aid highway project in the nation’s history. For the last five decades, the Eisenhower Tunnel has served as the great connector, tying east and west Colorado together. It has provided a critical lifesaving link for moving goods and services and helped to mark Colorado as a world-class mountain destination.” At the height of construction activity, crews worked in three shifts, 24 hours a day, six days a week. The geology of the tunnel site presented the most critical engineering challenge where new engineering methods were needed to shore unstable rock so a hole 50 feet high and 45 feet wide could be supported. During construction, approximately one million cubic yards of material was cleared from each bore and 190,000 cubic yards of concrete was used for each tunnel lining. Once the EJMT was built, some called it the longest bathroom in the country because of the porcelain wall tiles. The length of the westbound/Eisenhower Bore is 1.693 miles, and the length of the eastbound/Johnson Bore is 1.697 miles. A dedicated crew of more than 30 full-time employees work at the tunnel facility with job duties ranging from around-the-clock television surveillance, emergency response, tunnel washing, ventilation maintenance, tunnel sweeping, snow removal, heavy equipment servicing and repair, and water treatment. All tunnel employees are trained firefighters, and the tunnel has its own fire truck and tow truck so crews can respond to emergencies and clear crashes in or near the tunnel. The EJMT is one of the crown jewels of the west, providing a safer and more efficient route through a mountain instead of over it. C&G CDOT marked the historic 50-year milestone in March, by pausing westbound traffic for 50 seconds, so the Colorado State Patrol's vintage 1970 Fury was the first vehicle to usher in the tunnel's next half-century. It was a state patrol vehicle which first entered the tunnel when it opened to traffic in 1973. Empire State Water Well Drillers Association 2024 Annual Meeting January 16 17, 2024 Turning Stone Casino Verona, NY Auction Seminars Cocktail Party Membership Meeting Exhibits and More! nywelldriller.org
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